'Fittest Man on Earth' is a Montrealer. How he did it: train, eat, nap, repeat
CBC
Jeffrey Adler remembers his first CrossFit Games, back in 2016. He was working as a volunteer, "loading and unloading the equipment on and off the floor for the athletes."
But even then, his goal was to one day compete and win.
"I said to myself and to [fiancée and coach] Caroline, 'the next time I come back to the games is as an athlete,'" said Adler
He didn't qualify for the games until 2019, when he placed 26th overall. Since then, he's been slowly climbing the ranks. This year, he finally reached the top, placing first after a series of 12 gruelling events over four days in Madison, Wis.
"We all strive for [it]. We do this to earn the first spot. It's such a big thing to achieve. It's a lot of work put in to get there and I'm not the only one. There's so many people who put time, work and sweat into this," said Adler
The top 40 men and 40 women competed in Olympic weightlifting, gymnastics, running, cycling and a mix of activities — pullups, box jumps and more — that make up benchmark CrossFit workouts.
Like most of the athletes at that level of competition, Adler's training leaves little time for other interests.
"My life revolves around training and recovering," said Adler. He trains in the morning for three to four hours, eats, naps, and trains again in the evening for another couple of hours.
There were early signs that, this year, Adler might triumph. At the qualifying stage, where more than 300,000 people worldwide competed to make it to the games, he came in first.
Adler's coach and fiancée, Caroline Lambray, calls his triumph in Wisconsin at the NOBULL CrossFit Games "extraordinary." She's been by his side every step of the way for years of training and nutrition.
Together, Adler and Lambray own a gym, CrossFit Wonderland, in Montreal, which they founded back in 2017.
Watching him win "with the roar of the crowd," and with his parents next to her, "was so overwhelming."
WATCH | Jeffrey Adler takes gold at CrossFit games:
Lambray is the first female coach to lead an athlete to Fittest on Earth.
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