Africa Guardian

This event was more than just a competition, it was a chance for athletes from various backgrounds to share their love for fitness and forge community to professionalise the Sport of Fitness in South Africa and Africa.

The 2023 Fittest Games hosted in Parys and Potchefstroom from 24 to 28 August was an opportunity to unite the fittest athletes in South Africa and Mozambique in a competition that tested mind, body and soul over four special days.

This event was more than just a competition, it was a chance for athletes from various backgrounds to share their love for fitness and forge community to professionalise the Sport of Fitness in South Africa and Africa.

Building on the success of the Fittest Games in 2022, Ryno Verster (organiser) divided the competition into Elite and all other CrossFit categories for a unique challenge. Six athletes (three men and three women) competed in the Elite category which saw a variety of challenges being thrown their way to test them to their limits.

The first challenge (Camp Fittest) was at Koedoeslaagte in Parys with a Holy Mountain trail run of 8.5 kilometres and 1000 ft elevation, that tested the athletes’ endurance. Next up, the elites took on a 4.5 km technical mountain bike ride before completing a CrossFit workout, including an archery activity. The second day started in the Custom Built CrossFit Black Ops Hangar in the centre of Potchefstroom, where the elites competed in various benchmark workouts where deadlifts, shoulder presses, ring muscle ups and squat snatches made up some of the gruelling exercises. Saturday and Sunday saw all other categories join in to kick off at the Kleinplaas Sports Village.

These days consisted of 7 workouts. The 62 athletes who competed in this event needed to qualify through in-house (box) qualifiers, followed by provincial semi-finals to reach the Fittest Games (finals) in Potchefstroom.

Workout 1: “Let the Games Begin” –
5 km run

Workout 2: “Ignition” – 30 kettlebell
deadlifts, 21–15–9 (burpee box jump
overs and wall balls), 30 kettlebell
deadlifts.

Workout 3: “Front Loader” – 300-metre
row, 10 front squats, 20 toes to bar

Workout 4: “Oly” – snatch and clean and
jerk (Olympic weightlifting)

Workout 5: “Sling” – 1.5 km sprint with a
sling cycle, followed by two archery shots

Workout 6: “Give that man a kettlebells” –
5 clean and jerk, Farmers Carry (metres)
50/40/30/20/10), rope climb

Workout 7: “Dallmayr double shot” – 50
double unders, 10 alternating dumbbells.
Snatches, 5 Bar Muscle Ups.

According to Verster, this event would not be possible without the support of his wife, Bronwen Verster and their Mighty Team, a group of 20 to 30 volunteers who are part of the Fittest Game, Crossfit Black Ops and CrossFit Ground Zero and other boxes. “It was a massive success, and we aim to unite the world here in Potch by hosting a Fittest World Cup in 2025. This year, we had top athletes from Mozambique, and each year our worldwide community is growing in strength and numbers. One of our big goals is to complete the construction of our Colosseum here at the Kleinplaas Sports Village that will play host to The Fittest Games,” added Verster.

“The Fittest Games take place under one spirit, where competitors not only enjoy the sport but care for one another and form an everlasting community. We have an amazing team that helps steer this ship in an exciting direction. It’s all about the love for the sport and the community.”

Elite category placings:

Men:

1. Ruan Potgieter (Vivify U – Wildcard – Gauteng)

2. Tyrone Atkin (CrossFit Vredenburg – Western Cape)
3. Francois Oelofse (CrossFit – The Rivers – Pretoria)

Women:

1. Gilmarie Reyneke (CrossFit Artaxes – Mpumalanga)
2. Lani Venter (CrossFit 10 Star – Pretoria)
3. Ziamay Malan (Junkies 4 Fitness – Limpopo).

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