South Korea’s Choi Seung-yeon reflects on stealing the show at 2021 CrossFit Games
- The 22-year-old burst onto the scene after only taking up the sport four years ago
- Choi delivered one of competition’s most memorable moments when the Wisconsin crowd willed her on through injury
South Korea’s Choi Seung-yeon grabbed the hearts of fans in Madison, Wisconsin during July’s 2021 CrossFit Games in a matter of seconds.
Choi, the only athlete to qualify for the games from South Korea, sustained an injury during the seventh event at the Alliant Energy Centre, which featured a 200-metre run and one clean (where competitors take a barbell and get it to a standing position on their shoulders). In typical CrossFit fashion, athletes had to do this five times, as fast as they could.
“During that event, I had actually sprained my ankle very badly when I was running the last lap because the ground condition was not even,” said the 22-year-old.
“The last weight was 230 pounds, and I had not been able to succeed holding that weight up at all recently. So if I’m being honest, I was not confident I would be able to do it. Still, I tried to think as positively as I could, because weightlifting is what I am most confident at.”
All of the other competitors had finished, and then Choi felt something magical happen. The entire arena, which has a capacity of more than 10,000, rose to their feet just to cheer her on, even though she was in last place.
“When the whole crowd stood up to clap and cheer for me, I got chills in my whole body,” she said. “I thought to myself, ‘I must succeed, because everybody is cheering for me’. Honestly, I don’t really recall how I did it in the end, because it was such a short moment. It was my first time ever getting such chills down my whole body, though. I was lucky that the camera captured such a moment. I will forever cherish that video clip.”