The world beckons, Tia-Clair Toomey. First, you finish second at the 2016 Reebok CrossFit Games but the worldstage has greater things in store for you at the Rio Olympic Games.
The 22-year-old weightlifter will be representing Australia at the platform in Rio six times for Weightlifting in the Clean and Jerk and the Snatch.
And the glitter has barely settled for this young lass, after just narrowly losing out to Iceland’s Katrin Davidsdottir for the title of Fittest Female on Earth at the CrossFit Games in California, USA.
“This year I really wanted that number one spot. It was so close yet so far away, so it’s a little bit disappointing,” she said.
Toomey said she was proud of her performance, but admitted that juggling the two separate sports may have taken a toll.
“My endurance kind of failed a little bit. But in saying that I was prepared and aware that would happen, due to really focussing on my strength for my weightlifting and going to the Olympics,” Toomey said.
Olympic childhood dream beckons
The five-day CrossFit Games schedule included 15 separate events from a range of physical challenges like running, swimming, weightlifting, skipping, climbing, rowing and other strength-based movements.
The CrossFit Games is the culmination of an annual competition called the CrossFit Open, which this year saw more than 320,000 people register from around the world.
Toomey said the $90,000 second place prize purse would help cover the cost of travelling to competitions and training full time, but she said she didn’t do it for the money.
There’s no prize money on offer in Rio, but Toomey says the chance to fulfil a childhood dream is worth much more.
She says she gets emotional thinking about what it will be like to pull on the green and gold for Australia.
“It’s kind of a little bit hard to find the words to describe that. Being able to compete at the Olympics for your country is just amazing. It brings up a nerve and I’m trying not to get too nervous and just think about what I’ve got to do,” she said.
Source: ABC News Australia
