Emirati woman to compete in CrossFit Games Open

The Cross Fit Games Open got under way on February 22 and after its first week, UAE's Amna Al Haddad can feel proud of herself. The Emirati woman is competing for the first time in the event. If you are aware of Crossfit, you will know the aim of the competition is to find the fittest people in the world and the exercises are tailored around functional movements. Sound easy? It's anything but! The Crossfit Games is a five-week long worldwide competition in which the participants must do a list of workouts which can range from Olympic lifting, to powerlifting, to gymnastics, to kettlebell training, or metabolic conditioning. Anyone from around the world can register and there are affiliated gyms in different countries to monitor and record the competitors’ workouts and if unable to do so, competitors can send in a video of themselves doing the given workout. The workout program is unknown to the participant before the start of the competition. Each week a different workout is sent and he or she will have the week to do the required exercise and submit their best score. With each passing week, the workouts are said to get more intense. This year’s competition has seen around 60,000 people register, more than double the number from last year.  The first Crossfit Games, which was held in 2007, had only 70 people! Amna, 22, who took her training to overdrive in the last four months to prepare for the competition, currently sits in 78th place in the Individual Women’s category after Open Week 1. To qualify for the next stage of the competition, which is the Regionals to be held in South Korea, Amna must finish in the top 60 in the whole of Asia in her category. There are currently 141 women competing in Asia and she is the first Emirati woman, and possibly the only GCC female national participating in the event. Overall there are almost 20,000 women around the world competing and Amna has a international score as well. She currently sits near the half-way point on the table on 10,764. A journalist by profession, Amna hopes her participation in an international event will inspire more Arab women to take part in similar competitions. Here she shares some of her thoughts with Sport360°'s Marouf Hussain. What made you take part in the CrossFit Games Open? For a long time I was training a in a women-only gym, but I was never satisfied with the atmosphere. In April 2011 I was introduced to Crossfit, when I read an ad online about it. I got in touch with my current coach Candice Howe, owner of CrossFit LifeSpark who won the title of the fittest woman in Asia last year and was a games athlete. I realized that Crossfit is exactly what I was looking for, because without Crossfit I wouldn't have known I had a competitive side in me. Hearing about her experience and seeing her train only motivated me more to consider taking part in this year's games. I made the decision to take part in the Open only in October last year, where I shifted my strength-based only training to Crossfit full mode! What are your aims for the competition? My aim is two-fold. My initial goal is to try my best and give it my all and hope that I will be part of the top 60 athletes who will make it to the Regionals this year. However, if I don't, nothing beats the experience of taking part in such an international competition, which will keep me hungry for more in the future. My second goal is to show that women all over the world, despite their nationality, religion, culture, and clothes can be just be as strong and there is no reason why anyone cannot do what I do, especially for Emirati women and Arabs in general. How have been your preparations for the competition? I have started my training in mid-October and the two coaches at CrossFit LifeSpark, Candice Howe and Ben Ford, have done a tremendous job in the past four months as they have been programming my training weekly to ensure I gain all the necessary skills to be able to compete in the Crossfit Games as well as get stronger. I also have an Olympic Weightlifting dedicated coach, Ikaika Paakaula, who has also been focusing on getting my technique better as well as increase the weights. Also a big part of my training has been going to a physiotherapist on a weekly basis to work on mobility issues as well as preventing injuries. I train 5-6 days a week with one or two rest days based on necessity.