Emma McQuaid – Ireland’s CrossFit Queen takes the world by storm

The world is a pretty big place, so to be able to say you are one of the fittest women on planet earth in one of the most gruelling competitions in the world, is a claim reserved for the very few - but one that Emma McQuaid can shout from the rooftops.

Emma earned her place in the top echelon of the multi-disciplined sports movement, CrossFit, by finishing twelfth in the CrossFit Games held in Wisconsin last month.

The 31-year-old Lisburn fitness instructor has dedicated most of her adult life to the sport that she loves and has worked her way up to the highest level possible.

To put this achievement in perspective, Emma, who ranks number one CrossFit National Champion of Ireland for the past two years, was just one of over 263,000 athletes from across the globe who took part in the Open qualification for the CrossFit Games this year.

That number was whittled down through a series of workouts in the quarter and semi-finals, until just 40 men and 40 women were left in contention for the finals in the USA.

One would imagine that Emma would have been training hard and looking forward to the challenge ahead after she qualified, but there were even more hurdles – of a very different kind – to overcome.