Down Under domination: George picks up another major tournament gold

After the biggest victory in her CrossFit career - taking out the 16-17 years division at the Torian Pro back in May - George picked up another gold on Sunday at the Down Under CrossFit Championships.

George navigated seven workouts with precision over the course of three days to win the 16-19 years category at the Wollongong event.

As a 17-year-old competitor in the division it meant George was giving up several years of experience to some of her rivals but that didn't end up being a problem.

George needed to finish inside the top eight of the online qualifiers to earn a spot at the Down Under Championships and ended up doing that comfortably - finishing equal first.

That put a target on George's back but she excelled when the pressure was on.

"I'm in the bottom half of that [16 to 19] age group so it was great to come out on top. It feels so satisfying and it's great to know that all that hard work has paid off," George said.

"I'd finished equal first in the qualifiers. I was feeling a bit unsure about competing, especially because I was still dealing with a few niggles and injuries. I worked on those, they got better, and I just backed myself and my training.

"With the experience of these comps I knew where I had to work a little bit harder and I knew where I could make my move."

Out of the seven workouts at Wollongong George finished outside of the top two on just a single occasion.

George started the competition with a second and third placing before she threw down the challenge to her rivals by winning the third and fourth workouts.

Workout three (the 'Full Send') was a mixture of SkiErg machine reps, a rope climb and squat cleans.

That was followed in workout four ('Hard Yakka') by a variety of handstand walks and kettlebell snatches and carries.

Those were events that played perfectly to George's strengths.

"We did a beach run for one of the workouts, which was terrible, especially for a country girl," she laughed.

"There was deadball cleans, bar muscle-ups, chest to bars [pull ups], squat work and a heavy clean as well. That was mixed in with rope climbs and skiing.

"The handstand workout was one that I absolutely loved. That had kettlebell snatches with a farmer's carry and then you ended with a slalom handstand walk. That was really cool.

"We ended with some clean and jerks, with 60 reps for time. That was also a really good one."

George went into the final event just needing to finish ahead of her nearest rival, Queenslander Chloe Saliba, to virtually assure herself of victory.

"I knew the girl I had to stay in front of during the workout. The was one girl who was in front of me but I didn't need to be in front of her, I just had to keep in front of the other one to ensure my spot was safe," she said.

"I was listening to her judge a little bit, because she was next to me. I knew where I had to make my move.

"When I crossed that line I felt all sorts of different emotions and you start to think of all the different people who helped you get there and made it all possible.

"I had training partners at home who were pushing me every day and my sponsor, Nexletica, and everything they've done for me. They've given me an unreal amount of support."

Winning the event is a big confidence builder for George as she gets set to enter the elite category from 2024 onwards.

That will be a big step in George's career but one that she feels ready to tackle head-on.

"This has really helped to get me fired up for next season," she said.

"I'm really looking forward to it. The goal for next year, since I'll be stepping up into the elite women, would be to try and make the semi-finals at the Torian Pro.

"The elites at Wollongong had very similar workouts and I was able to get a couple of their scores, so that's a really big confidence booster.

"That's got the fire burning quite a bit."