Natalie Bieule lost her leg at 18, then became a Paralympian and currently leads her division in the CrossFit Open.
Kari Pearce broke the US women’s podium drought in 2020, and she has big plans for 2021.
Livestream viewership for the 2021 Open continues to grow.
Do you know someone who has done an exceptional job embodying and capturing the essence of the CrossFit community? Find out how you can nominate them for a Morning Chalk Up Community Choice Award.
We love seeing your story tips, quotes and PRs roll in. Keep sending them to [email protected].
“Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.”- Winston Churchill
CROSSFIT OPEN 2021
Around the water cooler: 21.3 and 21.4 are a doozy. Did you a PR on the complex or get you first chest-to-bar or bar muscle-up? Let us know.
The 21.3/21.4 announcement livestream viewership numbers have continued to grow. At the 24-hour mark the total viewership between YouTube and Facebook was 790,196 (YouTube: 589,196, Facebook: 200,00).
MUST WATCH: Several Games athletes taking on 21.3 and 21.4.
Willy Georges, French Games vet, ruptured a scapular tendon and will not be able to compete this season.
Last chance to claim your $50 voucher for O2 and The Ready State.
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COMMUNITY
Natalie Bieule Loses Leg, Becomes Paralympian, Currently Leads the Open
She was 18 years old and had just graduated high school with dreams of performing on Broadway when a car accident led Natalie Bieule to have her right leg amputated below the knee.
“I got trapped in the passenger side and they had to use the jaws of life to remove me from the vehicle…I was in and out of consciousness. But I remember them hearing them say, ‘She’s bleeding internally,’” Bieule, now a Pembroke Pines, FL resident, recalls from the accident 20 years ago.
The details: The next thing Bieule remembers is waking up in the hospital with her mother at her side. “And I asked, ‘Can I still have kids?’ She was like, “They had to amputate your leg.’ And I was like, ‘That’s fine, we’ll figure it out,’” said Bieule, who with just five points is currently leading the women’s lower body extremity division of the Open heading into the final week.
After that, Bieule admits there were some obvious challenges “mostly just figuring out what my life would look like now,” she explained, but generally she said she was able to quickly adopt a positive mindset. She credits her strong, Cuban mother for this.
Good News is our weekly round-up of positive stories around the affiliate community. Are you opening a new gym, expanding a current location, offering new classes, or is your box running a fundraiser? Send us a tip to be featured.
CrossFit Bohica in Goldsboro, NC will be expanding and moving to a new location this weekend.
CrossFit Bear Down Makes a Difference:CrossFit Bear Down in Fort Worth, Texas invited the team from Herculus Apparel in Welasco, TX to join them for 21.2 and to do a pop-up shop. Unfortunately, their truck was broken into and their inventory was stolen, but the crew at Bear Down bought the remaining pieces and then put together a quick fundraiser to help Herculus out.
Charity Rowathon: CrossFit Mokena in Mokena, IL is hosting a charity Rowathon on Saturday, June 5. Teams of 1-3 can row a half or full marathon to raise money for the Global Water Stewardship whose mission it is to resolve sanitation issues in the developing world by educating people and engineering sustainable centralized solutions that keep waterways clean & communities healthy. This year, they will travel to Costa Rica to build bio gardens for the local schools.
Legion Strength and Conditioning Workshop: The team at Legion Strength and Conditioning in Chicago, IL, led by Todd Nief, will run a five-week conditioning workshop starting April 2. Learn more and sign up.
CROSSFIT GAMES
MEMBER EXCLUSIVE
Kari Pearce on that Legendary Atalanta performance, Open Butterflies and Inspiring the Next Generation of CrossFit Women
As Kari Pearce trucked along in an exhausted jog down a dusty dirt road in Northern California, a number of things were going through her head. This was no normal jog though, it was the end of the 2020 CrossFit Games and Pearce was about to win the toughest event ever imagined in the sport, the now legendary “Atalanta”.
“There were so many thoughts going through my mind at the end of Atalanta,” said Pearce, who was the first athlete, male or female, to cross the finish line. “One being, did I really just win one of the most difficult CrossFit events ever with all of these other incredible athletes and would it be enough to get me on the podium?”
21.3 brought a new livestream time, and perhaps more importantly, two workouts, as foreshadowed by Dave Castro’s Instagram story earlier in the day. Remarkably though, despite the earlier time, this broadcast brought more viewers.
The 21.3 & 21.4 livestream announcement brought the highest numbers of viewership throughout the entire 2021 Open.
Max concurrent viewership came in with a final tally of 113,220, which was slightly less than 21.2.
Total viewership after approximately 24 hours increased by 9%.
Using an unbalanced barbell and fighting to keep it level through a Romanian (or "straight-leg") deadlift will require you to maintain core tightness and forces your spine to maintain its position and the stabilizer muscles to activate. Learn more in this short video from Squat University and give it a try if you are struggling with back pain.
This year, we're going BIG. We've partnered up with some of the brands you know and love to give away a $30,000 ultimate home gym prize pack. The winner is going to be the talk of the town and that winner could be you!
As COVID restrictions ease and more athletes are allowed back into gyms, there are some actions that gym owners can take to make the most of this time. This episode of the Two Brain podcast lays out six areas of excellence to focus on, including keeping clients longer, getting more clients to sign up, improve operations, and more.
Tomorrow is the last day to get 40% site-wide and 50% off sale items including the Nano X. To snag the savings use the code "FRIEND" at check out. (US Subscribers Only and some exclusions apply)
These crispy breakfast potatoes are roasted to perfection in the oven. Kick up the flavor with warming spices like turmeric, garlic and cumin, and serve them with eggs, avocado, sausage or bacon. This is a must-make breakfast or brunch recipe.
Chalk Up Highlights is our section dedicated to celebrating our community’s wins in the gym. Follow @ChalkUpHighlights and submit your highlight to [email protected] to be featured.
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