Crossfit athletes Jelly Hoste and Manon Angonez are the first Belgian man and woman to qualify for the World Cup in the United States: ‘Proud’ | Other news

The CrossFit Games in the United States is the world championship for the sport that combines physical fitness, athletics, endurance and gymnastics. On each continent, qualifications determine who can occupy the coveted places in the World Cup.

Jelle Hoste, ranked No. 1 in crossfit, secured his ticket to Wisconsin in the US this weekend in the semifinals in Berlin. After a good fourth place, the 27-year-old can compete with the top, which consists mainly of Americans.

“The first 11 Europeans step in,” Host says. “So, with my fourth place, I still have something left. At the moment I didn’t understand yet that I could go to the World Cup. I’m also the first Belgian to succeed in modern crossing and that makes me very proud.”

Qualifications consist of seven exams or exercises. “You can actually compare it to a heptathlon. With every workout you have to do strength and endurance exercises against the clock.” Hoste topped three of the drills.

He even completed the fifth test in record time. There is no athlete in the world who has been better in qualifying.

“We had to lift a weight from the floor to above us eight times in one movement, like snatches in a weightlifter. Then we had to run another 800 meters on the treadmill, and it only took Hoost laughing three minutes for this combined exercise.

Hoste may be the first Belgian man to participate in a World Cup final in the sport’s current professional format (qualifications were online and the level wasn’t high), Manon Angonez is the first Belgian woman.

The 30-year-old finished seventh in qualifying and is also allowed to go to the world top in the United States. She also hardly knows how to deal with her emotions. “This is the result of years of hard work, failure, doubts, sacrifices, growth, happy meetings and unhappy meetings,” she wrote on Instagram. “See you in Madison.”

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The World Cup will be held at the beginning of August. Hoste: “I can show some ambition there. It will undoubtedly be difficult, because the World Championships consist of more training over five days. Winning will be difficult, but picking a test here and there to shine should be possible.”

“The Americans are the best players, but the Europeans are starting to catch up. Last year one of the Europeans was also in the top five and this year I already noticed that the level is higher again.”