The Surf Coast athlete taking on the world

A Surf Coast woman has secured a ticket to compete among the fittest athletes in the world.

Christina Grant has been training in CrossFit for more than a decade, but despite her dedication to the sport, she never imagined she would one day earn a spot at the CrossFit Games.

The mother of two recently competed at the CrossFit Games semi-finals, the Torian Pro, in Brisbane.

After a strong opening day, Grant suddenly found herself in the hunt for a Games berth.

Sitting second overall, she had performed strongly in events she would normally consider among her weaker disciplines.

“I had to stay realistic and not get ahead of myself, but also be realistic on the other end of the spectrum that I could make it [to the CrossFit games],” Grant said.

Having spent years watching the world’s best athletes compete, Grant said having the opportunity to join them on the competition floor was a dream come true.

“You think of them as the top one per cent,” she said.

“These are the fittest people in the world and to be considered among them, as one of them, is absolutely amazing.”

Over the next month Grant will increase her training schedule to help prepare for the multi-day competition in July.

The focus will be on building endurance and handling high training volumes to better simulate the demands of the Games.

As soon as she returned home from Brisbane, the community at the Bells Beach Performance Hub – where she trains – rallied around her.

With only a month to organise flights, accommodation, passports and visas for the family’s trip to the United States, logistics have become almost as important as training.

Despite competing on one of CrossFit’s biggest stages, Grant said athletes receive little financial assistance to get there.

“CrossFit is a very new sport – this is the 20th year anniversary of the CrossFit games – so there’s not really money in it and it costs the athletes a lot,” she said.

“I’ve got a lot to do at the gym, they’re really around me with fundraising events and a GoFundMe page.”

Several members of the gym community have already booked flights to the United States to support her in person.

Grant said the support has been overwhelming.

And regardless of the result, she believes the journey has already provided an important lesson for her daughters.

Thinking about the example she is setting still makes her emotional.

“I feel so proud to be able to do something where I can show them that I can do hard things,” Grant said.

“In the past, I’ve spoken to my husband about feeling really selfish about spending so much time going to the gym and training really hard. He always says, ‘Don’t worry, you’re showing these girls such an amazing lesson’.

“He reminds me that I’m teaching them really valuable life lessons. Fitness is such a huge part of my life, and I couldn’t imagine not doing it.”

Grant will compete in San Jose, California from 21-23 July in the women’s 40-44 age group at the 2026 CrossFit Games.