Ben Smith (CrossFit)

Ben Smith (born May 16, 1990)[1] is a professional CrossFit athlete from Virginia, United States. He has competed at the CrossFit Games every year since 2009, finishing on the podium four times: first place in 2015,[2] second in 2016, and third in 2011 and 2013. He is the first competitor to make ten consecutive appearances in the Individual Division at the CrossFit Games.[3] He was able to extend the streak to 11 years following the adjusted qualification rules for the 2019 CrossFit Games that gave him wildcard invitation following a knee surgery.[4]

Ben Smith
Personal information
Born (1990-05-16) May 16, 1990
ResidenceChesapeake, Virginia, U.S.
OccupationCrossFit Athlete
Height5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight195 lb (88 kg)
Sport
SportCrossFit Games
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)
  • Clean and Jerk: 335 lb (152 kg)
  • Snatch: 300 lb (140 kg)
  • Deadlift: 540 lb (240 kg)
  • Backsquat:480 lb (220 kg)
  • Press: 185 lb (84 kg)

Smith was a baseball player throughout childhood and was introduced to CrossFit during his senior year of high school in 2008[5] and qualified for the CrossFit Games the next year.[6] He has placed first in CrossFit Games regional qualifying events six times (five times in the Mid Atlantic region and once in the Atlantic "super-region"). He is the lead programmer and a co-owner, founder, and coach at CrossFit Krypton[5] in Chesapeake, Virginia.

CrossFit career

His military father introduced him to CrossFit, an exercise program that had popularity in the military and law enforcement communities, when he was sixteen.[7] Smith followed the fitness regimen and its internet community for the program, gaining some notoriety for his garage workout videos posted to the forums.[8] He mostly trained in his garage or outside in his backyard.[9]

In 2009, Smith entered his first CrossFit Games Regionals event at age 18, finishing in first place at the Mid Atlantic Qualifier. He earned a spot in the 2009 CrossFit Games where he finished in 64th place out of 74 competitors.[6] Smith went on to qualify for the Games in every subsequent year, finishing in the third place podium position in 2011 and 2013 before taking the title of "Fittest on Earth" in the 2015 CrossFit Games following four-time Games champion Rich Froning Jr. moving to the team competition. The next year, he won another podium spot with a second-place finish to eventual multiple Games champion Mathew Fraser. He became the first CrossFit Games competitor to qualify as an individual for the Games in ten consecutive years, and tied for total individual qualifications, in 2018.[3]

YearGamesRegionalsOpen (Worldwide)
2009 64th 1st (Mid Atlantic Qualifiers)[6] —
2010 8th[10] 2nd (Central East)[11] —
2011 3rd[12] 1st (Mid Atlantic)[13] 16th[14]
2012[13] 11th 1st (Mid Atlantic) 24th
2013[13] 3rd 1st (Mid Atlantic) 11th
2014[13] 7th 1st (Mid Atlantic) 3rd
2015[13] 1st 4th (Atlantic) 3rd
2016 2nd 1st (Atlantic) 65th
2017 8th 3rd (Atlantic) 41st
2018[13] 12th 3rd (Atlantic) 40th
YearGamesQualifierOpen (Worldwide)Open (National)
2019 29th 14th (Rogue)
10th (Granite Games)
Received Wildcard Invitation to CrossFit Games		 4771st 2248th[lower-alpha 1]
2020 8th (Mayhem)[15] 22nd 15th
  1. Had knee surgery in the offseason and was still recovering during the Open.

Diet

As a competitor, Smith maintains a high carbohydrate and protein diet by eating mostly whole foods, although he has not utilized the paleo diet that had been popular in the CrossFit community.[16] The majority of his calories comes from milk, eggs, sweet potatoes, and bacon. He supplements his diet with protein powders. He occasionally breaks the diet on weekends with pizza, ice cream, and burritos.[17][18]

Personal life

Ben Smith was raised in Chesapeake, Virginia, with his two brothers, Alec and Dane.[19] He was a baseball player for the Great Bridge High School Wildcats from 2004 to 2008[20] and played collegiate level baseball at Lafayette College.[7] He transferred closer to home at Old Dominion University and earned a mechanical engineering degree.[9] His father introduced Smith and his brothers to CrossFit[7] and all have competed at Regionals events, with Alec qualifying for the CrossFit Games in 2017 and 2018.[21] Smith is a co-owner of his own gym, CrossFit Krypton, in Chesapeake.[22]

Ben met his wife, Noelle, in their junior year of high school[7] and were married in October 2014.[20] By 2017, Smith had made $487,086 in prize money making him the fifth highest paid CrossFit athlete at the time.[23]

gollark: ++exec```hs(π) x y = 2 + x `div` y + (x * y * (-y))main = print $ 1 π 3```
gollark: Cool.
gollark: ++exec```hs(∆) x y = 2 + x `div` y + (x * y * (-y))main = print $ 1 ∆ 3```
gollark: ++exec```hs(∆) x y = 2 + x `div` y + (x * y * -y)main = (∆) ```
gollark: I bet that'll occur here in a few decades.

References
  1. "Athlete: Ben Smith". CrossFit Games. Retrieved 2015-10-07.
  2. "Ben Smith Wins 2015 CrossFit Games". Muscle & Fitness. Retrieved October 7, 2015.
  3. "Can Ben Smith Keep the Streak Alive?". MorningChakUp. April 4, 2019. Retrieved April 6, 2019.
  4. "CrossFit Games 2019 hands Ben Smith a wild card, as an 'icon of the sport'". South China Morning Post. July 29, 2019.
  5. "Coaches | CrossFit Krypton". crossfitkrypton.com. Retrieved 2015-10-07.
  6. "Men's Overall Results". games2009.crossfit.com. Retrieved 2015-10-07.
  7. Team, BoxLife. "Ben Smith: Interview with the 23-year-old Phenom! | BoxLife Magazine". Retrieved 2019-04-02.
  8. "Exclusive: Ben Smith Reflects on 10 Years at the CrossFit Games". Reebok US. Retrieved 2019-04-02.
  9. "Ben Smith CrossFit Elite Athlete Profile". SEALgrinderPT. June 21, 2016. Archived from the original on April 2, 2019. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  10. "2010 CrossFit Games Finals Overall Results (Men)". scores2010.crossfit.com. Retrieved 2015-10-07.
  11. "Central East Regional Overall Results (Men)". scores2010.crossfit.com. Retrieved 2015-10-07.
  12. "2011 CrossFit Games". games2011.crossfit.com. Retrieved 2015-10-07.
  13. "Leaderboard". CrossFit Games. Retrieved 2015-10-07.
  14. "Scoreboard | CrossFit Games". games2011.crossfit.com. Retrieved 2015-10-07.
  15. "Mayhem Classic Leaderboard". Throwdowns. Retrieved January 13, 2020.
  16. "Fridge Raider: CrossFit Competitor Ben Smith". SI.com. Retrieved 2019-03-21.
  17. "The Diet of an Athlete | Ben Smith Shares his Nutrition Plan". marcpro.com. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  18. "Ben Smith | 2015 Reebok CrossFit Champion". Rogue Fitness. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  19. "Ben Opens Up". CrossFit Games. Retrieved 2019-04-02.
  20. Connors, Mike. ""Fittest Man on Earth" as modest as his Chesapeake beginning". Virginian-Pilot. Retrieved 2019-04-02.
  21. "Smith Brothers Qualify for the CrossFit Games". The Barbell Spin. June 4, 2017.
  22. "CrossFit Krypton". crossfitkrypton.com. Retrieved 2019-04-02.
  23. Connors, Mike. "CrossFit title brought Great Bridge grad celebrity, but hasn't changed his focus". Virginian-Pilot. Retrieved 2019-04-02.
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