The Russian athlete won the men's Far East Throwdown, synonymous with qualification for the CrossFit® Games.
Ivan Kukartsev, 26, was born in Siberia. Although today, his daily life is light years away from the tundra, the coniferous forests and the Urals. He lives in Thailand and trains at CrossFit® Phuket, where he prepared for the semi-finals of the CrossFit® Games.
This was Ivan Kukartsev's first appearance in the individual semi-finals. And he made quite an impression, to say the least, winning the Far East Throwdown, synonymous with qualification for the CrossFit® Games. This summer, he will be in Fort Worth, Texas, for the grand final of the CrossFit® Games. A first for him.
Shortly after his victory, Ivan Kukartsev kindly agreed to answer our questions.
Hustle Up: How did you feel after winning the Asian semi-final of the CrossFit® Games? Ivan Kukartsev: I don't know, I didn't feel any emotion after winning. For the last two years, I've been preparing for the semifinals in Thailand. It was the worst time, training in 40-degree heat in a gym with no air conditioning, running outside in 40-degree heat. At first, it seemed to me that I wouldn't be able to get used to this training regime to compete at a high level. But I did. That's probably one of the reasons why I won the semifinal.
What do the CrossFit® Games mean to you? Today, that's my main objective. With this qualification, I want to realise my full potential and validate all the training sessions I did in Thailand. I think that a very high-level competition stimulates an athlete's growth and progression and the CrossFit® Games are the highest level for a crossfitter.
How did you discover CrossFit®? I used to train in a gym. After a year of training, I'd had enough of this activity, which seemed boring to me. That's when I saw a video on YouTube of big men lifting weights, running and doing gymnastics while looking very athletic; that was CrossFit. That's when I realised that I absolutely had to give it a go. I did my first CrossFit® session in 2016 and I immediately liked the variety of movements and the fact that the training sessions are never the same. Two years later, I took part in my first Open.
When did you decide to become a top-level athlete? Initially, I didn't set out to become a top athlete, I just trained every day like a lot of people do. CrossFit® was a hobby at first, nothing more, but as my performance improved and I became better, I decided to take part in competitions. I remember many people telling me that it was incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to qualify for the CrossFit® Games. I think that without wanting to, all those people encouraged me and gave me the strength to prove them wrong. I redoubled my efforts until I got to where I am now.