#125: Producing CrossFit Games and Lessons From a Student Athlete - Sr. Director of Sport Operations Heather Lawrence

The Jedburgh Podcast

Six days. Hundreds of events. Thousands of volunteers. One mission. Crown the Fittest on Earth. CrossFit Games is a production like none other in fitness, requiring a coordinated effort down to the minute and leadership with an unwavering commitment to winning.

CrossFit’s Sport Operations team is charged with making the games happen. They’re also responsible for programming the individual workouts we see in the games, across boxes and on the daily website. Heather Lawrence, CrossFit’s Sr. Director of Sport Operations, joined Fran Racioppi and Jessie Graff from the US Army Fitness Truck at 2023 NOBULL CrossFit Games just after the community 5k to break down just how the games are planned, produced, and executed; and how programming workouts is the key to success in CrossFit as an athlete and a coach.

Heather began her athletic career as an Olympic-level diver building an elite career in sport business post competition. She is the author of 20 Secrets for NCAA Student-Athletes & the Event Management Blueprint, as well as a professor of sports administration at Ohio University. As three former collegiate athletes, Heather, Jessie and Fran go deep on what we learn about life from college sports, setting the example for others to follow, and how character is built in micro moments of discipline.

Learn more and read the transcript on The Jedburgh Podcast Website. Subscribe to us and follow @jedburghpodcast on all social media. Watch the full video version on YouTube.

Highlights:

• 0:00 Welcome to the CrossFit Games and the global 5k
• 4:03 How CrossFit develops coaches with feedback
• 7:05 Breaking down the definition of CrossFit
• 10:20 How CrossFit is programmed each day
• 14:42 Producing the CrossFit Games?
• 21:15 Heather’s transition from student athlete to sport business
• 25:54 What we learn from being a student athlete
• 29:50 Setting the example through micro-moments
• 35:50 The future of CrossFit

Quotes:

• “They are constantly receiving that feedback and giving feedback. It’s not personal.” (5:28)
• “It is training those core movement patterns that you replicate out in real life.” (8:10)
• “The majority of your days in the gym are going to be a little bit uncomfortable.” (9:43)
• “There are other things that you’re learning through sport that are so much more important than an eventual paycheck or an eventual gold medal.” (23:46)
• “One thing I do see with student athletes is a much better ability when the going gets hard.” (27:40)
• “Everything that you are doing, you’re a leader in the gym.” (32:56)

Heather’s Three Daily Foundations to Success

• Appreciating the people around me
• Taking responsibility when things don’t well
• Consistently ask for input

This episode is brought to you by US Army, Wodify, Hero Coffee, GORUCK & Compass Workforce Solutions.