Crossing Paths
Shelby Neal ’22 has engineered quite the career competing in the CrossFit Games.
When she’s not helping solve complex challenges in her day job at Restor3d, engineer Shelby Neal ’22 embraces another challenge in an arena far from the lab. She’s a four-time international CrossFit Games athlete, qualifying twice as a teen and twice more as an adult.
Her journey began as a teenager, when she stepped back from years of competitive gymnastics and joined a CrossFit gym for fitness. “I left gymnastics to take a break,” Neal says, “but within five months, I was back at it with CrossFit.”
Neal, 25, points to her competitive gymnastics background as a secret weapon in helping her learn the intricacies of CrossFit. Her natural aptitude led to success and renewed her love of competing. “I had a lot of upper body strength, body awareness, and I was picking things up quickly,” she says.
Athletes can spend years preparing for the CrossFit Games. The exact events aren’t known until shortly before the games begin every August and can vary greatly. In 2024, for example, one event asked athletes to perform 1,000 box step-ups wearing a weighted vest, while another asked them to go for a one-time repetition of their heaviest weightlifting movement called a clean and jerk. In total, they completed 10 events over three days, accumulating points from each placement to determine a winner. In her first CrossFit Games appearance as a teen, Neal placed eighth, then sixth the next year. She placed 19th and 23rd as an adult in 2023 and 2024.
Neal’s approach is methodical. “I try to practice the competition, visualizing the floor, how long it’ll take me to set up, to transition,” she says.
“I have a lot of passion. When I get into something, I want to go for it.”
Beyond that, qualification for the CrossFit Games involves elimination rounds. The 2024 semifinals, in particular, required mental fortitude, Neal says. She faced a field of 30 elite female athletes. Many had placed at, and even won, previous CrossFit Games.
Neal embraces the process, learning from her best days and from the challenges. When she hits a goal, it pushes her to go further. “I have a lot of passion,” Neal says. “When I get into something, I want to go for it.”
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