Books: "Iceland Annie" By Annie Thorisdottir

 

Iceland Annie: The Evolution of a CrossFit Games Legend

By Annie Thorisdottir; With Christine Bald

St. Martin's Press; 352 pages; hardcover, $30.00; EBook, $13.99; available today, Tuesday, July 7th

Annie Thorisdottir is one of the most iconic figures in the history of CrossFit. Her legacy extends beyond the many titles and records she earned, and in this exciting book, she shares the battles, setbacks, and reinventions that have defined her career at the highest level of competition.

Thorisdottir became the first Icelandic athlete to win the CrossFit Games and earn the title "Fittest Woman on Earth" in 2011, and she repeated the feat the following year, making her the first athlete, male or female, to win twice.

Iceland Annie, as she is known, is a twelve-time CrossFit Games veteran, and she stood on the podium six times. That includes her two championships, her two times as a second-place finisher in 2010 and '14, and twice in third in 2017 and '21, which was less than a year after she gave birth. 

Every time Annie completed, aside from in 2015, when she withdrew due to heat stroke, she never finished out of the top 13. She was first recognized at the 2009 CrossFit Games, when she famously performed her first muscle-up mid competition. She is known for competing with a smile and has been celebrated throughout her career for her positive, never-say-die attitude. 

Thorisdottir is known for her fearless presence on the competition floor, as she attacked every event and pushed the pace when it mattered most. What went unseen was the years of grueling training she put in, the injuries that nearly halted her career, and the relentless work it took to adapt and return stronger each time. One of the challenges she faced was a major physical rebuild after childbirth, which presented another test of discipline.

In this excerpt, Thorisdottir writes of the 2021 CrossFit Games: I stand in the tunnel under the Alliant Energy Center coliseum, waiting to take the floor for the final event of the 2021 CrossFit Games. Possibly my final event, ever.

Retirement.

After more than a decade of running out of these tunnels, it's almost that time. Thirteen years. Eleven CrossFit Games. It's the longest career of any individual CrossFit athlete, male or female. I am the only person to have competed in ever Games era: the Ranch in Aromas, the StubHub Center in Los Angeles, and here in Madison, Wisconsin. Technically, this has been true since 2019, but it seems to have just dawned on the commentators this week. Every time I turn around, someone is reminding me that I've been doing this thing since 2009. The consensus assessment: "Remarkable!"

To me, this year is more remarkable than all ten of my previous Games appearances combined. The fact that I'm here at all is nothing short of miraculous. The 2021 season has been, without question, the hardest of my life. Last August, I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl - my Freyja. I assumed that because I was an elite professional athlete, I would snap back to normal relatively quickly. The sports world is full of such stories: Serena Williams made her return to tennis just five months after the birth of her daughter. Paula Radcliffe won the New York City Marathon nine months after welcoming her first child. American Nordic skier Kikkan Randall won bronze at the 2017 world championships one year after delivering her son. In my own sport, Kara Saunders returned to the CrossFit Games one year after the birth of her daughter. These stories shaped my expectations for my own comeback, so it was that much more devastating when they proved wildly off base. It took five weeks after giving birth before I could even sit on a stationary bike. In that moment, the idea of competing this season felt like science fiction. Even when I started ramping up into real fitness a month later, I didn't dare to even hope that I could be ready. During the first two stages of competition, I wasn't ready. During the Open and Quarterfinals, I had to hold myself back because my body wasn't recovered enough to push into that dark place Games athletes go when we compete. When I somehow did enough in those qualifiers to advance, it felt more like luck than anything else. I was relieved and grateful, of course, but if anything, my anxiety deepened. I knew that if I had to compete in the physiological equivalent of low-power-mode during Semifinals, the final qualifying stage, I would have no hope of making it back to the Games. I told myself the only thing I could control was my training, so I went back to the gym and did the only thing I could do: train as hard as my body would let me. Six weeks later, I was rewarded with a glimmer of hope. While competing at Semifinals, I was able to open the throttle for the first time since giving birth. Third place never felt so amazing. Partly because I earned the right to compete in my eleventh CrossFit Games - more than any other athlete, ever. But mostly because I was finally starting to feel like myself again.

Christine Bald is a Boston-based author and journalist whose work is a mix of sharp storytelling, deep research, and emotional insight. She is the co-author of bestselling memoirs including Chasing Excellence and Unlocking Potential, both with Ben Bergeron; and Resilient, with Brooke Wells. Her writing has appeared in some of CrossFit's most iconic moments through her behind-the-scenes coverage of the CrossFit Games.