If you want to know what it takes to be a champion, check out these kids. Each one of them practices diligence and hard work — and not just in their physical training, but in other areas of life as well.
1. Dallin Pepper
A 16-year-old from Spanish Fork, Utah, Dallin Pepper took first place in the Boys 16-17 division of this year’s CrossFit Open — not just in the South West region, but in the whole world. The teen took the top of the podium at the CrossFit Games in the Teenage Boys 14-15 division last year, and is aiming to do it again this year (while maintaining a 4.0 GPA in school). He’s only been training in the sport since January of 2016.
2. Sydney Sullivan
When Sydney Sullivan was 12 years old, she was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease that attacks the liver, autoimmune hepatitis type 2. Around the same time, her older brother and dad introduced her to the sport. A few short years later, she went to the 2015 CrossFit Games and won the Teenage Girls 14-15 division.
Six months later, her disease worsened to the point her doctors in Oklahoma put her on a waiting list for a liver transplant. She went back to the Games in 2016 lighter and weaker due to her disease — but still managed to take sixth place.
During spring of 2017, after her doctors urged her to go out of state for a live donor liver transplant, Sydney’s older brother donated part of his liver to her. She has since fully embraced the recovery process and is back to working out, rebuilding her body with the help of a new, healthy liver.
3. Dylan Kade
Number three in the world for this year’s Open in the Boys 16-17 division, 17-year-old Dylan Kade is on track for his third consecutive appearance at the CrossFit Games. The athlete got into the sport several years ago after watching a video of Froning in the final event of the 2012 Games.
With the help of YouTube videos, Dylan started teaching himself functional fitness in his parents’ basement, at times dragging a weighted tire up and down his street. Before long, a weightlifting set was his request for Christmas. He later joined CrossFit Maven.
In 2016, at age 15, he went to the Games for the first time and took fifth place. Last year, he took 12th in the Boys 16-17 division. Time will tell how he does this year, but we see big things in his future.
4. Kaela Stephano
In 2014, at 13 years old, Kaela Stephano started doing functional fitness. Two years later, she was named the fittest on earth at the 2016 Games in the Teenage Girls 14-15 division. In 2017, in the next age bracket, she took first place again. Her 2018 Open score currently sets her as first in the world for Girls 16-17.
From Boca Raton, Florida, Kaela spent most of her childhood in dance. She was homeschooled from kindergarten up and finished high school last year at age 16 with more than 60 college credits. Shortly after she got into the sport, she started competing in weightlifting — and before being named the fittest on earth in 2016, she became a national weightlifting champion, and in 2017, at the USA Weightlifting Youth National Championships, she set a youth American record with a 93kg clean and jerk.
That’s quite a resume for a 17-year-old, but Kaela has no plans to stop anytime soon. She’s aiming to compete as a weightlifter in the 2020 Olympics, and in a couple years, she wants to take the podium at the CrossFit Games as an individual competitor.
5. Tuteari Te Rauna-Lamont
When Tuteari Te Rauna-Lamont’s parents signed him up for the sport, they weren’t thinking of him competing on the world stage. The purpose was to improve his self-discipline, and for Tuteari, train for rugby. But just three years into functional fitness, Tuteari qualified for the World Teen Gauntlet Gathering in California, and two years later, he went to the 2017 CrossFit Games.
The 15-year-old from Gisborne, New Zealand, trains at CrossFit 4010, and with his eighth-place finish in this year’s Open, has qualified for another appearance at the Games.
Who inspires you to be better??
Main image: Dylan Kade/Instagram
