Lisa Shiu is Out of Competition

March 7, 2012

Josh Bunch

"Right when it happened, I felt everything tighten. I thought it was a sign from God telling me to stop."

Shiu earned her trip to the Games after placing 2nd in the Central East Region. 

“As I began to warm-up for 12.2, I heard a pop. Immediately I knew my season was over.”

CrossFit Games competitor Lisa Shiu has been breathing down the necks of other CrossFitters since 2009. Over the years, Shiu has dominated short heavies, and bodyweight couplets, leaving only endurance-based workouts as her Achilles heel. She spent the last year working to improve this in preparation for the 2012 season.

“I don’t think anybody could have been ready for the softball throw, but as far as finite skills and straight endurance, the Games taught me I needed more of both,” Shiu says.

Over the months, Shiu fell prey to a “shoulder thing.” Shiu worked around her injury for months avoiding movements that seemed to make it worse, following the advice of her doctor and doing her best to let it heal.

As the CrossFit Games Open approached, it was business as usual for Shiu – nothing out of the ordinary, no drastic changes, just CrossFit.

After scoring 119 burpees on Open Workout 12.1, Shiu was excited to see the snatch workout.

After a regular warm-up, Shiu began snatching by hitting reps at each weight increment. While testing 75 pounds Shiu’s back made a noise that put her on the ground.

“Right when it happened, everything tightened up,” Shiu says. “I thought it was a sign from God telling me to stop.”

After a few choice words, Shiu decided it was best to not continue competing this season.

“I don’t want CrossFit to hurt. I want it to feel good and it always has,” she explains. “I am about preserving my body so I can do this for years to come, I am not about pushing through pain and permanently ending my career.”

Shiu has yet to receive a definitive diagnosis, but she assures her fellow CrossFitters that she will be back and better than ever in 2013.