Every year I look forward to watching the CrossFit Games. I probably look forward to the Games more than NCAA Nationals for gymnastics, which now seems strange to me. Both are only on once per year. Both are sports that I love. Gymnastics was my only love for 16 years, and only being able to watch it on tv once a year was like torture for me as a kid! I looked up to the girls competing immensely, and I always wished I could be just like them one day. Now that I’m 27 years old (ancient in gymnastics years), I see gymnastics differently. I watch it to appreciate the sport, and see how it is evolving. CrossFit, however, I see in a completely different light. They are competing in the same sport that we do at ACF every day. I watch the Games athletes, and I am able to compare myself to them. Sure, their Fran times are twice as fast as mine, but I know that I can do that same workout that they’re doing, whether it’s scaled or as prescribed. Because of this, I am inspired and motivated by everyone on tv at the Games.

Another reason why I love watching CrossFit is seeing the camaraderie between athletes who are competing against each other. You hear it all the time from the commentators- “it’s always the athlete that finishes last who gets the loudest cheers.” I love that aspect of our sport. You would never see that happen in gymnastics, or probably any other sport. Rich Froning, 4-time Fittest Man in the World, cheers for every single athlete he can, even though all of them are trying to take his title from him.  What?! Cheer on the people trying to beat you? I love this about CrossFit! You’ll see the top athletes giving pointers to their competition before an event has started, and encouraging each other. I think this is what makes our sport the best, and it is something that we can all take away from watching the Games every year.

Let’s all try to be more like Games athletes, not only in work ethic, but in the way that they support each other. Cheer loud for your friends in the gym who are still trying to finish a WOD, even though you are completely dead from having just finished it yourself. Help someone who may be struggling with a certain movement, even if it means they’ll end up with a better score than you. With our fast-growing box, I think we sometimes lose sight of the community that we have at ACF. So, let’s all use each other to be better athletes, and more importantly- be better people.