China’s CrossFit champion Zhou Zhenhua on what it takes to make it to the top – ‘No pain, no gain’
- The 27-year-old was able to wrestle away the country champion mantle from Hong Kong’s Ant Haynes, but still faces an uphill battle to reach the CrossFit Games
- Zhou says ‘to win the championship is naturally good news for an athlete, but it’s still very ordinary. No pain, no gain. It should be like this.’
The 2019 CrossFit Games stand as an anomaly when it comes to the sport.
The introduction of country champions, a move by former CEO and founder Greg Glassman, who was ousted in a whirlwind of controversy last year, meant a staggering 141 men and 129 women competed in the finals. The new format was short-lived and China’s county champion Xhou Zhenhua said it has been a wild ride when you throw Covid-19 in too.
The 2020 season was largely pushed online and virtually all the proposed Sactionals were axed after the early part of the year. Now for 2021, CrossFit went with a hybrid season, and many of the quasi-regional competitions got pushed online due to the pandemic. But by the time the games rolled around in August, the sport was back to an in-person competition with fans in Madison, Wisconsin.
“What a familiar feeling to switch to the Games system that’s similar to the past,” said the 27-year-old. “People around me are as active as ever. CrossFit China has officially arranged offline matches and lives broadcasts. As an athlete, I enjoy the enthusiasm and applause of the general public, relatives, and friends, and I generally feel healthy, sunny, uplifting and living.”
