Elisabeth Akinwale is a Crossfit Games athlete that is highly respected in the Crossfit community. She doesn’t fit the mold of the typical games athletes. She’s a single mom, in her late 30’s, she’s never been on the podium at the games, and she is african-american. I remember seeing one her games performances and thinking, “man, she’s strong!”
But more than that, Akinwale impressed me by the way she carried herself during the games. She stays in control even when things don’t go as planned. The other thing that impresses me is that she lets her skills speak for themselves. There is a lot of discussion about body image and body shaming even in the crossfit community because strong women look noticeably different than other women. For some crossfitters, having muscles brings an onslaught of negative attention because if you have muscles, you must want to look like a man, right? Nope. But for other female crossfitters, doing WODS or competitions in what amounts to a bra and panties brings an onslaught of slut shaming as if dressing that way is done to draw attention to your looks because maybe your skills aren’t as good as the next girl.
Akinwale doesn’t fall into either trap, although many have tried to push her in both directions. Many times, I have seen Akinwale compete in modest attire that still makes her look feminine and strong. I think that it’s important for girls to see role models like Akinwale and Sam Briggs, and Annie Thorisdottir and Camille LeBlanc-Bazinet, Katrin Davidsdottir, all of the varieties of women doing Crossfit.
Read more at HOW THE CROSSFIT COMMUNITY SAVED ELISABETH AKINWALE