Games on for Tuteari as ‘fittest on Earth’ are sorted

SNATCH FOR SUCCESS: Gisborne teenager Tuteari Te Rauna-Lamont is already a champ in the eyes of his whanau, hapu and community. He will test himself even further at the 2017 Reebok CrossFit Games, which start in Madison, Wisconsin tomorrow. Picture by Paul Rickard

GISBORNE teenager Tuteari Te Rauna-Lamont will be ready to face the world’s best when he steps up at the 2017 Reebok CrossFit Games in the United States tomorrow.

The games are dubbed the world’s premier test to find the “fittest on Earth” and Tuteari goes into his teens 14-15 years boys’ division ranked No 8 in the world.

Tuteari, parents Henry Lamont and Janelle Te Rauna and coach Darren White arrived in Madison, the capital city of Wisconsin, last week.

The 14-year-old has spent much of his time training and preparing for the biggest event in his young life.

The Gisborne crew say they have been treated like “whanau” by Sanctify Fitness, the local CrossFit gym where Tuteari has been training.

“They have been awesome. The owner, coaches and members have been really welcoming,” Janelle said.

“They have made us feel like whanau. We’ve already made relationships for life.”

It has been the experience of a lifetime for Tuteari, who has been able to work out in some state-of-the-art gyms, as well as meet some of his CrossFit idols.

His whanau are already proud of his achievements in simply getting to the games and believe he will represent his whanau, hapu, iwi, community and country with distinction.

“No matter where he places, we are all very proud of him,” Janelle said. “He has another year in this division so even better.”

Tuteari’s competition schedule kicks off with two events tomorrow — the 1-rep-max snatch (an athlete’s heaviest successful snatch lift) and the run-swim-run (2.4-kilometre run, 500-metre swim, 2.4km run).

He has three gruelling events on Saturday — the assault lunge, bar fight and sprint o-course obstacle race. There are three more intense workouts on Sunday — the vest triplet in which athletes are required to complete four rounds of running 400m, doing 24 squats and 12 burpee box jump-overs while wearing a 14-pound vest; the double-under snatch; and quatrain which features muscle-ups, wall-ball shots, handstand walks and sandbar carrying. The grand finale event is on Monday.

Points scored from all events go towards a competitor’s final total.

Follow Tuteari’s journey on the Facebook page Tuteari crossfit journey to Reebok Crossfit Games in Madison Wisconsin USA or on the CrossFit 4010 page.