“Champions keep playing until they get it right. Then they play more.”- Billie Jean King
PROFILE
Tia-Clair Toomey Featured on the Cover of Women’s Health Australia; Confirms Plans to Compete in 2023
Six-Time CrossFit Games champ, Tia-Clair Toomey graces the November cover of Women’s Health Australia, which is on newsstands today.
One big thing: Toomey is not the first CrossFit athlete to be featured in Women’s or Men’s Health, but in addition to the cover and feature story, the champ has also been nominated for Athlete of the Year in the Women’s Health Women in Sport Awards.
Worth noting: While there are not any bombshell revelations in the feature story, Toomey confirmed many things that we’ve reported on over the past several weeks. Most importantly, that she (likely) plans to compete in the 2023 CrossFit Games season for a seventh consecutive title.
“For me, I couldn’t be more supportive and appreciative of my competitors,” the champ said, “And I mean this with a lot of respect, but I also want to be the most dominant CrossFit athlete of all time.”
“It’s just that I’ve worked so hard that I want my legacy to live on long after I have actively competed in the space,” she continued, “If I can get one more championship or one more notch to my belt, essentially, I feel like it just makes it that much harder for people to chase.”
The bottom line: It’s always great when CrossFit athletes are featured in mainstream media. It helps bring attention to the entire sport and ecosystem. And, there is no one more deserving of the attention than Toomey, who has earned it every step of the way.
And, importantly, she confirmed her plans to compete in 2023.
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In case you missed it: Lauren Kalil, the host of The Bottom Line, went to Reebok’s headquarters and got a very cool inside look at how they make their signature CrossFit shoes the Nano.
Interesting read: The Washington Post (paywall) details how exercising changes your genes, and ultimately, your lineage.
Another ICYMI: On Friday’s Coffee Break Conversation, Morning Chalk Up’s Preslie Hirsch chat with WIT Fitness Founder, Dan Williams, about running a 1M+ crowdfunding campaign (exclusive to RX members).
GoFundMe for Brute Strength Head Coach Matt Torres: Greg and Kate Sofranko have set up a GoFundMe for Matt Torres, the head coach of Brute Strength, whose condo was destroyed in Hurricane Ian. You can donate here.
PROFILE
MEMBER EXCLUSIVE
Still Recovering from Blood Clot Surgery, Emily Rolfe Looks to Dubai as “Comeback Competition”
Three-time CrossFit Games athlete Emily Rolfe says she is now “100 percent in normal people’s standards” since undergoing emergency surgery because of a blood clot in her left arm after the first event of the 2022 NOBULL CrossFit Games.
“But CrossFit is apparently a little bit more extreme,” she explained, meaning she is still “nowhere near where I was before the Games.”
This didn’t stop her, however, from competing in the online qualifier for the Dubai CrossFit Championships coming up in December.
“I felt like I (am) at a point in my recovery where there was no risk to my arm doing the workouts,” said the 33-year-old Rolfe. But it still “felt like I came straight out of surgery into a qualifier,” added Rolfe, who only did the competition “to get my butt back into the gym.”
Where Will the CrossFit Games Move to in 2024? We May Find Out Soon
As the calendar year nears end and the off-season continues, questions begin to loom about the structure of the next CrossFit Games season. So far, we know that the Open begins February 16, 2023 and the Games will begin July 31, 2023, according to CrossFit HQ. Semifinal locations, quarterfinal structure and the like have yet to be confirmed. And, where the Games will move after its final year in the cheese capital of the USA? That is yet to be determined; although, we’ve heard that news may come sooner than later.
On the latest podcast episode of Talking Elite Fitness, “Top Off-Season Questions”, hosted by Tommy Marquez and Sean Woodland, they disclosed that there’s rumblings from the inside that the 2024 (and potentially beyond) host city will be disclosed in the coming months.
“I’ve been told by people in the know that that should be happening before the end of the year,” Woodland said.
Marquez explained that Wisconsin capital has been his favorite host city thus far (of a short list), and goes on to say: “There’s a reason why Kobe Bryant announced his retirement at the beginning of the season. By the last game, that thing was a party. If we know it’s not coming back to Madison after this year, we can do it justice by having a huge celebration in Madison as the host city, and the place that helped advance the Games as a whole, and have a nice send-off in that regard.”
Woodland followed up to say: “And you know, this what sources told me, close to the situation, multiple sources, that a decision is very close to being made if not having been made, and now it’s just a matter of figuring out when they want to announce it. And I was told, and again this is more speculation from people in the know but don’t have a final say, maybe by the end of the year.”
Other host cities thus far have been:
Aromas, CA: 2007-2009, and 2020
Carson, CA: 2010 – 2016
Madison, WI: 2017 – 2023*
*In 2020, the Games were moved to Aromas, CA due to the global pandemic In our conversation earlier this year with Justin Bergh, CrossFit’s General Manager of Sport, he told us that they intend to relocate for 2024 and that an international destination is not off the table.
CROSSFIT GAMES
How the CrossFit Games Can Appeal to Non-CrossFitters
With a goal in mind to grow the sport, a significant opportunity to do so is during the CrossFit Games broadcast. But is the current model conducive to grabbing the attention of non-CrossFitters — or — is it working against growing the sport? Morning Chalk Up’s Lauren Kalil, Brian Friend, and Emily Beers discuss ways the Games broadcast can improve to build a fan base outside of CrossFit in hopes of continuing the push to legitimize the sport.
Hitting a heavy clean and jerk is a feeling like no other *insert bar slam*. However, if not warmed up properly, you can kiss those heavy weights goodbye. Try this clean and jerk primer and get ready to move some seriously heavy weight.
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