Strachan set to take on the best in California

Teenager Millie Strachan from the Dunshaughlin area recently achieved something remarkable on the global stage when she qualified for the teenage CrossFit Games which are being held at the SAP Centre in San Jose, California. The 14 year-old is only the second Irish girl to ever qualify for the games.

Millie has always been sporty and from a very young age she competed in gymnastics. However, she decided to turn her attention to CrossFit and it has paid dividends as she prepares to compete on a global stage. Millie’s mother and step-father, Hayley and David, own a CrossFit-focused gym in the Ongar area and are very supportive of her dream to become an established CrossFit athlete.

“My parents have always owned a gym, so I have been training in the gym since I was six. I did competitive gymnastics for years, but I recently gave that up to pursue the CrossFit Games. There is a lot involved in terms of balancing the training with school,” said Millie.

“During the school year, my mam collects me and has my gym clothes in the car with her. I eat and do my homework in the gym. I spend a lot of time in the gym. My diet is obviously very important and it is fully geared towards my training. In the morning, it is especially important that I get a lot of protein and carbs in.”

Millie began the qualification process for the CrossFit Games back in February and it has been a long process for the young Dunshaughlin teenager.

“I wasn't really sure how the qualification process would go because it was my first year doing it. It starts off in the open around February. There are different stages to the qualifying but initially, you submit a video and you get judged on that. 25% go through then to the quarter-finals, then another 25% get through to the semi-finals. You are competing globally from the start and it is a really long process.”

Millie continued to explain how the competition is run and what events she feels most confident about.

“There are generally two or three events a day so it could be a run, a gymnastics event and a weightlifting event. Across the whole three days you could have up to seven events.

"Points are awarded for each event and the better you do in each event, the higher up the leaderboard you go and the better you do overall. It is similar to a multi-event in Athletics.

"The weightlifting events play to my strengths. I like an Olympic lift, particularly the overhead squat. There is also a movement workout one that involves a handstand walk and that suits me as well."

Millie has big future ambitions to become a full-time Cross-Fit athlete. She also has dreams of representing Ireland in Weightlifting. David and Hayley and the coaching they provide to Millie have been massive in terms of her journey, but it comes as no surprise as Millie’s mam Hayley once donned the green and gold of Meath on the GAA pitch.

"It is obviously only my first year so I will see how I get on this year but definitely one of my objectives would be to progress as a CrossFit athlete. I would also like to potentially explore weightlifting on it’s own and maybe try and make the Irish team.

"My mam and dad have been a great help to me coaching wise. I train at their gym in Ongar. My mam has a big GAA background. I played GAA myself for a while, but my focus is fully on CrossFit now. At some stage, I’d like to follow in my parents' footsteps, own a gym and teach CrossFit."

Millie’s step-dad David is very proud and spoke about how at an early age, he knew that she was very talented.

“It is the first year that Millie could qualify for the CrossFit Games and she is the only girl from Ireland to qualify for the teenage games. I think Millie is only the second Irish girl to ever qualify for the games. That is the elite level that she has competing at,” said David Greene.

“At our gym, we do a lot of teenage classes and kids' classes. Millie was streets ahead of the boys. She was doing things that the boys couldn't do. She was doing gymnastics at the time and I said to Hayley that she could be really be good at CrossFit. We gave her the option to continue with Gymnastics or pursue CrossFit and she chose CrossFit. She has excelled with it since but you could see instantly that she had a talent for it.”

Dave concluded by speaking about his and his wife's journey in the CrossFit world.

“Myself and my wife have the gym 20 years and CrossFit is 15 years old. We became a CrossFit affiliate 10 years ago. It is a global brand and we were obsessed with the sport and the training methodology. We absolutely love it and we will keep going with it for as long as we can.”

Millie will be competing at the CrossFit Games in California which take place between the 21st to the 26th July.