Friday 15 July 2016

The Games Are Coming: Alethea Boon

ALETHEA BOON New Zealand

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This Fiji-born New Zealander will be making her second appearance at the Games, having debuted last year in her first year competing as an individual athlete.

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Regular Wonder Woman is Alethea. A former gymnast, she competed at two Commonwealth Games before retiring from the sport in 2004. After a move to Sydney, she found CrossFit and hasn't looked back since, but unlike many (probably the vast majority but I really don't know) of the other women (and men) at the Games, Alethea isn't a CrossFit professional. She has a day job. An office job. A 9 to 5 that she fits her training around. Oh, and she also represents New Zealand as a weightlifter, recently winning a medal at the Oceania Weightlifting Championships.

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So... after qualifying for the Games she just slotted in an international weightlifting event before the Games themselves. And all the while working full-time. And there's a wedding to plan as well. Or not. It’s only until we get the CrossFit Games out of the way! she explains. I can only give so much of myself to each task and I need to prioritize, so unfortunately that one’s taken a backseat at the moment.

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And this year, Alethea is going to be a slightly better-prepared athlete at the Games than she was first time around. I only just changed my diet in December 2015. I was happy and quite content living on chocolate and salt & vinegar crisps and Oreos every evening, she says. I thought if I could make it to the CrossFit Games eating like that then I’d be fine. I’m eating a lot cleaner now and I feel that much better. I’m more alert and I’m recovering much quicker, so I’m sticking with it!

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Off-season you'll find her with a beer in one hand and a pool cue in the other, but she's 100% on it the rest of the time, taking Sunday strolls with "my friends Kettle & Bell" till her shoulders are ready to explode just to improve her performance on one event - Struggle with a certain movement? she asks. Don't shy away, do more of it!

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You can't actually keep up with Alethea, so don't you even think about trying, but you can follow her adventures on Instagram. And there are also a few clips of her previous life as a gymnast at the Commonwealth Games on YouTube - vaulting, for example.

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Haven't found any weightlifting footage... yet.

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