For the last four weeks, CrossFit Games training has been in full effect for 18-year-old Lucy McGonigle, a rookie this season, whose training days start at 9:30 a.m. and wrap up at 5 p.m.
Par for the course for a Games-bound athlete, but what has made McGonigle’s Games training extra special, and extra challenging, is the fact that she has been preparing at PRVN in Nashville, TN, going head-to-head every day with the sport’s greatest athlete, seven-time champion Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr.
- “If you had told me this last year, I would have been like, ‘What’s going on?’” McGonigle told Morning Chalk Up. Back then, the thought of even qualifying for the Games felt like a stretch, she admitted.
Last year at the Europe Semifinals, McGonigle finished 19th, and 11 athletes qualified for the Games. So when she found out only two athletes would qualify through most of the In-Person Qualifying Events (IPQE) this season, her reaction was, “Oh now, there’s going to be no chance,” she said.
However, the 18-year-old, a two-time teen champion, surprised herself and earned her invitation by finishing third at the French Throwdown IPQE (Elisa Fuliano took first but was ineligible because she chose not to do the Open).
- To top it off, McGonigle also finished in a qualifying position at the In-Affiliate Semifinals, taking 11th place.
Preparing With PRVN
Four weeks ago, McGonigle arrived in Nashville, TN, and moved into a suite at the Toomey-Orr household.
Training days begin at 9:30 a.m., with McGonigle following the same program as Toomey-Orr, going head-to-head multiple times each day before finally wrapping things up around 5 p.m.
McGonigle admits some moments feel a bit daunting.
- “It definitely is intimidating sometimes, just because it’s Tia, you know. I have looked up to her for so many years,” she said.
And although Toomey-Orr generally beats McGonigle in any kind of test portion of their training, McGonigle has scored a couple of wins, “but not very many,” she said, laughing.
She insists she isn’t getting discouraged, though.
- “I feel like I’m still early on in my career, so I don’t get too bummed out when Tia beats me. It’s really inspirational to be able to see her and see where I want to be eventually.”
Worth noting: Other top athletes have also begun to trickle in to prepare for the Games at PRVN in recent days. This group includes Australian athletes Ricky Garard, Madeline Sturt, and Jay Crouch, along with Olivia Kerstetter and Chris Ibarra, as well as rookies Isaac Newman and Christina Livaditakis.
Intensity is high, McGonigle says, but she insists it hasn’t felt like a stressful environment for her.
- “Obviously, before we go into a workout, it can get stressful sometimes, just cause you’re nervous. But honestly, no, it has been pretty chill…and just a good atmosphere. There are times you can chill out, relax, and have fun,” she said.
The Big Picture
Still a teenager preparing for her first individual Games, McGonigle said she doesn’t have any numerical goals or expectations in Albany, NY, next month. But she is going in with much more confidence, thanks to her preparation.
- “I never have to doubt why we’re doing anything, or question anything. My full trust is in Shane [Orr] and PRVN…I truly believe that I’m doing everything I can do to show up the most prepared that I can be,” she said.
More importantly, the learning experience has been huge for her career, she explained, in the long term.
- “I train hard whenever I’m training at home. But coming out here is a different level and a different standard. I think I hold myself to a higher standard when I’m out here because it’s like, I’m already going to be beaten by Tia, so I might as well try to lessen the gap a wee bit,” she said.
Ultimately, the intensity is “much higher,” as is the attention to detail, McGonigle explained, and she believes what she is learning from Toomey-Orr right now in training will translate when she returns home to Ireland.
- “The intensity that she brings to everything she is doing, warming up, warm-up lifts, literally everything. And just how she moves throughout her day, like her approach before workouts. I have been picking her brain to try and learn as much as I can from her…[and] I’m going to stick to doing it this way,” she said.
McGonigle added: “It has been unreal. I couldn’t have asked for a better experience.”
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Featured Image: @lucy.mcgonigle / Instagram
