Qualifying for big competitions is nothing new for Virginia Finol. But qualifying for the 2021 Crossfit Games is something that not even she had imagined. Ahead there are many days of airplanes, nerves, and training. Today, counting the hours to travel to Cancun, the first stop on this adventure, we interview this great athlete.
Meet Virginia Finol
Virginia Finol, a Spanish-Venezuelan based in Navarra, not only competes in Crossfit, but has also been absolute Powerlifting champion in 2016, 2017 and 2018, runner-up in Spain in Strongwoman, 2nd in CrossFit Lowlands Throwdown and Amsterdam Throwdown in 2019, and 6th in the world in weightlifting master in 2021. Come on, there is no strength sport that can resist him.
This year Virginia competes in the Master Women 40-44 category, where she will face great athletes like Stefani Graham,. Starting with a good qualifying result, we will closely follow his adventure at the Crossfit Games 2021, as a Resawod sponsored athlete.
First of all, congratulations Virginia on this qualification for the 2021 Crossfit Games from the entire Resawod team.
In a not-too-distant interview, you flatly denied that you were ever going to make it to the Games. What would you say to that Virginia now?(Laughter) I think that if I could travel back in time to the moment when I say that phrase, I would probably say something like: “You are going to freak out a lot hahaha, how are you nice! How the lees! ”
The Games are a great goal, but once they happen you have to return to reality. What is your goal for the future?
For now I’m 100% focused on the CrossFit Games, on training to be prepared for what they can put there. Coming back from Madison, I have no other goal. I do not even know what I’ll do in the 2022 season or if I’ll be able to do anything.You are a Crossfit and weightlifting athlete, and also, soon, head coach of your Crossfit box, what can you tell us about this project?
For several years we have been seeing the market for Functional Training change. That users demanded better care and a more professionalized service and that in Europe some boxes were beginning to focus more on the health of customers and to put aside the competitive aspect of CrossFit. Wall Ball Street is going to be a box where you can enjoy the experience of being in shape. Where to learn to take care of yourself and where to feel special. No more training in a cold industrial warehouse and ending up with dirty hands and body.On a more personal level, you are Venezuelan and Navarrese by adoption. What do you keep from your roots and how do you adapt it to the practice of Crossfit?
From my Venezuelan roots I keep the best post-workout in the world to recover from a WOD: Los tequeños (puff pastry stuffed with cheese). I love eating them on the weekends. That union with my land and memories, that happiness when tasting the cheese uhmmmmm. Do not doubt that at the Games I will eat them. I’ve already located a place in Madison to get them (laughs)Speaking of Crossfit, what does it bring you on a personal and professional level?
On a personal level it gives me happiness. When you train and see the results in your day to day you have a huge high. See that now you can carry the purchase from the supermarket and go up 4 floors with it without problems or keep up with your nephews all afternoon. Professionally, it has changed my life. I worked in a store until 6 years ago, CrossFit opened a professional door for me and I took advantage of it.What exercise would you include in your ideal WOD?
The (hated by many) Thruster. I love. If I could only do one exercise for the rest of my life it would possibly be this, because it mixes almost everything. You have to load the bar from the ground to start, you have a squat and you have upper body work.What is the WOD of the ranking that you have enjoyed the most? Why?
Hands down, the 4RM front squat. I knew I could do it very well because I have a lot of strength. I was fourth in the world in that WOD and I won many athletes who are references and legends of CrossFit.What would you say to someone who starts at Crossfit?
Enjoy, listen and never forget why you signed up. Enjoy it because it is the most important thing to incorporate physical exercise into your lifestyle. Let him listen because the coaches want to help you, even if they tell you to lose weight or not to do an exercise. Don’t forget why you signed up because when you stop doing it for health and well-being is when it can turn against you and get frustrated.Woman, vegetarian, weightlifting … Have we broken stereotypes?
If the stereotype is that women have to be fine and delicate, I hope so. A woman does not stop being strong, muscular or lifting iron. Like a man who is not strong or muscular she is still a man. What remains for us to learn is to respect others. Not to see someone different on the street and point your finger at him, stare at him or go tell him that you would give him a pulse. And if you ask my husband, he will tell you that it would not hurt for them to stop telling him that he has to behave well because I can break his face. They are comments and behaviors that do not occur in reverse.Finally, who does Virginia have as a reference?
I’ve always been a huge fan of Annie Thorisdottir. For many reasons: she has been competing for many years, she has overcome a serious back injury, she has won two CrossFit Games and, last but not least, 10 months after being a mother she has qualified for the Games.Follow Virginia’s adventure on our social networks, and stay tuned, because we have more surprises around the Crossfit Games. Follow us!
