Spirt of the Games CrossFit Open 13.3: David Hamm

crossfit-gamesEach year at the CrossFit Games, they honor someone with the Spirit of the Games award. This honor goes to the ‘athlete who embodies the spirit of the sport.’

Each week during the CrossFit Open, No Excuses CrossFit will recognize a member it feels represented the Spirit of the Games. This week’s honor goes to …

David Hamm has always been pretty good with clean and jerks, so that part of the Open 13.4 WOD wasn’t a problem. It was the movement coupled with it that concerned him. Toes to bar are not an easy movement for a big guy like David. Whenever toes to bar have come up in a WOD in the past, he automatically assumed he could not do them and went for a modification.
With the the Open 13.4, David didn’t have that option. After breezing through the first three reps of clean and jerks, it was time for him to face the toes to bar. It took him nearly two minutes to finally get one, his first ever. But he didn’t stop there. David completed the round of six and nine. With less than 20 seconds left in the WOD, David was able to knock out four clean and jerks.
Since Jan. 4, David has lost 30 pounds, which was a big help in him getting his first toes to bar. David’s willingness to overcome a major goat for him and the sense of urgency to get a few more reps in the final seconds of a WOD embodied the spirit of the CrossFit Games.