"I am trying to keep the 'freak' out of competitions in the future," Gadney said.
Andre Gadney has qualified for the Africa Regional for the last two years, but has yet to be throughly tested by CrossFit competition.
Both years, he was sidelined by injury on the first day of the regional.
“Both were freak accidents,” Gadney explained.
Three months after he started CrossFit he found himself at the 2012 Africa Regional. There, he injured his right tibia and fibula during an event with a 2,000-m row, 50 pistols, and 30 225-lb. hang cleans. As Gadney was new to the sport, the 225-lb.hang clean was his one-rep max at that point.
“Not being proficient in doing multiple reps, I used the incorrect technique on the hang clean,” Gadney recounted. “My right foot slipped and I tried to get under the weight, twisting my ankle both ways. This placed a lot of strain on my tibia and fibula.”
The next year, he tore a muscle in his shoulder (the supraspinatus muscle) while warming up for the three-rep max overhead squat event.
“My shoulders and other joints took a lot of strain during my gymnastics career. It is one of the reasons I stopped gymnastics,” he said.
Once he recovered from the tear, he recreated the 2013 regional competition to see how he might have done. Over three days, he did all seven regional events according to the standards outlined on the Games site.
“I needed to prove to myself that I could do it,” he said.
Had he performed the same way six months prior, he would have taken fifth at the 2013 Africa Regional.
Event 1 (Jackie): 6:00
Event 2 (7-minute ladder of 3 overhead squats for max weight): 225.03
Event 3 (30 burpee muscle-ups): 5:51
Event 4 (100 wall-ball shots, 100 chest-to-bar pull-ups, 100 pistols, 100 dumbbell snatches): 26:10
Event 5 (21-15-9 deadlifts and box jumps): 8:01
Event 6 (100 double-unders, 50 handstand push-ups, 40 toes-to-bars, 30 shoulders-to-overheads, 90-foot overhead weighted walking lunge): 15:01
Event 7 (4 rounds for time of 15-ft. rope climbs, 100-ft. sprint, 4 squat cleans, 100-ft. sprint): 8:29
Despite the disappointment of being sidelined for two years running, Gadney is lighthearted about it and focused on the future.
“I am trying to keep the ‘freak’ out of competitions in the future,” he said.
The 33-year-old athlete has 18 years of gymnastics experience including appearances at the Acrobatic Gymnastic World Championships in 2006 and 2008. He has put his body awareness to good use in CrossFit, and quickly learned high-skill movements. Consequently, at his box, CrossFit Jozi, he has earned the nickname the Ninja.
“Gymnasts just get it. They know how to move their bodies and approach new skills with confidence,” said Imtiaz Desai, CrossFit Jozi head coach.
Gadney agrees.
“I just jump right in to anything new,” he said.
He messes around in the box with burpee tuck backs, and upside down rope climbs. If there’s a way to make the standard gymnastics movements harder, he’ll do it.
In preparation for the 2014 season, Gadney focused on rehabilitating his shoulder and developing his aerobic capacity.
“I follow our box’s regular programming because it has proven to get a group of us to regionals previously,” Gadney said. “The longer stuff or single modality workouts tend to be my weakness, so my focus has been to keep the intensity up in the longer met-cons we do.”
Gadney’s varied programming doesn’t allow for many repeats but he has seen improvement in his running and rowing. In four months, he has reduced his time on Helen from 8:35 to 7:45 and his Cindy has improved from 20 rounds to 24 rounds.
Heading into the 2014 season, his coach is confident in his abilities.
“I think that he has the potential to place in the top 20 for the Open,” Desai said. “As we've learned, the Open and regionals are two different ball games. At regionals in Africa there are probably a group of 10 to 15 men that could podium, depending on the workouts and how they recover over the three days. If his preparation goes well and everything on the weekend falls in to play, he could podium.”
That’s the goal he’s aiming for.
“If my goal was not to win it, I would not be entering,” Gadney said. “I believe in setting goals which are not always easy but worthwhile.”
