An Inspiration to a Younger Self
By: Nicole Peyton and Sarah Dugan
Amea Reyna of CrossFit Exodus | Photo by Joy Silva
Amea Reyna started CrossFit just two years ago at CrossFit Exodus in Bridgeport, Texas. The 19-year-old is the youngest competing athlete in the adaptive division and says she hopes to encourage and inspire other adaptive and Latina athletes, and young girls.
After enduring a stroke as a child, Reyna was left with Hemiparesis — one-sided muscle weakness — on her left side.
“I grew up being so insecure. I never played a sport,” she said after she completed Test 7, Endure the Coliseum, in which she finished second. “I was always conscious of the way that I walked and the way that I looked differently than other people my age.”
“If I could show my younger self, ‘Look where you’re at!’ that would be a world-changer,” she added.
When she’s not competing at the Games, Reyna — who was sporting bright purple hair and braided pigtails — attends college full time and works two jobs. She’s studying psychology with hopes of raising awareness of the importance of mental health. Her CrossFit platform is a great complement to that goal.
“If just one person sees me and what I do and thinks, ‘That could be me,’ then I would be happy,” Reyna said. “That’s what I’m out here to do. I’m not here for everybody to see; I’m here for one person to see and to show myself what I’m capable of.”
A Rocky Start For the Reigning Champ
By: Kelley Laxton
Justin Medeiros of CrossFit Fort Vancouver | Photo by Adam Bow
Seeing Justin Medeiros’ name near the bottom of the leaderboard is highly unusual for the two-time reigning Fittest Man on Earth. But against all odds, Medeiros received his two worst Games test finishes of his career to start the 2023 NOBULL CrossFit Games.
In Test 1, Medieros was caught up in two crashes, exiling him to the back of the herd. He finished in 29th place. In Test 2, Medeiros struggled to keep up with his competitors. He received an even worse placement — 37th.
After two tests, Medeiros sat in 36th place overall. And with the first round of cuts approaching after Day 1, the next test would soon determine his fate for the rest of the weekend.
As the men lined up on their starting mats, Medeiros looked nervous. This was his last chance.
At the sound of the buzzer, Medeiros flipped on his hands and completed half the handstand walks before kicking back down. He finished his final stint unbroken. Medieros reached the pull-up bar for his pull-overs right behind Roman Khrennikov, who was wearing the white leader’s jersey Medieros is used to calling his.
Medieros started fiercely rolling around the bar, completing all of his pull-overs unbroken. It was a desperate sprint to the finish, as Medeiros soared through the final handstand obstacle, pirouette, and push-ups, crossing the finish line first in 4:03.63.
But would his heat win be enough to keep him off the chopping block?
Yes. Medeiros will see another day of competition. He took second place in Test 3, bumping him above the cutline to 22nd.
“It’s a long weekend, and it means so much to out here on the competition floor,” Medieros said, choking back tears. “I appreciate these moments so much … . I’m going to keep fighting.”
Meet the Youngest Woman in the Field
By: Nicole Peyton
Olivia Kerstetter of Solution 1 CrossFit | By Tai Randall
Olivia Kerstetter is the youngest individual woman competing at the 2023 NOBULL CrossFit Games and is making her debut in the division. The 17-year-old is a two-time teenage champion, winning in 2021 and 2022. After finishing in 15th place in the opening test — Ride — Kerstetter was consistently near the top of the pack in Pig Chipper in Heat 1. Although she wasn’t first to the final 10 Pig flips, she quickly moved ahead of the other women on the field, winning her heat and finishing the test in 15:49 — good enough for fifth place. Kerstetter — whose older sister, Ellie, is also a multi-year Games athlete — was all smiles when she left the field at North Park in Madison, Wisconsin. Her dad was waiting on the sidelines for an embrace and a note of congratulations.
“Gotta Do What You Gotta Do, Right?”
By: Kelley Laxton
Emma Lawson of CrossFit PSC | Photo by Johany Jutras
It’s 8:30 a.m. on the first day of individual competition as the women began to strap on their helmets and mount their Trek bikes for 40 minutes of a biking course.
But it wasn’t just a bike in the park.
During each lap in the enclosed course, athletes would approach a plywood barrier, where they were required to dismount, heave their bike over the wall, run 200 meters, then remount to continue through the course.
This was meant to disrupt their rhythm. But Competition Director Adrian Bozman’s surprise didn’t fool 19-year-old Emma Lawson.
By Lap 3, the Canadian had established herself well in front of the pack, only trailed by Emily Rolfe. Her seamless transitions during the run continued to widen her gap through each lap, and by the 26-minute mark, Lawson was already lapping Emma Cary.
“When you’re in the lead that much, you dictate your pace,” commentator Chase Ingraham said.
By the 40-minute time cap, the gates began to close, and 11 women slipped through. But only 10 athletes ran the final sprint to the finish.
It was obvious 20 minutes ago who the winner was.
This test felt so easy for Lawson. Or so we thought based on her calm demeanor. She admitted after taking the win that she felt her leg cramp in the third to final lap.
“I thought I was going to lose it all. It was a panic moment,” Lawson said to Niki Braizer in a post-test interview. “But I just pedaled through it and it eventually went away … . Gotta do what you gotta do, right?”
Lawson received her first Games test win of her career in a spectacular start to the 2023 NOBULL CrossFit Games.
Don’t Let the Double-Unders Get You Down
By: Dan Froehlich
Matt Cia of St. Helena CrossFit | Photo by Adam Bow
We’ve all been there. We pick up our jump rope, swing it to our heels, take a deep breath, and flip it forward — for the rope to get caught beneath our feet.
So we stop, look up to the sky, and try again.
Only the rope doesn’t cooperate … again. And again.
The next time, we look down at the rope and laugh. It’s the only thing to do in the moment.
That’s how Men’s 50-54 athlete Matt Cia felt during Test 7, Endure the Coliseum. It wasn’t a faulty rope or even a bad cadence. It was a lingering calf strain that had him hopping on one leg, trying anything to get more than two consecutive double-unders.
Cia arrived in Madison, Wisconsin, nursing a calf strain he suffered a month ago. He then aggravated it during Helen, slowing him down in any test with a bouncing movement. But it didn’t dampen his spirit.
“I’m here, I might as well get the full 18 minutes (the time cap) out of it,” Cia said. “You work so hard getting here and the last thing you want to do is not try.”
It was that same mentality that kept him moving during Wednesday’s 5K — mixing running and walking together — and what brought him back into the Coliseum on Thursday morning.
“I just get out there and go,” Cia said. “It is what it is in the end, and as long as I give my best effort, I’m happy about it. I felt like I came in prepared and just had a little bit of a setback.”
A Family Affair
By: Dan Froehlich
Kūlani Subiono of Ku Mana CrossFit | Photo by Johany Jutras
As soon as the 2023 NOBULL CrossFit Games dates were announced, the Subionos were quick to circle them on the family calendar.
“There is no summer vacation,” 16-year-old Ka’eo Subiono said. “Our summer is our work season.”
For the last two years, the Subiono family has taken over the teen division. The family’s first trip to Madison was in 2021, where the oldest son, Elijah, took sixth in the Boys 16-17 division and Ka’eo ninth in the Boys 14-15 division.
In 2022, the boys qualified for the same divisions yet again with Elijah taking third and Ka’eo finishing sixth.
This year, Elijah aged out of the teen competition, but another Subiono has taken his place. Fifteen-year-old Kūlani joined his brother Ka’eo in representing the family and their native Hawai’i.
“It’s good to continue the legacy,” Kūlani said.
Thirteen months separate Ka’eo and Kūlani, allowing the two to compete in consecutive heats the entire week, passing each other as one exits and the other enters the field of play.
“I try to give him as much (advice) as I can (after finishing the tests),” Kūlani said. “But honestly it’s him who has to give me most of the tips,” Kūlani said.
After every event, no matter where they finish, the Subionos find their father in the stands and wrap themselves in the Kanaka Maoli flag as a symbol of their effort for the people of Hawai’i.