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CrossFit: how Emma McQuaid bounced back from Covid-19 to win Wodapalooza – ‘I really struggled’
- Emma McQuaid was ready to quit CrossFit after Covid-19 robbed her of motivation, but bounces back to win Wodapalooza
- She is training with Games athlete Micky Smith and has found a new level of motivation to push herself in training
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Northern Ireland’s Emma McQuaid was contemplating quitting CrossFit for good at the back end of 2021. But just 10 weeks later, the athlete from County Down went on to win this month’s Wodapalooza in Miami.
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The feat was all the more impressive given she had been suffering with long-term complications from contracting Covid-19.
“I really struggled. I thought I had finished competing. I was pretty down to be honest,” McQuaid said. “I had come home on such a high after the [CrossFit] Games, and then I had such a low.”
After finishing 12th in Madison, Wisconsin, the 32-year-old was bedridden with Covid-19 for three weeks, and it took her another six weeks to fully recover.
She struggled to train because of inflammation in her back and hips, and lost all of her hard-earned strength and fitness. But with the Rouge Invitationals just around the corner, McQuaid recovered just enough to get in about two weeks of solid preparation.
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