Going team—everyone should do it.
So said Austin Malleolo, a five-time CrossFit Games Individual competitor who is competing as part of a team for the first time this year.
“Aw, it’s fun,” he said with a smile.
Moments earlier, the women on his squad, Reebok CrossFit One, won their heat in the Muscle-Up Snatch event that ended the first day of competition for the teams. Reebok CrossFit One ended the day in ninth overall.
Malleolo said he’s grown more personally, professionally and athletically competing on a team than he has in previous years.
“The biggest thing is, as an individual, you can be selfish.”
Six people on a team leaves little room for ego.
“You are only one-sixth of the equation, and you can make yourself a positive part of the equation or a negative part of the equation,” Malleolo explained.
Individuals should compete on a team “to be a better person,” he added.
Christy Adkins, who competed six times at the Games as an Individual, described team competition as “very rewarding.”
“I get to impart some CrossFit experience to the other five, whether they like it or not,” she said with a laugh minutes after her team, CrossFit Balance, finished the Muscle-Up Snatch event. The group’s men finished 22nd, and the women ended in 20th place.
There are life lessons in coordinating with five other people, Adkins noted.
“It teaches you even more to let things go. It tests your patience.”
Still, Adkins said she’s not necessarily committed to competing on a team again.
“Having all these Masters divisions really opens possibilities,” she said.
Adkins continued: “It would be nice to start a family.”
She shrugged and said she’ll make that decision next year.
“We’ll see.”
Spencer Hendel was more definitive.
When asked if he was retired from Individual competition, Hendel shook his head.
“No. No.”
Reebok CrossFit One won’t be able to assemble the same team next year, said Hendel, a five-time Individual athlete. And this year’s Run Swim Run and Cyclocross events for Individuals looked like a lot of fun, he said.
The difference between the two divisions, Hendel said, is “a different type of satisfaction.”
“You really feel it when you’re helping your team, and you really feel it when you’re hurting your team.”
When Hendel didn’t meet his expectations as an Individual competitor, he said he was better able to internalize the failure.
“Personally, I can take that a lot better.”
On a team, “there’s other people to look out for,” Hendel said.
For Gary Helmick, competing on a team requires a different mental state.
Last year, he competed as an Individual for the second time. His wife, Alea, also qualified. This year, both are on the CrossFit Revamped team at the Games.
“There’s five people to rely on,” Helmick explained. “I think I get more stressed out during the workout.”
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