Iceland review - 2015, Qupperneq 38

36 ICELAND REVIEW
SPORT
SUPPORT ALL AROUND
Having support from their families is vital, both athletes say.
“My grandmother is my most loyal supporter. She goes crazy
on the stands. I think she’s more tired after competitions than
I am,” says Katrín. “I’m trying to get her to come and work
out with me. I think I’m about to succeed, no kidding.” Fanney
laughs, adding: “I would ask my granny too if she wasn’t 95!”
For Fanney, it’s her dad who is always on the sideline. “He
accompanies me to all the tournaments.”
Katrín points out that it’s not just the family that matters but
the whole support network, which in her case is the community
in CrossFit Reykjavík. “And the coach,” she adds. “It’s impor-
tant to have the head on straight. My coach got me through
the five-day CrossFit Games. At one point in the competition
some journalists asked how I was doing, and I responded: ‘I
have sore muscles.’ Then my coach said: ‘You feel great!’ and I
automatically went: ‘I feel great!’” Fanney agrees. “At practice,
if I’m feeling low, just having the coach there gives me an extra
boost. There are good and bad days just like everywhere else,
at school or work.”
While training, Fanney just focuses on the next champion-
ship. “For me, as well,” says Katrín. “I have to wake up every
morning with a goal in my mind.” When competing, the adren-
aline kicks in, explains Fanney. “I can always go that extra mile
at competitions.” Katrín adds, “For her, it’s a certain number of
lifts. For me, it’s a certain number of challenges. I just focus on
the next challenge.” At CrossFit tournaments, contestants have
to be prepared for anything; they don’t know what the next
challenge will be until the day of competition. Both of them get
good vibes. “Even from people I don’t know. Feeling support
from all around matters,” says Fanney.
PIZZAS AND PANCAKES
Diet matters too. “At competitions, it’s important to eat reg-
ularly. My coach makes sure that I do,” says Katrín. “Some
people only eat in the morning and the evening but skip meals
in between. Had I done that, it would have been over for me
on the Sunday [the final day of the CrossFit Games].” Fanney
reveals: “I don’t have an appetite at tournaments. The food
gets stuck in my throat. I usually eat like a pig, but right before
competing I’m so stressed that I lose weight.”
In between competitions, they’re not too concerned about
what they eat. “I live at home with my parents and just eat
whatever is for dinner. And when my mom doesn’t bother with
cooking and orders a pizza, I have pizza,” says Fanney. Both of
them usually have conventional home-cooked meals. “It’s the
same with me when I’m at my grandparents’—but I also eat
pizza,” adds Katrín. “People sometimes ask me: ‘Are you allowed
to eat that?’ And I may have a tiny bit of a guilty conscience
already. ‘Eh, are you?’ I say.”
“I just eat what I want… like pancakes,” states Fanney. “You
have pancakes too?” interjects Katrín. “Once in an interview I
was asked what I ate and my granddad asked: ‘Did you tell them
about the pancakes?’” Katrín is conservative when it comes to
breakfast, though. “I have to have eggs and avocado.”
Neither of them drink in the lead-up to, or during, competi-
tions but occasionally have a glass at parties in between. “To be
honest, I’m not really that interested in drinking,” says Katrín.
“I sometimes pick up a glass for toasting and then don’t touch
it again until the next toast.” Fanney agrees. “Having a glass
of champagne at last New Year’s gave me a guilty conscience
because the Icelandic Championship was at the end of January.”
LIFE BEYOND SPORTS
Neither Katrín nor Fanney have much spare time. “I have the
evenings to spend with my boyfriend,” Fanney says smiling.
Katrín reserves time for her friends while in Iceland—many
of whom are working out at CrossFit Reykjavík as well—but
it’s different when she’s in Boston: then she’s more by herself.
“I don’t like having too much free time anyway; it makes me
uncomfortable.” Fanney laughs. “Me too!”
At the moment, Fanney is studying but Katrín is taking a
break from university, after having tried law and engineering
but lacking enthusiasm for both. “I tried engineering too,” says
Fanney. “I was determined to see it through out of competi-
tiveness but eventually I admitted to myself that it wasn’t for
me. I took the entrance examination for medicine here at home
but didn’t pass. I passed in Slovakia but decided it was a bit too
much.”
Katrín, too, takes an interest in medicine. “And sport psychol-
ogy.” It seems that she and Fanney have many common inter-
ests and Katrín asks what it’s like combining psychology and
economics. Fanney is planning for a future after powerlifting. “I
know it won’t last forever. For the time being, I just concentrate
on the next championship.” Katrín also realizes that the time
will come when her days of professional athleticism are through.
“But for now, I’m living the dream.” *
“When I told my granny, who is 95, that I was taking
up powerlifting, she nearly lost it.” – Fanney Hauksdóttir