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Competitions

Semifinals Spotlight: Jamie Hagiya Returns to Carson for Her Surprising Comeback Bid

May 23, 2024 by Julia Papworth

The last time Jamie Hagiya was in the “tennis stadium,” it was called the StubHub Center and she was doing peg board ascents and thrusters during the final event of the 2016 CrossFit Games. 

  • It was her only year competing as an individual athlete at the Games, and the California native finished in 18th place.

Hagiya’s path to CrossFit happened like it did for many people — as something for a former collegiate athlete to do. 

  • “I grew up in Southern California. I went to the University of Southern California for college, played basketball there, and then played a little overseas.” Hagiya told the Morning Chalk Up in an interview. 
  • “Before I hung up my basketball shoes for good, I tried out for the Los Angeles Sparks, and when I didn’t make the team, I ran a clinic for them where a guy approached me and told me he owned a CrossFit gym.”

The man told Hagiya she would be great at the sport, so the following week, she went to check it out. The rest, as they say, is history.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jamie Hagiya (@jamiejoyce2)

[Related: Best Pre-Workout Supplements]

Looking Back

That was in 2011 when CrossFit was in its infancy. Hagiya qualified for Regionals in her first year in 2012, but an injury kept her out of the competition. She made her competitive debut in 2013, finishing in fifth place in the ultra-competitive Southern California Regional.

  • “The first year I went, I don’t know how I found myself in the final heat,” she said. “I was lined up next to Kris Clever, Becca Voigt, and Lindsay Valenzuela — I thought, what am I doing here? There were lunges in the event, and I had to borrow someone’s knee sleeves from the crowd because I had nothing. I didn’t know what I was doing, but everyone was so nice.”

After appearing at the Games in 2016, Hagiya qualified again in 2018, but this time as part of a Torrence Training Lab Team. After finishing in 11th place there, she was perfectly content to hang up her competitive shoes.

  • “I’ve been playing basketball since I was four, then went straight from basketball into CrossFit — I’ve been doing this for a while,” she said.
  • “I always say CrossFit extended my athletic career for another eight years. But I’ve missed so many life events because you’re just busy training. You can’t take an off-season.”

Hagiya in “Retirement”

As she leaned into a non-competitive lifestyle, Hagiya concentrated on her career as a gym owner, and it wasn’t until last year that she even considered throwing her hat in the ring again.

  • “My old coach from Grid league, Matt Bryant, contacted me to ask if he and his Golden Line Training could run an athlete camp out of my gym,” Hagiya said. “I agreed, and at the end of the weekend, he came up to me and told me that I still had it and that if I ever wanted to make a run at Masters, he would coach me.”

Hagiya had always joked about returning to the competition floor, but she needed a coach and a goal to push her over the edge.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jamie Hagiya (@jamiejoyce2)

[Related: Best Mobility Exercises]

  • “I think it’s hard for many student-athletes when they’re done competing — you are looking for your purpose,” she said. “Having that coach again, that person that checks in on you and gives you accountability — you don’t want to let him down.”

Once she decided to give it a go this season, she jumped back into competitive training. Even though she trusted her coach, the training was a lot, especially for a body that had been out of the game for a minute.

  • “I was so sore the first couple of weeks,” Hagiya laughed. “The volume and intensity was so much that I started questioning what I was doing. I’m 39 and the oldest in my age group, so I had no idea how I would do it. I didn’t even know if I could make the top 200 in my age group.”

The 2024 Season

As Quarterfinals approached, Hagiya concentrated on training smart, managing her daily rehab and rest, and hoped her body would hold on. It was a real Scotch Tape and bubble wrap situation. 

After she finished the workouts, she signed off and hoped for the best. 

The first indication of her success came when she received a text from a gym member saying that Hagiya was in 211th place on the leaderboard.

  • Hagiya assumed the member meant her region: “I thought, that’s not bad for North America West — there are some fit girls out here!”

But it was in the world. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jamie Hagiya (@jamiejoyce2)

[Related: Best Dumbbell Exercises]

Hagiya’s coach called to say she made the top 40 and was headed to Semifinals. She was amazed, but it wasn’t an immediate yes to competing.

  • “I had to think about things,” she said. “It was a shock; I felt that this couldn’t be right — I hadn’t competed in six years. My first in-person competition in a long time would be with all these amazing Games contenders.”

Location, Location, Location

The Semifinal venue for North America West pushed Hagiya over the edge, as she is around the corner from Carson, meaning family and friends could all attend and watch her compete.

Hagiya knows she worked hard to earn this invitation, but that doesn’t change the fact that her view on competing in Carson in 2024 differs vastly from when she last attended in 2016.

  • “Every year I have gone to Regionals before this, from 2013 to 2018, it was always to qualify for the CrossFit Games,” she said. “This year, I am there to compete, win, and try my best, but I am also realistic. I’m going give it my best, but with all these incredible women —  I don’t think I have a shot of making the Games.”
  •  “But at the end of the day,” she said, “I learned years ago that if you get first or last, everyone will love you the same.”

Not only is Hagiya proudly representing Masters athletes competing against youngsters everywhere, but she also takes pride in representing the Asian American community. 

Hagiya — who is Japanese — is especially excited to compete in May, which is Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

  • “I remember playing at USC; there were little girls that would come up to me so excited,” Hagiya said. “Representation matters; if they can see themselves in me, they can set that goal. In high school, I saw a Japanese American girl named Natalie Nakase play at UCLA. And when I saw her, I knew if she could do it, I could do it.”
  • “I’m proud to be out there and to have an impact on other people who look like me,” she concluded.

Get ready to watch Hagiya at the North America West Semifinal from May 24-26 in Carson. And definitely be on the lookout for Event 5, the snatch ladder, which she took on when it was first programmed in 2016.

Spoiler alert: Hagiya took second place in her region at that event.

Featured image: @hakire / Instagram

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