For South Australian CrossFit athlete Ellie Turner, getting back to the sport’s biggest stage is about far more than competition.
The 28-year-old from Moonta Bay has qualified for the CrossFit Games again this year, marking an extraordinary return after a back injury kept her away from the Games for two years and left her being told she may never make it back.
Instead, Turner found a way.
“I really wanted to prove to myself that I was capable of getting back there after being told I wouldn’t be able to.
“I am just grateful to be able to do what I love,” Turner said.
It’s the latest chapter in a sporting journey that has been anything but straightforward.
Growing up with four brothers, Turner was naturally competitive and immersed herself in sport from an early age, particularly netball and basketball.
But at 12, she was diagnosed with an eating disorder and was unable to participate in sport or even exercise for an extended period.
For around four to five years, training largely disappeared from her life.
It wasn’t until Turner began studying physiotherapy at university that exercise slowly returned. Looking for something that would fit around her study schedule, she initially joined a 24-hour gym.
There was just one problem: she got bored.
“I am super competitive, so I got bored of that pretty quickly. A friend of mine told me to try CrossFit. So I did and never looked back,” Turner said.
Turner started CrossFit in 2017 and quickly discovered that the combination of strength, endurance, skill and competition offered something traditional gym training couldn’t.
More importantly, she credits discovering the sport with transforming her relationship with exercise and helping her recover from her eating disorder.
“Once I found CrossFit and saw you could compete in it, it completely transformed my life.
“I was able to recover from my eating disorder and a few years later qualified for my first CrossFit Games, which is the pinnacle of our season,” Turner said.
For an athlete who once spent years unable to exercise, reaching the highest level of her sport was already significant.
Doing it again after another major setback makes this year’s qualification particularly meaningful.
After two years away with a back injury, Turner could easily have walked away from elite competition. Instead, the determination that first attracted her to CrossFit became part of what drove her comeback.
And while you might expect an elite athlete returning to the Games to have a long list of rankings, results and performance targets, Turner’s outlook heading into this next chapter is surprisingly simple.
She wants to enjoy being able to compete again.
Her experience has also shaped the advice she gives to anyone chasing an ambition, whether that happens to be inside a CrossFit box or somewhere completely different.
“If you are passionate enough about something, you will find a way to make it work.
“I knew that I didn’t want to do anything else, so I found a way to make it happen even when everyone was telling me that my career was over,” Turner said.
From Moonta Bay to university, her first CrossFit workout, the Games and a career-threatening injury, Turner has already had to find that way more than once.
Now, she’s back and the biggest stage in CrossFit is waiting.
