Athlete Amy Johnson Representing Bemidji in Adaptive CrossFit Games

Barbell snatching, biking, and other exercises are well known to Bemidji athlete Amy Johnson, who has been doing CrossFit for seven years and will soon represent Bemidji at the Adaptive CrossFit Games. But for her, there’s so much more to the workouts than just getting active.

“Seven years ago, I was looking at filing for disability because chronic pain was taking away every aspect of my life,” Johnson said. “I wasn’t functional at my other job. I couldn’t do any of my fun activities at home anymore. Even just taking care of my kids was hard. I don’t live in any of that chronic pain anymore, so I got my life back.”

Johnson’s right arm has had limited function her whole life after she got stuck in the birth canal during delivery.

“Instead of doing a C-section or maneuvering my mother in a different way, they pulled down on my neck and it tore the nerves,” she explained. “So there are five nerves that control the movement, sensation, and all the function of your arms. And so all five of mine are torn somewhere.”

And while gesturing with her right arm to show the limits of her reach, she joked, “It’s a really good paperweight.”

Johnson’s good spirits are what have driven the athlete to become as successful as she has been. And now, she’s made it past the opens and semifinals and will be in Las Vegas next week for the Adaptive CrossFit Games. This will be Johnson’s first time competing at such a high level against other athletes from around the world.

“Really kind of surreal,” she admitted. “I’ve wanted it for years, but I didn’t really think I would actually get there.”

But now that she is there, Johnson will compete in the category that only allows one point of contact with the bar, one of 16 adaptive categories at the games.

“Just to meet all the new people,” she added, “and be a little bit humbled myself because there’s people a lot worse off than I am that are out there working on the same hard stuff that I’m doing.”

The Adaptive CrossFit Games are put on by WheelWOD and will be held this year in Las Vegas from September 12-14.