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CrossFit Games
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2020 CrossFit Games’ 239 national champions announced – Hong Kong’s Ant Haynes and Shanghai’s Chen Aichan to represent China

  • For the second year, CrossFit has crowned country champions from the 2020 CrossFit Open, up from 236 national champions from 2019

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Ant Haynes at last year’s Asia CrossFit Championship, where he came third. Photo: Shaun Cleary
Patrick Blennerhassett

Ant Haynes continues his reign as China’s fittest man (Hong Kong and Taiwan are lumped in with China under CrossFit’s country rules), while newcomer Bobo Chen Aichan from Shanghai will represent the women this August in Madison, Wisconsin.

Haynes was the top male athlete from China in the 2020 CrossFit Open (his second in a row since CrossFit changed its qualifications rules starting last year), finishing 282nd in the world overall. Last August during his first trip to the CrossFit Games, Haynes had a stellar competition coming 27th overall. He is a strength and conditioning coach at Coastal Fitness Performance Training in North Point and formerly played for the Hong Kong sevens squad.

Haynes, 30, said he definitely had to up his game once again to qualify as the top participant from China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.

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“I’m stoked that my hard work is paying off,” said Haynes, who first broke onto the CrossFit scene in 2014 when he came 14th in the Asia Regionals. “Athletes in China are getting better year on year, so this year was definitely more challenging for me to get the top spot.”

Ant Haynes at the Asia CrossFit Championship. Photo: Mick Soncharoen.
Ant Haynes at the Asia CrossFit Championship. Photo: Mick Soncharoen.
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Haynes said 2020 is all about one thing: building off his performance at the 2019 CrossFit Games which saw him finish higher than multiple heavyweights, including previous winner Ben Smith (2015) and Jeffrey Adler (who came fifth in the 2020 CrossFit Open).

“I can’t wait to get back out there, but for now the focus is on working my weak areas and hitting a few Sanctional events.”

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