Kevin Manuel, the first male individual athlete from New Zealand to qualify and compete at the CrossFit Games in Carson City California, came away with a top 20 finish in the world, placing 17th among the top 80 fittest men and women in the world.
After assaulting the body over a four day period of brutal workouts on the CrossFit world stage, it's now time for some well-deserved recovery time for Kevin Manuel.
Kevin Manuel says, “It's good to be back with family and friends and also I had to get back to work, so it's very nice to be back home.”
For the 29-year-old, it's taken four years of regional competition to qualify for the games.
He says, “I left it all out there, I did everything I possibly could, whatever placing I came away with I would've been happy but to come 17th, yes I'm very happy.”
Entering as a rookie, he was able to foot it with the biggest names in the game, even coming away with two heat wins.
“It definitely made me hungry, I can't wait to get back to training I'm going to be smart with it, I'm going to take some time, and let my body heal and then I'm going to start working hard again, I think I can do better.”
Competing at the highest level of CrossFit has seen him walk away from the competition with valuable lessons that he'll take with him during his preparation for next year.