CrossFit’s Sara Sigmundsdottir approaches icon status as she helps redefine female beauty in the 21st century
- The 28-year-old Icelandic superstar has helped destroy traditional norms of feminine beauty by embracing her body the way it is
- Sigmundsdottir, who has just launched her first line of clothing, says ‘your body will blossom if you let it do what it wants to do’
Sara Sigmundsdottir used to get constant reminders that having muscles wasn’t beautiful. Now she gets constant reminders that traditional norms of feminine beauty are being thrown out with the trash.
A few weeks ago she met a fan who came up to her almost in tears. Sigmundsdottir said the woman was dressed in a black dress with trainers.
“She just came up to me and then started crying,” said the 28-year-old Icelandic native. “And I said, ‘Why are you crying?’ And she said, ‘I wouldn’t dare to wear this if I hadn’t seen you. You made me accept who I was, I was always trying to fit into what my friends were, but I always felt bad. I’ve always been that bigger girl, I’ve always been muscular and strong, and I was embarrassed about it. But then I saw you, and I thought you were one of the most beautiful girls that I had ever seen.’”
Sigmundsdottir admits at this point it was difficult not to tear up as well knowing she personally smashed a traditional notion of beauty for one of her fans. Of course, Sigmundsdottir was just like that years ago growing up on the tiny island nation of Iceland, noting that another female athlete helped her do the same.
“I saw [former UFC fighter Ronda Rousey] and I accepted how I looked because she accepted how she looked and she was such a beast in the cage, and then she looked great in a dress,” she said. “So if she can do it, I can do it and I want to be that role model for girls too. Your body will blossom if you let it do what it wants to do.”
