In 2009, 19-year-old Annie Thorisdottir showed up on the dusty hillside of Aromas, Calif., and quickly established herself as a force to be reckoned with. She had only a few months of CrossFit behind her, yet a childhood of competitive gymnastics (leading up to her qualification for the Icelandic National Team at 15 years old) and some experience in competitive pole vaulting. It took until her third Games before she won the title, but her natural ability and exceptional background was clear from the start.
This year, we may have another Annie.
Meet Katrin Tanja Davidsdottir, an 18-year-old from Reykjavik, Iceland who spent her childhood in competitive gymnastics. For 10 years, Davidsdottir spent every single day training in the gymnastics studio. She took a year to pursue athletics before finding CrossFit last year. "I needed something challenging and I found it," Davidsdottir says.
Since finding CrossFit, she has taken off in the sport. At the close of the 2012 Open, Davidsdottir had 22 points and taken 2nd in Europe behind the Fittest Woman on Earth, Annie Thorisdottir (12 points). The next closest women had taken 41 points. In a sport that rewards consistent, high finishes across highly variable workouts, Davidsdottir has proven herself to be the next best competitor after Thorsdottir by a significant margin.
She finds her strength, body awareness and training ethic from competitive gymnastics carry over well.
"My gymnastics background has definitely helped me a lot in CrossFit," Davidsdottir says. "I think it's because I'm aware of my form and aware of my body position. I think I'm quite quick at catching up on technique and I'm used to hardcore training and I'm used to having to push myself right to the limit every single day."
Although she has been doing CrossFit for less than a year, Davidsdottir is confident that she'll have the skills necessary to excel at the 2012 Europe Regional.
"I definitely will have the skills, I think. Most CrossFitters have problems with the skills and that's where I can actually do something and I can get ahead of other people."
In 2009, the final workout struck Thorisdottir in her Achilles heel: the muscle-up. Davidsdottir got 13 muscle-ups on 12.4, and even showed skill in Olympic lifting with one snatch at 120 pounds despite the drubbing of the previous 90 snatches. It leaves us to ask, what weakness is Davidsdottir hiding and will it be exposed at the 2012 Europe Regional?
