Anikha Greer Breaks Through at Wodapalooza After Winning Event 6, Looking to Make Rookie Appearance at 2022 CrossFit Games
Under the lights and in front of a crowd for the first time, 18-year-old Anikha Greer heard her name projected over the stadium loudspeakers in Miami, Florida. After falling short of qualifying for the 2021 CrossFit Games by just five seconds, Event 6 at Wodapalooza was an event that let sports fans know she’s a name you’ll want to remember this season.
“That’s when I realized how much I loved competing. This was the first time I really experienced this atmosphere, and I don’t even remember feeling pain during that workout. It was just every time he said [the announcer] my name, I got another boost of energy.”
Greer had an incredible first-place finish during Wodapalooza’s Celebrate 10 event, a first-ever event win for the young Canadian. Last season, she placed 6th at the Atlas Games Semifinal, missing the 2021 Games by just one spot and then took 22nd in the Last Chance Qualifier. Since both of those events were virtual, Wodapalooza was the first major in-person competition Greer has ever competed in – creating a learning curve that Greer says she was lucky to experience before the next season.
“For me, I never trained the echo bike because there was no echo bike in online qualifiers so we didn’t do it because there’s not going to be an echo bike in the Open, there’s not going to be an echo bike in the AGOQ, so we just rowed.”
Following Greer’s event win at Wodapalooza, her Instagram exploded with more than 4,000 new followers in just 24 hours. Nearly a week later, it’s grown by almost 10,000.
“To actually have some recognition more than just people at home, that was pretty cool for me. I’ve waited a long, long time to be able to show the world what I can do.”
Now that people at home and in the CrossFit community know her name, it’s full steam ahead to the 2022 season. While she’s confident headed into the Open and Quarterfinals, looking to peak for Semifinals, she says this is the year that people can expect to see her on the big stage in Madison.
“Rookie season at the Games, there’s no questions about it. It is on my mind every day, that’s what we’re doing.”
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