Fittest woman on Earth and CG2018 champ Tia Clair-Toomey welcomed home
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She holds the title of the Fittest woman on Earth and has returned home from the Commonwealth Games as a gold medallist in weightlifting, but there's no rest for Tia Clair-Toomey.
The 24-year-old was straight back in the gym this week training for this year's CrossFit Games.
Clair-Toomey pushes her body to its physical limit every day — a gruelling workout of heavy lifting and cardio in the morning followed by a session in the pool or on the bike, only to return to the gym in the afternoon for another high-intensity workout.
But she says this is the easy part.
"The majority of it is mental," she said.
"Everyone can come in, physically push their body as hard as they can … that's something that's actually quite easy."
Backing her own ability and "training the mind as a muscle" are what she said are the most challenging.
"To be able to, when you are feeling down and a little bit less motivated, how you turn that into a positive and try and trick the brain into thinking 'no, no, you're actually right where you need to be'," he said.
Strong support network
The Rio Olympian is based in Gladstone with her husband and coach Shane where they own a gym.
She credits her successes to the support of her family and friends.
"Shane is number one. [He's] always helping me and reminding me why I'm doing it," she said.
"And the support network that I have of family and friends … they definitely shed light on the days that are feeling a little bit dull and dark. But that's something that definitely pushes me to keep doing what I'm doing."
At the end of the day she said it comes down to her.
"Backing your own self and believing in yourself that you can actually do it," she said.
Defending 'fittest woman on Earth' title
Toomey plans to defend her title at the CrossFit Games in Madison in the United States later this year, and the first step towards it is the regionals competition in June.
"It will all depend on where I place at regionals. I'm very confident in my ability to make it back to the games but that's the goal right now," Clair-Toomey said.
Owning that title is something she said she is extremely proud of, but winning gold at the Commonwealth Games was equally as special.
"There are parts of each competition that I really value," she said.
"At the CrossFit Games I never had the honour of hearing our national anthem with our flag going up the pole. That was something when I won gold at the Commonwealth Games I really embraced.
"But then to win the CrossFit Games, which is something that started my journey and something that Shane I worked so hard on, that was quite a memorable moment as well."
Special welcome home
The hometown hero was shown a lot of love throughout the Commonwealth Games and was officially welcomed back to Gladstone by the community this week.
"To come home and see all the street signs that [say] 'welcome home Tia' … that was very very special," she said.
"It's definitely something that keeps you motivated and wanting to go back into the gym every single day."
And as for competing for gold again at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020?
"I think I'll just take it year-by-year, day-by-day and enjoy the journey. If the opportunity arises I definitely won't knock it back," she said.
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