Ava LaBounty is one of the fittest teenagers in the world.
LaBounty, who will be a sophomore at Ankeny Christian Academy in the fall, competed in the 2023 NOBULL CrossFit Games last week at Madison, Wis. Competing against girls from around the world, she placed 10th in the 14-15 year old girls’ division.
The CrossFit Games are the ultimate proving grounds for the Fittest on Earth and are world-renowned as the definitive test of fitness. For well over a decade, fans from around the world have attended the multi-day sporting event, streamed the competition online, or watched on ESPN, CBS, or a wide range of international broadcasts. The international field of play has included athletes from over 120 countries.
The goal of the CrossFit Games is to determine which athletes and teams are the Fittest on Earth. To do so, athletes must face a broad range of challenges. The CrossFit Games rewards the generalist: Athletes who can display the greatest breadth of abilities will triumph over athletes who may excel in one domain yet struggle with others. All athletes start in the worldwide Open and the field of competitors is winnowed down through quarterfinals and semifinals to the fittest 40 men, 40 women, 40 teams, 180 age-group athletes, and 30 adaptive athletes in the world.
The CrossFit Games require the greatest breadth of fitness when compared to any other stage of the season. Athletes will be tested across multiple time domains, movements, and formats. A CrossFit Games champion must be comfortable tackling tests of strength, speed, endurance, and skill against a highly competitive group of their peers. Athletes in the field may take the top spot in any single test. However, the champion will display consistency and adaptability regardless of what is put in front of them.
A hallmark of the CrossFit Games are unique elements that athletes may not have been able to prepare for specifically. Athletes at this level must be ready to face unknown challenges. In some cases, these unique elements may not be revealed to the athletes until minutes before they take the competition floor. The unknown element of the competition speaks to the theory of CrossFit: The fittest athlete must have a well developed general capacity that lends itself to a broad range of activities, both known and unknown.