‘I can enjoy the process whether I reach my goal or not’- Adam Davidson on his CrossFit Games experience

Achievement is something that’s built up a lot in sport and life, but Adam Davidson’s experience of the CrossFit Games made him realise that having fun with the process of getting to those milestones is the most important part for him.

It was the completion of a dream for the 29-year-old just to qualify, but he still set an ambitious target of placing in the top 15 of the online phase. 

The first event - Friendly Fran - took its toll on his body, though. The Canadian finished the workout in 26th and said it took a week for him to properly recover from the effort. 

“I learned so much this weekend,” he told Morning Chalk Up. “Even though I had a goal - top 15 - I learned not to attach myself to that goal.”

After struggling through some painful events, Davidson decided to change his mindset and just focus on enjoying the workouts and his own controllables on the final day. It was an approach that worked as he came fifth in the Handstand Hold ahead of Aweful Annie. 

“It’s easy to get burnt out if you don’t achieve your goal but I realise I can have a goal and not achieve it, and still really find enjoyment in the process,” he continued.

Making it to the Games had been Davidson’s long-term target since starting to compete in CrossFit eight years ago, but it wasn’t something that was even on his mind going into the 2020 season. 

He simply wanted to test himself in the new Sanctional format. Then all that changed when he won the Brazil CrossFit Championship in March.

The victory made him reassess what he really wanted as he prepared for the showcase event of the year: “I honestly thought I’d be happy to have experienced it, but something else happened. It’s almost as if I got more competitive. There’s a new goal now. I feel like I can do more.

“I learned about myself that when I compete, the attitude I need to have is to have fun, but to also be aggressive. Competing can’t be all fun, but it also can’t be negative and destructive. I have to turn that excitement on and also be as aggressive as possible.”

Davidson will now take those lessons into the 2021 season, but he says he’s due some down time before getting excited about training again.