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How Mat Fraser finds retirement from CrossFit as rewarding as competing, by ‘striving for perfection, knowing I’ll never reach it’

  • Five times CrossFit Games winner Mat Fraser is surprised to find retirement has many parallels to competing, as he launches an app for athletes
  • Fraser never wants to lose his desire to keep pushing for excellence, and will never settle content with his achievements

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Mat Fraser retired on top and wants to keep striving for perfection elsewhere. Photo: CrossFit Games

Five times CrossFit Games winner Mat Fraser is finding retirement as rewarding as competing, it is only the outlets for his perfectionism that have changed.

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“It’s been really shocking to see how many parallels there are. Not too much is different other than the physical output,” he said.

Fraser retired from CrossFit in February 2021. He had won five consecutive CrossFit Games and looked far from over his peak. He would have been favourite for more Games to come, had he not stepped away from the competition floor.

“It’s nothing like I expected. I fully anticipated, the day I retired from competing, I’d be retired completely. I almost immediately realised I needed to clarify I’d retiring just from competition, not retired in full. I’m busier than ever. The projects that I started took off, I never got an opportunity to pursue other ones, yet,” Fraser said.

Mal O’Brien (left) is trained by Mat Fraser. Photo: HWPO
Mal O’Brien (left) is trained by Mat Fraser. Photo: HWPO

He set up a company called HWPO (Hard Work Pays Off) and has been fully consumed launching an workout app.

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