By 2028 it is Gretchen Kittelberger's goal to have functional fitness in the Olympics. How do you get a "new" sport into the Olympics? Very carefully. We dive into Gretchen's CrossFit Games experience, how she's a lawyer and actually worked for CrossFit, and how she created a non-profit organization to govern the sport of functional fitness. This episode almost turns into a "How I Built This" and it's an incredible story from a driven athlete.
We dive into how Gretchen got her start in CrossFit, what it was like to be a lawyer for CrossFit Inc (and how many cease and desist letters she sent while working there), what steps are necessary to get a new sport into the Olympics, and more. Here's a quick breakdown of the show:
- How and when Gretchen competed in the CrossFit Games
- When she started the iF3 and what the process looks like
- The 6 categories of what functional fitness in the Olympics will look like:
- Aerobic Capacity
- Strength
- Body Weight Skill
- Mixed Modal Capacity
- Power
Her non-profit organization had to create an International federation along with national federations (one per country). The iF3 has already had their first World Competition last year in 2017. This year the number of national federations has grown and Worlds will be held in October.
