Athlete Spotlight: The Pacific Region’s Men Headed to the Games
Written by admin in Events,
18 min read Apart from Dave Castro’s very cryptic clues, this year’s CrossFit Games individual events are still widely unknown. What’s certain is the athletes will run, swim, squat, snatch, row, and climb well past the point of exhaustion… and three deserving men (and women) will end the week with a medal, title, and considerable cash prize.
Here are the five badass men who qualified from the Pacific region who will be showing up on August 1st ready to fight for a podium finish.
James Newbury
James Newbury spent four years as one of Australia’s top athletes before qualifying for his first CrossFit Games in 2016, and he’s returned every year since. A former semi-professional rugby player for the Queensland and Sydney Rugby Leagues, current owner of CrossFit Mode in Adelaide, South Australia, a 533-pound deadlifter, and an Australian Ninja Warrior Competitor, Newbury’s athletic background is diverse, which will undoubtedly be an advantage for whatever crazy fitness feats Castro throws at the athletes this year.
Newbury took 24th in his rookie Games appearance in 2016 and 26th last year. But his calm focus at the CrossFit Pacific Regionals this year suggests he’s worked extensively on his mental game and is ready to fight for a top 10 finish. His motto? Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.
Dean Linder-Leighton
The 27-year-old has been on the cusp of qualifying for the Games since 2013. He finished 15th in the Pacific region in 2013, 21st in 2014, 8th in 2015, took a little pause in 2016, and 9th in 2017. But this year, he punched his ticket to the Games.
Most noteworthy was his 1st-place finish on Event 3, where he handstand walked his way to a “W.” Linder-Leighton credits his mental strength for his strong finish at Regionals: “A lot to take away from the weekend and build on, but very happy with the weekend and sticking to my game plan for every event no matter the outcome.” At the Games, we can expect to see him dialed in.
Khan Porter
If there’s an athlete you would want to grab a beer with, it’s this one — which means if you don’t follow this guy on Instagram, you better start. Need proof? He went viral after posting himself dancing to Beyoncé.
But beyond being an all-star entertainer, Porter has remained one of Australia’s leading athletes since his first Regional appearance in 2013, where he took 10th after just one year of functional fitness. Since then, he’s made his way to the Games in 2014, 2015, 2016. After finishing 7th in 2017, he’ll be back in Madison this year for his 4th appearance, hoping to beat his best Games finish of 27th overall. Oh, and if Castro throws in a swim, we’ll expect to see this level of extra.
Royce Dunne
This guy is STRONG. He has a 496-pound back squat, a 365-pound clean and jerk, and a 573-pound deadlift. So, imagine the disappointment when he made Regionals in 2017 and there were no barbells (this hilarious vid sums it up perfectly).
But this year, Dunne took the Regionals workouts and brought the heat (especially during the barbell workouts). Going into Event 6, he was in 10th, 36 points out of qualification, but he finished the For Time workout in 4:05.02 for an event win. (The 100 points he earned were enough to catapult him to fourth overall.)
“Rob Forte went team and gave me a spot,” Dunne joked about his qualification, which honestly, who doesn’t love that kind of humility?
Speaking to The WOD Life, Dunne says, “The Games is a dream come true. Literally. It was once this lofty, ‘How would it be?’ And now it’s a reality.”
Fingers crossed the Games gives the guy a chance to one-rep max on something… anything. Either way, Dunne knows what his goals are. He tells TWL, “My goal is primarily to learn and take it all in, secondarily to try and make the Invitational team.”
Zeke Grove
With two Games appearances under his belt, Grove is going to Madison hoping to hear his name called to the podium for the first time. But just because he’s been to the Games before (where he logged 39th- and 33rd-place finishes overall) doesn’t mean he expected to return.
After the 2018 Pacific Regionals, when Grove found out he’d be going back to Madison, he was emotional. “I didn’t expect it,” he said. “Coming in today I knew I had to do something special,” he added, noting that he performed way better on Events 4, 5, and 6 than he had on the previous three events.
Speaking of emotions, his Instagram announcement that he was the 5th fittest man in the Pacific region is seriously sweet.
One thing is for certain: Grove isn’t afraid to roll up his sleeves and get to work. He tells The WOD Life, “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.”
Main image: Khan Porter/Instagram
