The 2009 CrossFit Games was amazing but it was the moments that the fans weren't watching that most struck me. I sat behind the athlete's fence, watching the individual athletes perform at their highest levels. Standing close enough to witness first-hand, I watched "OPT" seize up, I watched Iceland Annie glued to the ground at the muscle-up stage of the final workout, and then I watched my friend before the final event. 

To be honest, I saw defeat in his eyes before that first muscle-up attempt. He never shook off the displeasure of that sledge hammer and rowing debacle. He wasn't in contention for the podium, like he was the year before and that just had him thinking differently.  For the three amazing athletes that I watched fall short on that final day of the Games, I was no more disappointed than I was in Jeremy Thiel. Of course, I was shaken when I watched James Fitzgerald break down and I sat empathetically while Annie Thorisdottir couldn't do another muscle-up but Jeremy is a friend of mine. And he is one of the reasons that this Texas boy, and so many others, know that there is such a sport.

It is 2010 now and the future remains unwritten for these three individuals. Many counted OPT out for this year citing his age and the increasing physical demands of the CrossFit Games.  Many felt that Annie Thorisdottir would either gain impermeable strength from her heart-breaking finish or never participate in the sport again. But those are just assumptions. Neither "OPT" or "Iceland Annie" voiced an uncertainty for their futures in CrossFit but Jeremy seemed to be done with the sport. For an individual that is as accomplished as he, many believed that there was no way that he was going to open himself up to such vulnerability, once again.

The final event of the 2009 CrossFit Games was a chipper that began with 10 muscle-ups. Jeremy went for the first pull and never finished one.  In a rare moment of weakness, a muscle popped in his upper back. But there was just something about that moment that felt predictable to me. I knew that he wasn't going to do a single muscle-up. I saw a presence of useless sadness rather than useful anger. It seemed like it was mental disappointment that manifested in the form of physical injury. It happens to the best of us. There was just so much stress on his mind that the thought of performing movements that weren't necessarily in his wheelhouse, sent his body over the edge. I say this with such affirmation because I have been there, myself. 

For OPT, I felt that he would come back for 2010. I knew that Iceland Annie would come back as an even stronger machine (and she has). But for Jeremy, I wasn't so sure. It just seemed so devastating to his psyche that I couldn't perceive him opening himself up to that level of scrutiny again. For months, I heard rumors that he would not be training for the Games again and I believed them; 99 times out of a 100, when he says he will or won't do something-that's it. But then I got a phone call back in November.

"Hey Web, I am going to the 'All Cities Open' at CrossFit Dallas Central. It's time to go."

One of the first events that SICFIT covered would also be his first effort in making a return to CrossFit's international stage. There he would compete against the likes of: Vic Zachary, Charlie Gerszewski, Matthew Brisebois, Chase Ingraham, Spencer Nix, Jeff Reed and Ken C, many of the gentlemen that will be competing just days from now.

But what would happen during the "All Cities Open", I wondered? Would the outcome of the event, whatever it was to be, catapault him or drop him further into the depths of doubt? I watched him go through each workout with ease and in the end, in what was the year's best preview of the South Central regional qualifier, he went into a tie-breaker with a three-way tie for second place.  

Click Here for the Post-Event Interview with Thiel

The irony of sport is overwhelming sometimes. The tie-breaker was maximum repetitions of muscle-ups. He performed well, looked healthy, and gained confidence. That was nearly six months ago and any doubt that remained after the 2009 Games has, just recently, given way to what he likes to call "Battle Mode."

There is just something about the unique stages that CrossFit athletes go through. Everywhere, you hear that "this person isn't competing this year" or "she decided to do affiliate team instead" and you begin to marvel at the exceptional amount of mental strength that it takes to gear up for this season, year in and year out. 

Going into this week, for each of the athletes, there has been a remarkable journey and a grab bag of emotions. What remains constant is that each athlete has the ability to write their own future. They can decide to hang it up, to stop training, to choose to focus on their affiliate teams, or anything else that will help them forget the pain of defeat. Or they can face the pain of those disappointments. They can reflect and then decide to write their own futures. That will be an underlying theme for this year's Games. Sometimes, the new kids don't want it as much and sometimes those eagerly-waiting newbies are not working nearly as hard as the men and women who once fell down and made the decision to stand taller than ever before. 

I believe that the beauty of sport is that even the invulnerable are vulnerable, every once in a while. The best sporting moments that I have ever seen are when moments of vulnerability become catalysts, pushing an athlete towards their personal best. SICFIT wishes the best of luck to all of the athletes who have decided to write their own future. 

Web Smith | SICFIT
Blog: CrossFit Chronicles: The Smith Family