Tricia Hyon / courtesy photo
Summit County business owner John George left the 2023 CrossFit Games wanting to achieve more.
After making it through the qualifying process and going to the national competition, George – who owns Mountain Wave and Blue River Sports – fell short of his ultimate goal of winning the championship.
Instead of throwing in the towel and focusing on other active pursuits in Summit County, George returned to CrossFit Breckenridge, where he has trained for more than a decade now, and began working with trainer Dan Messinger. to achieve his dream of being named the “Fittest on Earth”.
CrossFit is a popular fitness program that involves consistently varied functional movements performed at high intensity. Common exercises include rowing, deadlifts, running, muscle-ups, burpees, dumbbell presses, and box jumps.
Each year the CrossFit Games are held to find the “fittest” CrossFit athletes on earth with competitors competing as individuals or in teams.
With good fitness built up cycling around Summit County, George was invited to his first CrossFit workout in 2009 by a close friend. George was a little hesitant to join what seemed like a fitness fad at the time, but he soon discovered that it was the perfect exercise system for him as he got older.
“It worked really well for me,” George said. “Because as you get older, you tend to fade away. I feel like this is what people my age need – to lift some weights.
George gradually fell in love with CrossFit and in 2018 he started competing in CrossFit competitions. Although this was his first season on the CrossFit circuit, George managed to place 26th in the Southwest Region, 294th in the US and 352nd in the world.
George took a few seasons off from competing over the next few years before returning in 2022. However, it was during the 2023 season that George’s hard work paid off, eventually making it to his first CrossFit Games in 2023.
“I literally had technical difficulties in 2022,” George said. “I didn’t have decent wifi at the point I needed it. There was a deadline. I just couldn’t get my practice going in the semi-final. Last year, Dan Messinger, my coach, took care of the technical stuff.”
George qualified for the 2023 CrossFit Games by competing virtually in the open competition as the Summit County resident placed in the top 10% of video submissions of his CrossFit workout.
George then went on to compete in the quarterfinals and semifinals where he was able to place high enough to earn a spot at the CrossFit Games in Madison, Wisconsin. Competing against other 65-plus-year-old CrossFit athletes from around the world, George racked up points in assigned workouts.
George placed first in the 5K run, third in the “Endure the Coliseum” exercise, fourth in the “Helen” exercise, sixth in the pull-up competition and seventh in the gymnastics competition.
George received a total of 520 points for his CrossFit workout series, tying American Tom Muhlbeier for third place. With the same number of points, the tiebreaker came down to the finals where Muhlbeier was ahead of George. Muhlbeier eventually got the final spot on the podium while George finished a close fourth.
“It was so disappointing to be so close and not get there,” George said of narrowly missing out on the podium in 2023. “It was motivation to try again.”
George returned to CrossFit Breckenridge where Messinger and Dr. Josh Jones of Apollo Performance helped George achieve his goal of finishing on the podium at the 2024 CrossFit Games.
In the months leading up to the 2024 CrossFit Games, George said he’s tried to channel the hard-working mindset many Summit County athletes have while pursuing their own sports.
“It’s like anything else,” George said. “Summit County has so many athletes and everyone is training for something. Everyone has got the same work hard to a certain extent and back a little mentality. That’s mostly what I did.”
By attending scheduled workouts at CrossFit Breckenridge and running on his own, George established himself as an athlete who could finish on the podium at the 2024 race.
For the second year in a row, George qualified for the CrossFit Games, this time traveling to Birmingham, Alabama for the championships from August 29th to September 1st.
George, 68, scored a total of 734 points in the four-day competition to be crowned the ‘Fittest on Earth’ in the 65 plus age category. After coming up short in 2023, the success was a testament not only to George’s perseverance, but also to the unwavering support of the Summit County community.
“It was kind of a big deal,” George said. “When you get to my age, your natural thought process tells you that you should be done. It’s so cool not to be done. It’s a bit exciting. I can still go. … Having that support (Messinger and Josh) there was amazing. I can’t say enough nice things about it.”
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