CrossFit: Noah Ohlsen talks Mat Fraser’s retirement, if they’re friends and the ‘discouraging’ thought of competing against him

Name: CrossFit's China ambitions face huge hurdles despite middle-class demand for exercise options
Uploaded: 2021-03-23T12:00:12.000Z
Duration: 3 min 46 s
Description: CrossFit's China ambitions face huge hurdles despite middle-class demand for exercise options

Ohlsen, who many have pegged as one of the front-runners to win the 2021 CrossFit Games, speaks at length about Fraser

The Miami native says competing against him was tough, and that he now sees a golden opportunity to win

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Noah Ohlsen says he is not buddies with Mat Fraser, but it’s not a big deal. Photo: Handout

Patrick Blennerhassett

Published: 8:00pm, 23 Mar 2021Updated: 8:00pm, 23 Mar 2021

Noah Ohlsen talked about his friendship with Mat Fraser over the years, or more accurately, lack of it.

“Pretty neutral,” he said in response to a fan question on the Corpus Animus Podcast about if he was friends with him. “I would love to be friends with him, but I think just like personality-wise we never super clicked. I think because we were always competitors, we rarely had opportunities where we were outside competition hanging out.”

Ohlsen, who came second to Fraser at the 2019 CrossFit Games and finished fourth last year, also said he sent a text to the five-time champion, who retired from the sport this February, but didn’t hear back from him, adding it was “no big deal”.

The Miami native, who has become one of the veterans of the sport probably got closer to anyone in dethroning Fraser. During the 2019 event, Fraser was penalised for accidentally dropping a weight out of his rucksack and Ohlsen took the leader’s jersey for a substantial portion of the finals. He currently sits third in the world after two of three workouts of the 2021 CrossFit Open.

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CrossFit's China ambitions face huge hurdles despite middle-class demand for exercise options

Of course, Fraser stormed back to win it all that year and retired the following season. Ohlsen said hearing he was retiring earlier this year and would not compete in the 2021 season was definitely bittersweet.