Chris Spealler

Julie Foucher

Family Med Resident | 4x CrossFit Games Athlete | Pursuing Health Podcast

Katrin Davidsdottir

In 2016, four-time CrossFit Games veteran Katrin Tanja Davidsdottir did what only two other athletes have done in the history of the CrossFit Games: win the CrossFit Games twice (Annie Thorisdottir won the Games in 2011 and 2012, and Rich Froning held the men’s title from 2011-2014). A native of Reykjavik, Iceland, the former gymnast and track athlete took 30th in her first Games appearance in 2012 after less than a year of CrossFit, improving to 24th in 2013. Famous for recouping her mental strength after a devastating event at the 2014 Europe Regional sidelined her from the Games that year, she returned in 2015 with an improved focus and took the title of Fittest Woman on Earth. Now living in Natick, Massachusetts, she proved it was no fluke with a repeat victory in 2016.

Annie Thorisdottir

Annie Thorisdottir—or Iceland Annie, as she’s sometimes called—is a two-time CrossFit Games champion (2011-2012) and seven-time CrossFit Games veteran. Of those appearances, she’s stood on the podium four times—she took second in 2010 and 2014 in addition to her title-winning finishes—and with the exception of 2015, when she was forced to withdraw due to heat stroke, she’s never finished below the top 13. First recognized at the 2009 CrossFit Games, when she famously performed her first muscle-up mid-competition, Thorisdottir often competes with a smile and has been celebrated throughout her career for her positive attitude, which permeated even her season on the sidelines, when a back injury in 2013 forced her to sit out. A former gymnast, Thorisdottir owns CrossFit Reykjavik in Iceland.

Annie Sakamoto

Four-time CrossFit Games athlete (one team, two individual, one masters) Annie Sakamoto made her first masters Games appearance in 2016 with a second-place finish in the Masters Women 40-44 Division. After starting CrossFit in 2004, she became a trainer at the first CrossFit gym, the original CrossFit Santa Cruz in California. She has been a fan favorite ever since, famous for her 2005 appearance in a video of a workout that would later be known as Nasty Girls. In 2009, she helped team CrossFit West Santa Cruz to a 33rd-place finish at the Games before making her individual Games debut in 2011 with ninth-place finish, also winning the Spirit of the Games Award that year. In 2012, she took 23rd. Sakamoto has qualified for every Northern California and California Regional since then, and continues to coach at CrossFit Santa Cruz Central.