By Giuliano Bellabono
“I just want to lay everything out on the table to see how far I can get.” says Justin Liwanag.
The Reebok CrossFit Open began late February with over 2,400 competitors in the men’s individual division — Justin outlasted most, ranking 28th out of 48 selected to compete at the CrossFit Regionals beginning in May.
“It was a big decision for me to compete individually,“ says Justin. “If you mess up, you have nobody to blame but yourself.”
Last year, Justin was ranked 65th and missed out on competing in the Regionals.
Since then, Justin has been training and coaching CrossFit at Undefeated CrossFit — a “box” as he likes to call it, located on Waverley Street.
This year, he’s not only competing to win, but so is his brother Jessie.
“Undefeated CrossFit is the only team in Manitoba who are going to the Regionals,” says Jessie. “I think it’s great to be competing with a team, I don’t think I’d want to be in my brother’s place because of all the pressure.”
Jessie is competing with seven other members from Undefeated CrossFit located on Waverely Street.
“For me, competing with a team is just like being in another class at the box,” says Jessie. “There are seven other competitors there excited for you, and they support you no matter what.”
While there is excitement at the box surrounding the competition, each competitor is responsible for expenses to make the trip, including flights and hotel accomodation. As an individual competitor, Justin has a $200 registration fee at the competition. Jessie, along with his seven team members will pay a $400 registration fee.
If you are interested in donating to the CrossFit team and Justin as an individual competitor, visit http://www.gofundme.com/8cvn6g to donate.
Any amount is greatly appreciated.
According to its website, The CrossFit Games is known as “The Test of Fitness.”
The CrossFit Games aim to find the fittest on Earth. Justin, along with Jessie and his teammates are one stage away from qualifying for the CrossFit Games.
The Games — the final stage in the 2014 Reebok CrossFit Games — begin late July. From over thousands of competitors in the Open, to only hundreds in the Games. The Games will determine the fittest man, the fittest woman, and the fittest team.
