Alli Parks // Teenage Girls 16-17
Young athletes showcase the future of fitness in the inaugural year of the CrossFit Games’ Teenage division.
Alina Lewandowski // Teenage Girls 14-15
Bryan Hernandez // Teenage Boys 16-17
Kristaps Simsons // Teenage Boys 14-15
Two years ago, Alina Lewandowski underwent hip surgery. Twice. She was 13.
On Tuesday she placed third in the inaugural event of the CrossFit Games Teenage division.
“I love pull-ups,” the former gymnast said after Triplet, an event that included GHD sit-ups, chest-to-bar pull-ups and sandbag runs for 14- and 15-year-olds.
Lewandowski started gymnastics when she was 6 but was plagued with injuries, including to her shoulder and hips. After two surgeries in August and November 2013 to both hips, her mom, Jamie, put an end to her gymnastics career.
“It was really hard for me because gymnastics was everything,” said Alina, now 15.
Soon afterward, Sunie Davis, a family friend, introduced Alina to CrossFit.
“It just kind of filled the hole that I was missing (from not doing) gymnastics,” she said.
As Alina walked off the soccer field at the StubHub Center Tuesday morning, her parents yelled from the stands, holding up a red sign with white letters that read, “We Love Bean!” That’s Alina’s nickname.
From the first time she brought Alina along to CrossFit Excess in Vandalia, Ohio, Davis referred to her as “my little Alina Bean.” It stuck. Today, Alina will more readily respond to “Bean” than her birth name.
For her part, Jamie said she didn’t care in what place her daughter finishes after three days of competition.
“To be here is just a miracle.”
Davis described the moment as “amazing.”
“Beyond proud doesn’t even explain it.”
Minutes earlier, the teenage boys had taken the field with an announcer describing the athletes as “the undisputed future of the CrossFit Games.”
From the stands, both Bryan Hernández’s coach and massage therapist were yelling as the Spaniard struggled to pick up the final sandbag—weighing in at 140 lb.—and carry it 50 m to win the event in his division.
“Arriba! Arriba!” hollered Oliver Hernandez, the massage therapist, in Spanish.
The 17-year-old battled with the limp implement. When he finally managed to clean it and throw over his shoulder, he fell to his knees.
After several seconds, he managed to stand up and shuffle to the finish line.
“It’s really hard,” said Bryan, who trains at CrossFit Lanzarote, after Triplet. “I never tried the sandbag. For a moment, I think I cannot get up.”
Bryan started CrossFit a year-and-a-half ago and already has his sights set on becoming an individual competitor. He called it “the next objective.”
Two years ago—before a teenage division existed—Alina also set her sights on becoming an individual competitor.
“I will make it to the CrossFit Games,” she had told Davis.
The teenager, Davis said, inspires all ages. Her mother included.
“I don’t know where she comes from. She doesn’t come from us,” Jamie said as she gestured to herself and her husband, Andy, sitting to her right. “She’s got more strength than any human I’ve ever laid eyes on.”
Hours later, the teenagers tackled a 1-rep-max thruster, and Alina logged 145 lb. to take third in the event.
In the Teenage Boys 14-15 Division, Kristaps Simsons tied for first in the event with a 210-lb. lift.
“Yeah, that’s what I do. My biggest strength is lifting weight,” said the 15-year-old from Ireland.
Simsons said he has aspirations to compete in the teenage division again next year.
“After that year, I’ll see where it takes me.”
His long-term goal was simple: “I’d like to snatch 300 lb.”
After the boys, the girls took the competition floor.
Leon Parks had a front-row seat in the soccer stadium but did little sitting as his daughter Alli loaded her barbell.
When she successfully recorded a 158-lb. thruster—an 8-lb. PR that was good enough for fifth—he shot both arms into the air and smiled at his daughter, whose platform was in the row farthest away from spectators.
“It’s hard to put into words,” Leon said. “It’s overwhelming. It’s watching your little girl achieve her dreams.”
When Alli started CrossFit four years ago in Iron Nation CrossFit’s Kids program, she made her intentions known via a whiteboard, recalled coach Diana Kelly.
“She drew a picture of herself at the CrossFit Games standing on the podium next to Annie Thorisdottir. And now she’s here,” Kelly said with a wide smile. “She’s just amazing.”
The new division is a great addition to the Games, Leon continued.
“To give these young people the opportunity to come here and experience this, it’s amazing.”
Alina’s coach, Brody Mayse, echoed the sentiments of many, saying the teenage division is the future of CrossFit.
“They will be finishing on the podium sooner than (people) think.”
