CrossFit Games Rookie Spotlight: Lexi Neely and Her Six-Year Journey to the Games
Lexi Neely thought she would have to put her CrossFit Games dream on hold for yet another year.
- The 21-year-old Neely entered the final event of the 2024 North America East Semifinals, sitting just two spots above the cutline in ninth.
She cruised through the Echo bike calories and 15 muscle-ups and was the first athlete in her heat to get to the final dumbbell walking lunges.
All was well for a while until her grip started to give out.
One no-rep.
Two no-reps.
Pretty soon, almost the entire field had passed her. She wound up 25th in the event.
As she waited for the announcer to reveal the 11 qualifiers at the North America East Semifinals in Knoxville, TN, Neely wasn’t expecting to hear her name.
- “I thought I lost it,” Neely said in an interview with the Morning Chalk Up.
Turns out, she almost lost it, but Neely managed to edge out Anikha Greer by a single point, claiming the final qualifying spot from North America.
- “I was very surprised when my name was called…I was shocked. I was shaking, and I was just so surprised,” she said. “It just didn’t seem real.”
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A Long Road to the Games
Though Neely is only 21, she has been competing in the sport for eight years. After a successful youth gymnastics career, Neely found CrossFit as a teenager and qualified for the 2018 CrossFit Games at 15.
She finished 19th.
- Getting a small taste of the Games that year motivated Neely to get back as a teen and, ultimately, as an individual.
But the task turned out to be harder than she realized. The following year, in 2019, Neely was 16th in the Age Group Quarterfinal, but there were only 10 spots available for each teen division that year.
- The year after that, in 2020, Neely finished sixth and earned her spot at the Games, but they were, of course, canceled because of the pandemic.
In 2021, her first year as an individual, she decided to compete on a team before getting back to her ultimate plan to be an individual athlete.
- In the last two seasons, Neely has had solid performances at Semifinals on the Indy side — 20th in 2022 and 17th in 2023 — but not quite enough to break through to the Games.
Neely admits it was challenging at times to watch other teen athletes like Emma Lawson, Haley Adams, and Mal O’Brien make the jump from the teen to individual division look easy while she had more work to do to get to that level.
- “I definitely struggled with confidence and having the confidence that I belonged as an individual,” said Neely, a healthcare and business student at Butler University in Indianapolis, IN.
She kept reminding herself that the majority of girls she competed with at the Games in 2018 aren’t even competing at all anymore.
- “So I just had to stay committed and kept putting in the work. It was not easy, but obviously, it was really worth it,” she said.
The 2024 Difference
Up until a year and a half ago, Neely was following PRVN Fitness’s general programming. It helped her improve consistently, but she “still had some pretty big holes,” she admitted.
She knew she needed a coach to program for her specific strengths and weaknesses, so she turned to Chase Larrison, the owner of her gym, BD CrossFit, in Indianapolis.
He also encouraged Neely to return to group classes after noticing she had been spending most of the time training “in the corner by myself.”
- “I enjoy the community, and it increases the intensity a lot,” Neely said. She now does the 4:30 p.m. class every day as one part of her training program and also coaches part-time at the gym.
She added: “I just love being in the gym with the community…and I think it just helps me feel more involved in the community.”
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Looking to Fort Worth
Heading into her first Games this summer, Neely’s biggest goal is just to “soak it all in,” she said.
- “I don’t think I have any big goals for the Games. Just kind of to take it all in and get some experience. Obviously, the goal was to make it to the Games, so I’m still going to go in and compete and I’m not just going to show up and be happy to be there…but I don’t really have any expectations.”
Although she’s a rookie, she doesn’t really feel like one.
- “Not many know much about me. I kind of have slid under the radar even though I have been around for a while [putting in the work],” she said.
And because of that, because it has taken her a while to get there, she’s going to appreciate it a whole lot more.
- “All of the hard work, long days, days where I questioned if I could do it or if I belonged, all were made worth it. It makes me even more proud that I didn’t give up, and it makes me that much more proud of my dedication,” she said.
Featured image: @lexi_neely_ / Instagram