While incarcerated, Fletcher Tholin discovered CrossFit. Watch his rehabilitation in this eight-part series.
In Episode 5, Tholin is seven weeks into CrossFit and he’s competing in his first Open competition.
As Tholin works, he explains he’s feeling happier in his life. And of course he’s spending more time at the gym—working on double-unders, repeating Open workouts and continuing to build relationships.
“Practice makes perfect,” he says after completing 50 unbroken double-unders.
Throughout the Open, Tholin’s competitive side comes out. At CrossFit Edwardsville in Glen Carbon, Illinois, athletes are watching the announcement for Week 3. Tholin says he’s hoping for something heavy. He gets his wish: a couplet of increasingly heavier deadlifts and box jumps.
“I feel like I gotta poop, man,” he says after hearing the workout details. “I don’t know if I’m nervous or if I really have to. I don’t know.”
After the announcement, Tholin goes head-to-head with fellow athlete Dan Williams—one of the stronger athletes at the affiliate. Many predict Williams will beat him, but Tholin proves them wrong by completing 133 reps and winning.
While Tholin gets stronger in the gym, he gets stronger in his perseverance to live a positive and happy life.
“CrossFit is the foundation that everything … is built on in my life right now,” he says. “CrossFit gave me the stable foundation to build the positive life that I’m living right now. It gave me hope.”
Video by Gary Roberts and Jordan Shalhoub.
14min 34sec
Additional reading: “Streets to Scholarship” by Andréa Maria Cecil, published Aug. 17, 2014.
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