Simpsonville hosts Fittest of South Carolina fitness competition at local gym
SIMPSONVILLE, S.C. — For the weekend of May 13-15, Five Forks Athletics on Scuffletown Road became the site of a battleground. Over 140 competitors from 70 CrossFit gyms across the state descended upon the gym to find the Fittest of South Carolina. The grueling fitness competition brought between 700-800 spectators to cheer on the athletes and check out their skills.
Fittest began in 2018 with a vision to unite the Upstate fitness community and provide a premier platform to find the fittest male and female in the Upstate of South Carolina. By 2022, Fittest had expanded to cover the entire state. The event is a licensed and registered CrossFit event and the only of its kind in South Carolina.
Fittest of South Carolina includes over 1,800 athletes from all over the state. The athletes compete in Stage One of an online qualifier through the CrossFit Open. From there, Fittest creates a customized leaderboard based on the athletes’ CrossFit Open Scores. They then take the top 40 athletes from each division and design a three-day competition to test the athletes’ skills. There is no other invite-only competition like this in South Carolina. At the end of the weekend event, which is the largest and most prestigious platform in the state, the Fittest of South Carolina is crowned.
Annie and Gordon Lake are co-founders of Fittest. The husband-and-wife team are both long-time athletes and entrepreneurs. When Gordon saw the empowering and encouraging community his wife found at her CrossFit box, he was sold on the concept.
“At the heart of Fittest is providing these amazing athletes an opportunity to showcase their hard work and talent on a grand stage,” Gordon says. “Each year, we continue to grow our pool of top athletes. As the event grows, so do the sponsors, vendors, and spectators from all over the State, all coming together to support and cheer on these premier athletes. It’s an awesome thing to see.”
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