CrossFit Games 2019: Mat Fraser’s penalty bounce back shows he has more than physical strength
- The champion did not wake up with mental toughness, but developed it over years of consistent training
When Mat Fraser bounced back from a costly time-penalty to win the Split Triplet and the Clean on day three of the CrossFit Games, he proved it takes more than the sum total of your physical parts to be a great champion.
There is little to differentiate the physical abilities of the ‘Fittest on Earth’, but to gain that one per cent advantage needed to win the Games, athletes must have the mental steel Fraser put on display.
A minute was added to his time, and the points were adjusted to match his revised finishing position. Fraser still lead overall, but his comfortable lead over Noah Ohlsen was reduced to just two points from 24.
Ohlsen then seized the opportunity and took overall first place with a win in the next event, called Mary.
The issues did not stop for Fraser. The next day, he did not make it out of the first heat on the sprint event. He slipped further behind Olhsen. Momentum was shifting away from Fraser and the fans smelled an upset.