The fittest man in the world. It is with this enviable title that Jeffrey Adler will be able to present himself to everyone for the next year.
Last Sunday, the Quebecer was crowned champion of the CrossFit Games, the highest and most prestigious sports competition held on the globe. He is the second representative of the Belle Province to triumph during this supreme competition, after Camille Leblanc-Bazinet in 2014. Incidentally, he is also the first non-American man to win the title since 2009. A sacred tour de force.
“I never thought that one day I could say that I am the fittest man in the world, says Adler at the end of the handset. Then, it’s special to say. It’s a bit unreal. Even though I did the work, the competition and we won fair and square, it looks like I didn’t deserve it. It’s a really weird feeling, but that’s kind of how I feel.
“But now I have the right to say it. It’s me for real. »
Two days after his coronation, La Presse contacted Adler while he was in Chicago awaiting his stopover in Montreal. Even at this time, the one who volunteered for the event in 2016 and 2017 can barely digest this spectacular victory acquired in Madison, Wisconsin.
The competition, held over four days, did not start the way Adler wanted. After the first day, he had finished outside the top 10 in two of the three events and, above all, was almost a hundred points behind the leader, the American Roman Khrennikov.
Although the Canadian had been sparkling on the second day by winning one of the three events and finishing in the top 10 for the other two, the conclusion was much the same: Adler was in second place, 100 points behind Khrennikov.
“I remember talking to another athlete on Friday night and telling him that Roman has already won the Games. I didn’t see the possibility of making up so many points versus someone who didn’t let go of any. He was always in the top 5 or the top 7. It’s hard to win points against someone who is so consistent,” he recalls.
It doesn’t stop there. He also speaks with his compatriot Patrick Vellner and asks for his support: “Pat, you’re going to have to help me because it’s taking a lot of people between me and Roman”, he jokes.
Good news for Adler, there were two days of competition left. He tried to remember his game plan that he developed with his coach, also his fiancée, Caroline Lambray. He completed one stage at a time with the objective of obtaining as many points as possible regardless of the ranking.
In the first event of the final day, Adler triumphs. This victory propels him into the role of leader. For the 11th event, he wears the red shorts and the white jersey – the equivalent of the yellow jersey in the Tour de France.
If Adler is on a sequence where nothing can stop him, Khrennikov, he sees the sky collapsing on his head. The American broke his foot towards the end of the 10th race and even if he will finish the competition, he cannot compete with the Quebecer who is in the form of his life.
“It’s really sad what happened. I wish I had fought evenly to the end,” Adler notes. Ultimately, Khrennikov took third place.
Adler, meanwhile, gets his hands on the winner’s purse of $315,000. Some will say that it is not bad for an ex-volunteer.
After a competition that Adler called the toughest in “a long time,” rest will be in order for the next month. His goal: “not to do too much sport” until then and enjoy this healthy break with his fiancée. And not his coach.
“We compartmentalize our relationship really well,” he explains. You know that when it’s time to have the coach and athlete connection, it’s time to be a coach and an athlete. Then when it’s time to relax and take a vacation and be engaged, it’s the coach and athlete aspect that takes the edge off a bit.
“We will probably leave Quebec for a bit and go for a walk. But we have nothing set in stone yet. Between now and September, there we are quite loose. »
Before hanging up, the athlete had a message that was particularly close to his heart. to promote physical activity. The co-owner of the CrossFit Wonderland gym was keen to preach for all parishes, not just his own. “There are all kinds of sports you can do that are very accessible. […] There are gyms everywhere. Just take a little bit of time and then get moving,” he notes.