Dottir: My Journey to Becoming a Two-Time CrossFit Games Champion

Sports memoirs are not for everyone. I found this one appealing for several reasons: 1. the insight into Icelandic culture, especially with respect to athletic women; 2. the culture and community of CrossFit; and 3. the minutiae of the athlete’s mind, and how minute by minute one must think to become a champion. Katrin is very candid about her mental and emotional struggles, and the reader benefits from the deeply honest examination of unproductive thought patterns during training and competition. It gave me much to think about with respect to staying motivated during the daily grind, and ways to think about setting and achieving goals in any endeavor, whether it be work, personal projects, diet, or fitness.Impressive indeed that a small island nation can produce a relatively high percentage of notable CrossFit Games competitors. Katrin describes the Viking background of Icelanders, and how dogged determination was required to settle and prosper in such a barren land. The “sled dog” mentality of digging into hard work is a perfect match for CrossFit training and competition. The friendly competition and supportiveness of the CrossFit community is highly beneficial in the grind of training. In a sport where one may be tempted to train in isolation, the community atmosphere, that doesn’t exist at many gyms, is emblematic in CrossFit gyms (at least in Katrin’s view.) My experience in my local gym is more of an individual endeavor, with little to no interaction or even eye contact with others. Talking to others would feel like a strange and unwelcome imposition. Katrin describes a real fitness community of support.I highly recommend this memoir, which sets the bar higher, meets and exceeds your expectations. Having watched several CrossFit Games documentaries, it is helpful to have an insider’s understanding on the nature of the challenges athletes endure.

Read this in under 24 hours. Picked it up every chance I got. Inspirational, motivating. Katrin’s story goes to show that at the end of the day what matters most is your attitude and mental game. And her honesty about where she was before she worked on that side of the sport is exactly what every person needs to learn and understand about life regardless of their athletic pursuit (or lack thereof). I am appreciative of her putting it all out there and not just relishing in the glamour of being a champion. By sharing her up down up journey with us she is giving and teaching and BEING a champion. This book is also full of “starting points” for improving yourself as a person - books she’s read, resources she’s incorporated, and the revelation of how much effort and focus and time day in and day out it really takes to do what she does. This book has a place of visibility on my shelf so I don’t forget what I took away from it. At times she does show her young age, and being ten years older I imagine myself saying something similar then. Then I think - at her age look at what she has accomplished and the lessons she has internalized and then I imagine where she will be in ten years given her drive and determination to constantly improve. I am very much looking forward to more of her insights, wisdom, lessons and growth story in the future.

Katrin Davidsdottir has all of the above qualities and many more, in spades. A young woman from a tightly knit family conquers personal mountains most of us have barely dreamed of, and goes on to become the Fittest Woman in the World not once but twice, as well as showcasing the world of CrossFit.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It’s an easy read but offers nice insight into a champions mindset and how someone overcomes adversity and challenges. I’m familiar with CrossFit but I think the lessons can apply to anyone. My HS son, who Does work out but doesn’t follow or do CrossFit, read this book and enjoyed the story and meaning behind it. Overall, it’s a book on being mentally tough and putting in the work to be the best at whatever you set your mind to.

I have finished reading the Kindle version today. 2 copies of the hardcover versions are already on their way to be able to put one of them on the shelf and give the other one as a gift. I plan to buy the audio book soon to listen to it during the Christmas holidays. I will put this book next to Schwarzenegger's Total Recall. I work in data analysis and can really relate to the hard work and continuous improvement described in the book.

In this book, she shows us to challenge ourselves and be persistent to achieve our higher goals. She also inspires us to come back up after experiencing failures or self doubt. And this is how she became the Fittest Woman on Earth in 2015 and 2016. In the last chapter, she mentions a Japanese word "kaizen (改善)" (I am a Japanese). That's a good word for what she is showing us.

So many good life lessons from Katrin’s point of view - and first hand accounts of events that lead her to where she is now. I couldn’t put it down, and her words will stick with me during tough times! A must-read. :)

The honesty and humaness of this book are beautiful. You don't have to be a cross fit athlete to relate to this book. Katrin did a beautiful job of translating hard work, set backs and perseverance into words.

A good book with a great message and incredible insights and first hand knowledge into the mind and life of a champion.Katrin Davidsdottir's has an amazing story and extremely important messages about never giving up, learning from setbacks, and how yo treat other people. All these are essential in becoming a world champion, but also staying a champion now just in sport but in life as well.I am not a huge CrossFit fan but I am always interested in the mental mind set need to be a champion or a success. This book shows this in spades. The books actually starts with the 2007 games which were Katrin and her teams greatest "underperformance". As is quoted in this book"People have no idea how good you have to be to suck at the World CrossFit games."What this actually is just to qualify to get to the World CrossFit games you need to be fitter than 95% of the worlds population.The reason for starting the book with a loos is it shows the mentally needed to not just learn from failure but wanting to learn from failure, and coming back stronger, fitter, or better.The format if the book is the 2007 World CrossFit games, then back to the beginning Katrin's early to adult life, her start in gymnastics, moving to other sports and training till she finally found CrossFit. The book covers the choices and sacrifices both mental and physical needed to become a two times champion.The book is full of life lessons, the journey from one destination to the next. The only reason I did not give the book 5 stars is I did not find it as gripping as some of the other Autobiographies I have read, though this could be as stated md not being a huge CrossFit fan. However this is great insight in becoming a champion, remaining a champion, and incorporating that into becoming a great person.

A realistic insight into the life of a CrossFit competitor. Maybe accidentally she documents very candid feelings throughout which come across as driven yet simultaneously selfish and petulant at times. To be the best you clearly need to be single minded and focus on your own interests, especially as a solo competitor and this clearly comes across.It’s hard not to appreciate the strong emotions in this book and you find yourself cheering her on, but once you finish it’s hard to admire much more than the victories. No mention of helping others or using the mentality for achieving anything more than these two competitions. I read CrossFit books in the hope of being inspired but have yet to admire the individuals. The physical feats, yes, but the people, no.

Great read for the CrossFit fan! However it is an interesting read whether CrossFit is your sport or not. A really good insight into a dedicated, professional athletes mind, what it takes to be a champion.

If you like crossfit this is a must read. Just shows what hard work and determination can achieve. Enjoy !

Wonderfully honest story of Katrin’s journey to become the Fittest Woman on Earth.