WORDS CAMERON NICHOL // PHOTOGRAPHY DEWALD KIRSTEN
Cameron Nichol is a former British Olympic rower and medical doctor turned competitive fitness coach and athlete
It’s 2004. In Athens, Greece, the men’s coxless four led by Matthew Pinsent is hurtling towards the Olympic finish line with Canada on their tail. 7,000 miles away in the USA, a guy called Greg Glassman opens his second CrossFit gym. Fast-forward to 2017 and millions of CrossFitters are practising Glassman’s methodology at one of 14,000+ affiliate gyms worldwide. In addition to a boom in participation numbers, the methodology has evolved into an elite sport, with the world’s fittest competing at the CrossFit® Games each year.