The Sevan Podcast - #78 - Gabriela Migala

Episode Date: July 16, 2021

The Sevan Podcast EP 78 - Gabriela Migala and Brian Friend @GABIMIGA @SEVANMATOSSIAN @BRIANFRIENDCROSSFIT The Sevan Podcast is sponsored by http://www.barbelljobs.com Follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/therealsevanpodcast/ Sevan's Stuff: https://www.instagram.com/sevanmatossian/?hl=en https://app.sugarwod.com/marketplace/3-playing-brothers Support the show Partners: https://cahormones.com/ - CODE "SEVAN" FOR FREE CONSULTATION https://www.paperstcoffee.com/ - THE COFFEE I DRINK! https://asrx.com/collections/the-real... - OUR TSHIRTS ... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Let's go seize the night. That's the powerful backing of American Express. Visit amex.ca slash yamex. Benefits vary by card. Other conditions apply. Ladies and gentlemen, you are so lucky to have Gabriela on. You don't even know how lucky you are. If you don't feel lucky, then you're not in touch with your inner self.

Can you see us okay, Gabriela? Yes, it's perfect. It just took me like 45 minutes to connect with you guys, but we got this. We were supposed to start at 6.30, and due to some software issues, it's now 7.05, but it is going to be worth it. Your connection is really bad.

Your picture is coming in and out, but don't worry. We'll capture the audio. The real audio problem is Brian. Gabriela. Hola. Don't start with me in Spanish. It's very bad i can really say like hola

what language what's your uh aren't you from spain well i'm not really from spain i'm from poland i just live in spain for like one year already and I still can't speak Spanish so there is nothing to be proud of um and you're is that a Polish name Gabriela Migala yes I mean Gabriela is I will I would say it's really like international but but it's just – for example, when I ask for coffee in Starbucks here sometimes, there's different versions of Gabriela here. So it's just simple. Gabriela with one L, just that. But Migawa is totally Polish.

And say your last name for me. Migawa. Migawa. Migala. So that's not a Polish name, is it? Migawa. Not la. Migawa. Yes, perfect.

Migawa. Migawa. Perfect. Migawa. Gabriela Migawa. Migawa. Did you know that, Brian? No, I did not.

Oh. Is that a Polish name? I think so oh and you you you you're you're you're home now is as Mallorca that's correct yes and although your internet feels like you're coming from the moon, you're actually in Wisconsin. Exactly. Around like 1 hour 45 minute drive to Madison. The city is called Plymouth. I really can't pronounce it correctly, but it's a super small town.

Yes, that's it. Yeah, I think there's a cow sleeping on your internet connection. Oh, yes, that's for sure. Gabriela, do you dread this? Go ahead. Actually, I wanted to say that we are staying on the fish farm and a few hours ago christophe um catch some fishes for dinner it's true oh wow that's awesome yeah that's amazing yeah that's that's that's cool um and And do you hate this shit, like communicating with foreigners?

Like you're like, oh, great, another interview in English. Doesn't anyone speak Polish in this country? Like that would be amazing to actually speak Polish with everyone, but Polish is not really a popular language. I mean, I wouldn't say that I hate this, but this is something which is a bit uncomfortable for me to talk in different language. And it just, I don't know, it's stressful to communicate. And especially when I hear myself later, you really can't get rid of this Polish accent. So I'm having a hard time to listen to myself afterwards.

Oh, interesting. Well, it definitely, when people speak different languages, it affects the cadence of the conversation. Like even I catch myself trying to slow down and say each word slowly so that your brain can, cause your brain has to translate it, right? Yeah.

But I'm pretty, I think I feel quite comfortable with understanding English. It's more like talking. I feel I, I need more time to translate what I'm trying to say and communicate with you guys. Oh, that's interesting. I wonder if that is like a different processor speed in terms of recalling words that you want to say as opposed to digesting them. Wow, that's cool. That makes sense.

So she spends a lot of time with people from a bunch of different countries, right? Christos from Hungary, Jacqueline's from Norway. I don't know, is John originally from England, or is he from a different country? Yes, he's English. He's English. And so do you guys all communicate in english or do you use various languages yes we communicate in english and that's the reason why i haven't learned spanish yet

because i'm just so lazy like everyone around us because it's english so it's really hard to to learn like basically all my friends from Poland they're like yeah you're gonna catch Spanish so quickly like you just moved to Spain it's gonna be so easy to learn a new language but actually I'm talking in English there so

not really is that amazing living on that island are you just in heaven there oh yeah it's for sure like i don't really uh need more than sun and nice weather so even the the thing that there's no much to do because the island is so tiny it's just perfect and and do you work do you have a job no i don't have a job so i my job is to be an athlete full-time so uh like i have enough sponsors at this at this so I feel, how to say it, I'm lucky enough to be able to spend all my time on training and recovery

and all the stuff around. How old are you? I'm 22 right now, and on September, I'm going to be 23. So I still feel like I'm 22. Gotcha. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You should wait until the day. Exactly.

Yeah, stay 22 as long as you can. You did an interview, I think it was last year with a guy i don't know what country he's from and i can't say his name he has four constants in his name w i think his name is weeks w-y-k-s do you know who that is yeah he's an older guy he looks older than me yeah and and you did it for the morning chalk up. I remember that. And although it won't be as good as – Okay.

And although – Sorry. It was just before the stage one, I think. That's okay. The CrossFit Games last year? I can't remember when. I think so. But there's no way it can be as good as this podcast.

But he dug up a great point and a fantastic question for you that brought up an amazing topic. At least I think it's an amazing topic. you that brought up an amazing topic. At least I think it's an amazing topic. The fact that you were a very successful CrossFit Games teams athlete and that the change to becoming an individual in the open competition, that there's an enormous leap. And you told them that when you made that leap, that you had a year of uncertainty about whether you would ever be good enough to compete on the stage with the individuals. And I thought that that was fascinating. And when I mentioned it to Brian, he was like, yeah, there's very few teens that make the leap as fast as you did. And I was wondering if you could talk to us about that a little bit.

Even though weeks already came up, I give him all the credit for coming up with that, digging that out of you. Oh, yeah. I definitely definitely or whatever his name is I would be happy to talk about this period because I I feel like this year 2017 was the hardest year for me so far like competing in a team team games was totally different than being an individual in 2017 it was just completely different level and like I was 17 when I compete in Open that year in 2017. And I still had school life, friends and stuff. So I'm getting lost right here. What I wanted to say, I had no idea that there's still so much work to do to qualify to regionals

I thought because I just finished at the games on the podium I was third, it's going to be very easy to qualify for regionals and then qualify for the games but that year I haven't even qualified for regionals so after that I was just really, how to say, like disappointed

and I didn't really know what happened. And yeah, like I really didn't know what to do next because basically my season was over and it was just the open season. So basically it was the beginning of the year and I was done. And I still had to finish the high school. You weren't fast enough. You weren't strong enough. You didn't have gymnastics that were good enough.

enough you weren't um you didn't have gymnastics that were good enough and none of the components that it would take to get to the games it's not a seamless transition what you're saying is is that the the distinction between a teen athlete and a and a pro individual athlete is just there's a big to cover there yes yeah yeah definitely uh and i really uh that time i really uh had to make a decision if i want to try and really focus on my weaknesses and go for it in next season or i i should just drop it and have a normal teenager life and party with other like other kids are doing but then i was like thinking okay i really love this sport and like finishing on the podium as a teen gave me this perspective or what i want to do and and that's why I decided to train hard for it and sacrifice maybe that's not the

right word but to not do what others are doing in my age but really focus on my training and even though it wasn't guaranteed that I'm going to qualify next year right but

yeah though it wasn't guaranteed that I'm going to qualify next year, right? But, yeah. Right. What are some of the differences? So as a teen, what was your, let's say, what was your max deadlift? What was your max back squat? What was your max number of pull-ups? Like how far off were you? Was your deadlift 100 pounds off, your back squat 100 pounds off,

your pull-ups off by 20? So I'm not really counting in pounds here. I'm still from Europe. Okay, you can use kilos. Use whatever you want. Yeah, do what you want. Do what you want. This podcast is already fucked up anyway.

You go ahead. uh so i do what you want this podcast is already fucked up anyway you go ahead i can't remember exactly my way my number in the weight but what i can say uh that i remember their final event on uh on the games in 2016 and there was like buy in 30 chest to bar pull ups and I remember I PR'd my my pull up chest to bar set unbroken which was 10 on the final event

then so you can just see how like and still I like it 10 reps of just where my i'm broken it was like my pr set and i still was able to finish third on the podium and how it just shows how lever on t on teenager athletes it's right now and how it was in 2016 right yeah so so so let me see if i understand what you're saying you're saying last year that you needed 30 unbroken chest of our pull-ups in the team

competition in the year you did the competition okay the crossfit games there was 30 chest to bar pull-ups for uh as a buy-in of some kind of workouts and back then i was super happy because i started this workout and i did 10 pull-ups, which was my PR with Unbroken. PR. Yes. Unbroken set. So that was my level of gymnastic back then. And I still was able to finish on the podium.

So this just shows how the level... And when you see these girls, how about like your snatch? When you see these girls snatching 200 pounds, is it freaking you out? Like the teenagers now... Or are you like, okay, I how i'm sorry the teenagers now you mean or no no just the individuals when you when you see the individual women and what they're doing does any of that stuff seem unattainable to you like when you see basically what i'm trying to figure out is how did you get your head wrapped see, basically what I'm trying to figure out

is how did you get your head wrapped around the fact that you were going to make that leap? Like, did you see, Oh my God, this girl has a 385 pound back squat and my back squats 265. How am I ever going to make that close that gap in one year? Were there any movements that you were like wow how am i gonna do that so my thinking was that i'm just 17 years old i just started this it was my first open ever and i was able to qualify for the games and i just i just thought that I have still a lot of time to catch those girls. Some of the girls are doing this for years already, so that's why they are so strong.

They have the technique to do those stuff. So I knew that I can reach this level at some point. I had no idea when I'm going to do that, but I was just trying. i really don't like to give up and uh and that's what i did didn't do you don't really like to give out what to give up to give up in oh right to give up yeah and that's why yeah and that's why you're a crossfit games athlete and i'm just a guy sitting behind a desk doing a podcast because that shit scares the shit out of me and when i asked you the question you didn't even flinch you're like no i just don't

give up and i knew i could get it in time as as a child you look like my sister. It's pretty funny. You look like a young version of my sister, although my sister still looks young. Yeah. Her name's Tanya. Okay, that's a nice name. When you were a child – yeah, it's a great name. When you were a child, what sports did you play? Because I saw that you played tennis and that you really loved the sport. And you said that that's really how you built your endurance.

Yeah, so tennis was the sport which I really chose to train. But before that, I was really confused what to do because I just knew that I really like to move and I basically try every sport like okay maybe not every sport but I try especially a lot of team sports I try basketball volleyball even football but I didn't really like those I think the fact that it was all about the team and, you know, I just prefer to be individual and rely on myself more. So that's why.

Basically, it was my parents who chose tennis for me because they just saw that I'm so confused and I can't really decide what I want to do. So they just signed me for a tennis class, tennis lessons and this is how it started. I was 10 when I started.

I think to be professional, it was way too late, but I still tried. Oh, so when you went into tennis, you had thoughts of becoming a professional tennis player so when i begin i didn't really think about like okay i'm gonna be professional i just did that because uh i felt happy when i did that but like later on on I took it more seriously and I spent more time on the court

than other kids from my tennis group so I really tried to become better I wonder if you can beat my son he's six years old. He's been playing for almost a year now. But he's really good.

He's really good. What are you laughing at, Brian? What are you laughing at? And it's interesting that... Man, what a mess. I've never heard of anyone coming from tennis and becoming a CrossFit Games athlete. You know, most of them you always hear about they're either gymnasts or soccer players.

So obviously that was fascinating to me. And when you said it helped you build endurance, that was interesting to me too. I don't play tennis, but I know it's just, you know, really short bursts back and forth. But I do guess that sometimes your games are like three hours long, right? Oh, yeah. And I think what tennis really helped me with is feeling okay with the heat because we used to have some training session outside. Because we used to have some training session outside. It was like 12, like middle of the day, and the sun was shining so hard.

It was like 30 degrees outside, and we were running back and forth. So I think it really helped me with the heat. And the mental game is pretty insane with tennis too. The best, the three best tennis players in the world, I forget who they are, but I heard the stat that the three best tennis players in the world only win 55% of their points. And that basically in tennis, since there is no clock, you're always, you always have a chance to win as long as you're on the court. So it's just an enormous mental game. Exactly. And this is, I think, because I was in national level.

I never went outside my country to compete. I could never qualify for anything I think I was just very tense while I was competing I was very stressed and I couldn't find my game on the competition

on the tournament I was a completely different athlete on the court, on the practice and I was a completely different athlete on the court, on the practice and I was a completely different athlete when it comes to tournament. Are your parents still... Go ahead. So like I

felt like something was off and then at some point I did CrossFit and tennis together. And I just started to enjoy CrossFit much more. And then it was my first competition, which was in my box at that time. And it wasn't like anything big, like, you know, inside the box competition competition but i won this one and it just like

made me so happy and i was feeling super relaxed when i while i was doing the workouts it was like totally different feeling uh compared to why i was competing in tennis. On a 1 to 10 scale, how would you rate yourself in terms of just your confidence? Like right now, in general. Are you a confident person? Yeah. Just in general, not with CrossFit, just as a person. Oh, not really.

I'm working. Really? Yes, I'm working on it but uh it's very hard work oh well you exude you exude confidence yeah i think it takes confidence just to say that really like i was about to ask why you guys are so surprised i'm i'm quite shy person and uh yeah definitely do you have a boyfriend i have a boyfriend is he uh polish spanish or uh american or what is he no he is a big hungarian boy oh and oh and maybe you guys don't even speak do you guys do you guys speak the same language no unfortunately not so everyone i don't know why everyone is asking if hungarian polish are similar but actually

they are completely different even though we are close together uh hungarian is completely different like i have some polish has some similarity with Czech, even with Russia, with Ukraine, but Hungary is just totally different. I don't know why. So English is his second... Wait, is English your second language or your third language? Second, second. And is English his second language?

Yes. And that's how you guys communicate? That's it. Oh, man, I'd love to be a fly on a wall for that. Do you guys ever have, like, dictionaries out? Like, does he have the Hungarian-English dictionary out, and you have the Polish-to-English, and you guys are, like, trying to work it out?

Sometimes, yeah. How do you guys fight? How do you fight? So, I'm the person who usually don't fight, or, like, my fights look like I just stop talking to him, and I'm just, like, shutting myself down, which is even worse for him from what he's saying. So he says that he would prefer if I would just scream at him or something. But instead of that, I'm just like, you know, not talking. Oh, man. Your relationship should be a play. Savan, Savan.

It works really good. You know who her boyfriend is, right, Savan? No, I don't. Okay. Who's your boyfriend? She can tell you. Who's your boyfriend? It's Christoph, and his surname is Horvat.

Oh, Laura's brother. Oh, you've told me that like a dozen times, huh, Brian? Yes. But I... Okay, okay, okay. I have to tell you something. He hates when someone presents him as Laura's brother. Well, he's fucked then because that's what it's going to be for a long time

because she's freaking amazing. Exactly. Is he a competitor also? Yeah. Who's he going to root for at the Games, you or her? He's already had an opportunity to work on this. Yeah, we had a really close competition at stranding depth uh last year with laura in london and we were basically battling till till the end for first place

so christo was in a really hard position but i think he he did pretty good job like he was kind of like he always traveled with me he's with me all the time but he also tried to help his sister which I totally understand so I don't feel I mean it's a good problem to it's a good problem to have right

I mean he in an ideal world you guys would be on the podium one and two in some order right yeah so seven i was in i was in london for that competition um that strength and depth and it did it basically it came down to 20 points and then they were 40 points clear of hayley adams and she was like 80 points clear of the next girl so it was pretty much this those three the whole weekend and i was talking to Christophe throughout, just kind of giving him a hard time day by day when I would see him

because it must have just been killing him. But he was in good spirits, and I agree with Gabby. I think he handled it really well because that's a tough one. So, Gabriela, you must be pretty good. Did you beat Hayley Adams in that competition? Yes. Yes, I did i did wow so you are good i thought i thought with this so this isn't a charity podcast this is good i'm feeling better about it already let me give you a resume real quick go ahead brian go ahead ahead. This is great.

Since she's become in the Open division, she's been the fittest in Poland every year. The last – what was your Open finish this year? It was pretty high also. The last four years in the Open, she's been inside the top 30, 30, 30, 17, 12. So very, very consistent. She was second in the quarterfinals this year in Europe. Her sanctional finishes were fourth, second, first, ninth, and seventh. And she competed at some of the better ones, Dubai twice,

Wadapalooza once, second at strength and depth we talked about. And she won Norway, which I think, Gabby, is probably your biggest competition win in CrossFit, right? Mm-hmm. Why do you say that? Why do you say that? Because she hasn't won a regional, and it's the only sanctional win she has. I mean, it's hard to win a sanctional.

But who is there? Was there someone there that makes you say, okay, she beat? Well, no, I'm saying it's the highest level competition she's won. Like, there's sanctional when you say, like, I think I'm even more happier that from that season of being fourth at

Dubai, even though I didn't finish on the podium. Like, the fact that the field in Dubai was so packed and I was able to finish fourth makes me more happy about this event than winning Norway. Oh, that makes me so happy to hear you say that, Gabriela. Put Brian in his place.

He thinks he knows everything. No, she's exactly right. The competition in Dubai, I would also say, is her best accomplishment because that was a really good field. She was behind Sarah, Sigmund's daughter, Karen Frey, Sam Briggs. And then behind her was Jamie Simmons, Emily Rolfe, Alessandra Bocelli, and a bunch of other athletes that have been in and out of the kind of games contention. But it was also the longest, most difficult competition she's probably

competed in, in terms of the actual test. 10 plus events over four days in the desert, in the ocean, lots of odd objects and weird implements. I was also there for that, and she was very impressive and holding her own with all the women there. I'll let her say thank you, Brian. Thank you, Brian. That was perfect. You should have Brian write your resume. Yeah, I just didn't really want you to stop. It was really hard to hear.

You could keep going. Tell me more. Now Gabriela is feeling it. Now we're in the flow here. Gabriela, your sponsors pay for all of those events, all that travel, all of that? So not all of that. It's just like with different sponsors, I have different arguments. No, not arguments.

You know, like different contracts. Oh, agreements. Agreements. Thank you. Different contracts. Some sponsors are paying monthly. Some sponsors are giving me bonuses depending on accomplishments.

But I want to say that they are paying fully for everything, unfortunately. And who are your sponsors? Who are some of your sponsors? Are they based out of the U.S., Spain, Poland? No, they are based in Europe. It's Nike, Fit8, GoWatt, and Pixel. What was the second one you said? Fit8.

Fit8. Okay, so Nike, that's the shoe company, right? Yeah, clothes company. Yeah, clothes, okay. And Fit8, they make the drinks. Yes. Yeah, they make everything, golf balls, notebooks. They probably make anything, underwear.

And then Fide, they make those drinks that I'm addicted to. I go through phases. I like the one that says creatine on it because then it makes me think I'm getting buff. Which one do you like? So in Europe, we have only a few flavors. We have the original one, which I really like. We have the one with creatine, RX. Yeah.

And of course, those two, but zero. So it's basically two flavors. Will you tell the guy, will you tell them to send me like 300 cases and I'll stack them up behind me and drink them on my show? Just let them know. Okay, I will let them know. Cases. You should put them like behind you so everyone can see. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I'll just reach back and just be cracking them during the show. Yes. And like every 30 minutes, just like you have to mention it. Like, oh, it tastes so good every 30 minutes I have to go pee so I'll be like oh I drank too many fideis time to take a pee break do you pee a lot during the competitions

no before every event it's insane I just like I have literally scheduled a pee break before I'm going to go to the on the competition floor because I'm so stressed. I always I've always been fascinated by this at competitions like at the CrossFit Games, for example, just outside of North Park. They bring the athletes all the way across and they'll have like this this like rolling trailer bathroom, one for men, one for women. And you'll see the's like 20 people long.

It's like you know they're all going to want to pee right before they go in the field. Why don't you just put a big row of porta-potties or something because they don't really care where they're going. They just need to get in, get out, and go, not wait in a line of 15 people. Well, because those are the clean ones, right? They give you nice trailers. Do you sit on the seat? It depends. No. Do you sit on the seat? No.

Do you sit on the seats? You hover? No, no. I really don't like it. It's just such a pain when your legs are super sore and you really want to sit on them. But especially when it's like this portable toilet toilet you really don't don't want to sit on them it's just so yeah i always i always sit i always sit i just say fuck it and sit i was like whatever i always sit and i don't use the ask ask it's either sometimes i wipe the seat

but um let me ask you this were the sometimes you said no like I said, you sometimes wipe it. Is it like you just wipe it when the amount of like disgusting stuff is above some limit or? Basically, I just look at kind of the outside of the bathroom. Like if it's one of those porta-potties that's like disgusting ones, then I wipe it. But if it's like one of those trailer ones like they have at the games, I don't even – I just go in there. If there's no droplets on it, I just sit down and I enjoy myself. I don't even – like I don't freak out or anything. I just enjoy the moment.

Okay. How about the bathrooms in Dubai? How about in Dubai though? Dubai, they don't mess around there. I'm guessing you definitely sat down on their bathroom toilets. Oh, yes. They are next-level toilets. They are, right?

They really are, right? Yeah, they look very clean. I think that someone is just cleaning them after every person or something. Someone is just cleaning them after every person or something. So you wouldn't say that you never sit down. I just want to be clear. On those, you did sit down. Okay, okay.

Just Dubai once at my home. Isn't it amazing that we all know that Dubai has clean toilets? I mean, everything in Dubai is clean. When you have 12,000 residents and 600,000 servants, you can keep the toilets clean. I mean it's basically like that. Why did you leave Poland to go to Spain? Well, first of all, let me make sure I understood this. You found CrossFit in Poland, correct?

Correct, yes. And actually, I found it. I don't understand. Actually, I found it just because the gym just opened next to my house. So it was just very weird looking building it was like like super tall uh like how you say it uh like a factory or something abandoned factory and the warehouse it was like yeah warehouse yeah and it was just it was curious so i really wanted to check it out at that time of course i was like 16 years old and i just wanted to uh start training a bit more to get in shape you know uh and then i decided to uh to go and sign at the gym.

Do you know why that CrossFit gyms are in abandoned warehouses? Probably the rent is cheaper. Yes, because that's all the business model can afford the people who open them. And it's weird that CrossFit made it to Poland since it lacks inclusivity and diversity. I don't understand how it ever made it to Poland. Sorry, Gabby.

I'm using this to push my agenda. Do you even know how the Poland look on the map and where is it? Like when you look at Europe, Poland,'s quite big yes I was being sarcastic I I know I was being sarcastic of course it's in 162 countries it's in more countries than McDonald's and Starbucks it's on all seven continents it's everywhere all smart people do CrossFit and Poland's full of smart people. Are you Jewish? No.

No, I'm not. No. No, okay. My sons are Jewish, so I'm always looking for other Jews. Gabby, do you have any thoughts about why there are kind of several good men who've come out of Poland, but you seem to be the only woman that's really had a lot of success. Hmm. I think the, the other guys, they're in just different stage in their life.

Like they are a bit older and they are starting their families families right now so they don't really have time and they can't really focus to be full-time athletes right now so that can be a in in poland in general would you say that there's just as many guys as girls that do CrossFit that are participating in the gyms? You mean like there's more guys in Polish gyms than girls? Yeah, like at our gym, I think it's a pretty even split. There's just as many men as women who come but in Poland maybe I'm just curious if maybe there's just more men who are doing it than women I'm not sure

actually so when I started maybe there was a difference and you could see more guys in the gym than the girls but now I actually after semifinals I went back to Poland for a few days and i just came to say hi to my old gym and meet my friends and actually there was a lot of

like girls training as well so i think it's not that a big difference at this moment just from a quick look quick look at the map, it looks like there's about 20 CrossFit gyms in Poland. I actually thought that there would be more. 20? Are you sure? I'm looking at the CrossFit affiliate map. No, I'm not sure of anything. This kind of stuff is Brian's job.

But in the north, I only see two. And in the west, I see four. And in the central east, I see six. but in the north i only see two and in the west i see four and in the central east i see six and in the south i see five but maybe i'm wrong i'm just looking at the i went to the crossfit affiliate map okay so i'm pretty sure that a few years ago there was much more affiliate affiliate crossfit gyms but like two years ago, I think gyms in Poland started to, like, help me with the word. Like, they start, they cancel their affiliation. The affiliation. Oh, the affiliation.

Yes. The affiliation. Okay. So probably there are a lot of, like, yeah. There are a lot of the gym is yeah there are a lot of gyms but they are not affiliated anymore okay um and then and then how old were you when you left poland to go to spain is that is that where you made your first leap you went from poland to It was last year, last March. And why did you move? So there are a few things.

First thing is me and Christoph, we decided that we would like to live together. And I said to him that there's no way I'm going move to Hungary and he said the same about Poland so we decided that we have to find a new country which is gonna be new for both of us and because at that time I started to do work with John Singleton from the program. And he lives in Mallorca. And Christoph also started to work with him. We decided that maybe it's going to be beneficial for us to actually live and be with our coach. So to have our coach with us during the training sessions. Brian, did you know he lived there, Singleton?

I did. He's lived there for a few years, and he's had different athletes come and stay with him at different times or train with him at different times for different lengths of time. Gabby, did you know Jacqueline very well before you moved there? Thanks for your time. Gabby, did you know Jacqueline very well before you moved there? back. Actually, I've been in Mallorca in 2016 before the Games. John invited me for a small camp with

Sarah Sunbriggs, Mundi before the regional in 2016. So I visited Mallorca that time. Then I then one year later I traveled to

Jacqueline to Norway and we trained there for one week and I stay in her place so actually we had a chance to get to know each other a bit better Brian are you stunned by her are you stunned by her commitment? I mean, I'm like blown away at how much she's done already.

She's trained with Sarah. She's trained with this girl, Jacqueline, I've never heard of. She's trained with Sam Briggs. She's with John Singleton and Mallorca. I mean, it's crazy. She's so young and she's done so much already. You're not shocked by this? This is nuts.

Well, first of all, we should educate you on who Jacqueline is. It's Jacqueline Dahlstrom. She's Norwegian, and she's been training with John for a long time and had growing in success. She was second in her semifinal this year behind Kristen Holta and also will be competing at the Games. growing in success. She was second in her semifinal this year behind Kristen Holta and also will be competing at the games. Gabby and Christoph and Jacqueline and John have been training. I think they've been training in Majorca for almost 16 or 18 months now, basically with the

start of all the lockdowns and COVID coincided with their move there. And immediately I was gravitated to that situation because like she said much earlier in the show, there's not a ton to do on that island. So it's very, it was like the perfect environment for COVID. They were all there together with a singular goal. And you can just tell from listening to her that she has this mindset from her youth of committing to something and seeing it through. of committing to something and seeing it through. And then that opportunity just was kind of the culmination for all four of them, I think, of three or four years of looking for a situation like that.

And so I've been looking forward to seeing how they would all do this season. And I think Jacqueline and Gabby are both set up to have very good games this year. Is that accurate, Gabriela? Yes, that's just perfect and actually yes that's actually pretty good i'm surprised thank you what i wanted to say about the lockdown so uh like brian mentioned we moved to Mallorca with Christoph just literally a few days before the lockdown. And we were able to find an apartment for us.

I can't hear her. Brian, I think the cow sat on the internet signal again. I can't believe she's in Wisconsin and the internet's this bad there. This is nuts. Is this the worst internet we've ever had from a guest? Besides yours? Don't say that. Don't say that.

Okay, I'm back now. Oh, it's okay. It's okay. Brian loves it that your internet's fucked up because all the comments are just hating on him for his internet. So it's good that yours is worse than his. Go on. Oh, yeah.

I thought like something is wrong with my phone when I try to listen to you guys or don't go on i'll just keep talking um singleton's been around forever right brian until she starts talking i mean that guy is he's kind of a legend now at this point yeah but not very i don't think not still a lot of people don't know about him um he's been doing programming for, I think, groups around Europe for a long time, but maybe hasn't had the breakthrough win or success from an athlete that he's needed to establish himself with some of the other guys who've been doing it as long. But he really – he deserves to be in that group.

I mean, he's a powerhouse. I mean, look at the names he's working with. He's working with Gabriela. He's working with Sarah. He's working with Sam in the past, right? Those two in his past. And now he's got this new powerhouse in Gabriela. He's got this young lady coming out of Poland who's, I mean, he's attracting the right people. Gabriela, oh my goodness, your internet connection actually, that's an, I don't want to jinx it, but it looks good. Okay, go on. Were you going to say something before the internet interrupted you? Go on.

Yes. Okay. So about the lockdown, I don't know what you guys heard, but me and Christoph moved to Mallorca last March, last year in March, and literally a few days before the whole lockdown in Spain, we got our keys to apartment. And basically our apartment was completely empty. We didn't have any plates, any pans,

we didn't have a bed, any furnitures. So we were screwed. Like Ikea was closed and basically the decision was because they said that the lockdown is going to last for two weeks. So we were like, OK, we got this. John and Jacqueline invited us to their place and they live outside the city in a small farm. I mean, the property is quite big, it's just they have really tiny apartment there and we decided to grab some equipment from the

gym and move it to the farm. So everything was going on for two weeks. We're like okay, counting down the days days we're gonna be back in the gym it's gonna be normal again but then they said okay the lockdown is gonna last for another two weeks so what we should do now like i have to say i have to admit that there was a a little bit hard time but compared to other uh other guys other people we were quite happy lucky that we had enough equipment and we were able to continue the training like when we are looking at this now we had pretty uh fun time and there are mostly good memories from that period, but it was something special for sure. What's your boyfriend's name again?

The big Hungarian guy? Laura's brother. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Laura's brother. Ouch. Okay. He's going to hate me so much.

Christoph. Christoph. Actually, it's Christoph. Christoph. Christoph, Christoph. Actually, it's Christoph. Christoph. Actually, it's Christoph, yeah. When you're in this apartment and you don't have a bed, do you just lay on him? I just picture you like a little cat just curling up on his chest and his tummy. Yeah, that could work.

Actually, you guys won't believe what is happening right now. Tell us. We have this amazing Airbnb in the fish farm. The house is amazing. Everyone has their own room. But we ended up having quite a tiny bed, and the mattress is very soft. And Christoph hates soft mattress. So last night I was like, I woke up in the middle

of the night and I see like, Christophe Christophe where are you? There is no Christophe I just went to toilet and I almost stepped on him because he was lying on the floor he was sleeping on the floor so he actually preferred to sleep on the floor instead of

soft materas that's pretty crazy but I don't mind So he actually preferred to sleep on the floor instead of soft mattress. That's pretty crazy. But I don't mind. The bed is for all of us. Yeah, he's a Hungarian. I picture him. I'm going to look up. I'm Googling right now, Hungarian bear.

I want to see what a Hungarian bear. Yeah, yeah, there's a Hungarian bear. That's what I picture Kristoff to look like. I like Kristoff to look like the Hungarian bear. If he doesn't have a nickname, you can call him that, the Hungarian bear. So what did your parents think when you moved there to Mallorca? Were they okay with that? So there was like mixed feelings because on one side, they were very happy for me that I'm doing this.

They were very happy that I can grow as an athlete. I'm going to have a lot of possibilities there. But on the other hand, they were quite sad that their little girl is moving to a different country. And yeah, that's it. They were just worried. But in general, they are very happy. Actually, they are coming to my apartment in like seven days to take care of it and have a cool vacation. Oh, that's nice.

So they're not coming to Madison? No, not this year. It's basically impossible right now because Europe, it's closed for everyone. Forever too. You know that, right? It's closed forever. Forever. You know it's forever, right?

Yes. I mean, it must be hard on your parents because, in essence, they have to think that you're never going to come back home again. You've flown the nest. Like, why would you go back to Poland now? I mean, you've got a Hungarian dude. You're, I mean, you got a Hungarian dude, you have a place in Spain, and the hub of your sport is in the United States. And so, I mean, right? I mean, you're gone.

You're now a Polish woman out in the wild. I think they are aware of that. But also they visited me a few months ago, and they really, really like this place. I think they fall in love in Mallorca a bit. And I don't know if they said those stuff just because they were after a few bottles of wine, or it's really true, but they said that they might consider moving there at some point. So I don't know how christoph likes this but i'm pretty happy if they would do that it's just the thing is uh i have a

sister and she's 12 and brother which is uh he is seven right now so they are just want them to like grow and finish their schools and then they might consider moving abroad because there's nothing which is holding them in poland like except the family of course like this is the friends and families that the hardest to like get away from but we'll see like my parents are pretty young too so my mom is 42 my mom is 42 and my dad i have no idea probably i'm gonna make it wrong is 48 49 yeah your mom is that normal in poland do people is that normal in poland like do they want kids from you already it's not normal in poland i was i was i was kind of uh. Surprised baby. My mom got me when she was 19.

Like 18, 19. And were they married at the time? No. So this is not what I usually say to people. So my dad right now is not my biological father. So they weren't married. But he's been with you since you were a baby? Since I was four, basically.

So you can't really remember most of the stuff when you were younger than four. So I would say he was with me from the beginning. I remember him as my dad since forever. Do your siblings, are they similar to you do they have your same characteristics your drive so uh my sister like i said she's 12 at the beginning like a few years ago i thought she's gonna be into sports because she she was was super active and she tried a lot of outside school activities but now she seems that she's really into

computer stuff and design stuff in computer I don't know how you can call it yeah, that works. She's really artistic. And my brother, it's really hard to say.

So far, he's really energetic. He really likes to talk. He really likes to run. He just can't sit in one place. So we will see. He plays football right now. And do they know what you do?

Yes, they know. Do your brother and sister know what you do? They know. And they've seen you on TV? Yes. Actually, my sister and my brother, they went at the games in 2016. So my brother was a baby and my sister was like seven. No, she was 10.

I'm really good. I'm really bad at math. I'm really good at math. Don't make me count. So it sounds like my orc is... do you want to say something, Brian? Go ahead. Okay. It sounds like Majorca is your home. The fact that you said that your parents might consider moving there, and that you're going to continue to train there,

and you've really dug your heels in. You're going to stay with that training camp, and you're going to pursue this thing until you win, until you get first place. Yeah, that's the plan for the future, close future. We'll see. What do you think, Brian? I started to take Spanish lessons, but they are going very bad. I just forgot how to learn.

I'll tell you a quick story. um see this painting behind me i used to i used to live in the dominican republic and before i lived there i did not speak any spanish and i and over time when i was living there most of the people i interacted with were english-speaking people who were coming down to volunteer through the organization i was working with and then as I spent a little more time there I made some friends in the community and in particular this one guy who was a painter and on my days off I would go sit with him

and we would just trade days on one day we could only speak in English and on the other day only Spanish so he was learning and then I was learning and back and forth and basically that's how I learned Spanish okay that's a I learned Spanish okay that's a pretty cool way to learn Spanish so maybe you'll meet a painter

what were you going to say? go ahead Gabriela that actually the gym owner in the gym we train in, in Mallorca, her name is Ellie and she basically speaks only Spanish. So sometimes in the mornings when I meet with her, I try to speak some Spanish and that makes her super happy, even though she sometimes probably doesn't know what I meant to say. Except hola, que tal? I think I... Hola, que tal? Yeah.

Yeah, this is what I really... That's the limit of your vocabulary? Yes. Tell me this. Do you prefer to train with women or with men do you have a preference uh i think in general sorry i really need to charge my uh catch my laptop oh yeah please do it's very important that the battery doesn't die that would be a disaster charge my laptop. Oh yeah, please do. It's very important that the battery doesn't die.

That would be a disaster. I forgot, sorry. I'm rescuing it. Yeah. Oh, and that, wherever it is right there, that connection is money. Really? That's so good, even though we can't see you. Yeah, if you stay right there, that would be great. But can't see you yeah yeah if you stay right there that'd be great but

can you turn that light off behind you really then it's gonna be completely dark wait i will try like this side oh that's good is it okay yeah but just make sure you plug it in just make sure you plug it in because that would be horrible if uh if we lost this. Okay. Okay. Yeah, that's good. I'm just on Christoph's bed right now. Is that the soft bed you were talking about? Yeah, I was sitting on the soft bed before, and now I'm on Christoph's bed, which is floor. Okay. Okay. God, that's the lowest bunk bed I've ever seen.

Look how low that is. The Hungarian bear would have problems turning over there. His shoulders would hit the top of that bed. Look at that thing. That thing's like a sandwich. No, actually, it's weird, the room, because we have two pieces, two bunk beds

and twin beds in the middle of the room. So we don't sleep here. So it's a party. Yeah, it's a party. Okay. Does anyone sleep there? No, likely not. Does anyone sleep there?

Do you guys share? Okay. No, we have different rooms. So what was my question? What was my question? If I prefer... Oh, boys or girls. Who do you prefer?

Yeah. what was my question oh boys or girls who do you prefer yeah so i think i prefer to train with guys like in daily uh basics it's just it's just like less stressful they never gonna be your competitors they uh if you're gonna lose you know it's like okay but they are guys, so it's not really messing up with your head. And if you're going to lose, it's only beneficial. It's like, okay, I just beat this guy. It's amazing. I'm a girl. But it doesn't mean that I don't like to train with Jacqueline. I think we are making a pretty good team at this point. We are totally opposites.

So I'm like bigger athletes, stronger athletes. And we are both good at conditioning stuff. And she's like a bit smaller athlete. And she's really good at uh gymnastic especially pulling gymnastic which is my area uh to where i have to work uh more so i think we are pushing each other in really good uh areas it was challenging the reason why i ask is yeah yeah, go ahead. Sorry. Cristina Curp it was challenging at the beginning because I wasn't used to train with other people. In Poland, I basically trained by myself or some random guys just drop in but like the level was not really like the same. So it was a bit stressful to you know it was just this uh mindset that we are competing all the time at the beginning but i think now i learned how to how to deal with that more i asked because in the in the photo on your instagram you're the photo

of you as a young girl playing tennis, it's you and like eight boys. And so I was just wondering if you were used to that in sports, like if you were just really surrounded by a lot of boys who were playing sports. Yes. In general, we had a really good and big group in tennis. we had a really good and big group in tennis back in the days it was a lot of guys but there was

not a lot not much less girls as well in this group so it wasn't like I used to train only with girls but I have to admit I think I get along better with guys like in general when it

comes to hanging out or spending time with it just comes more naturally like easier to to connect are you ready are you ready for the games are you you like, if it started tomorrow, are you sitting there right now going, okay, let's get the show on? I'm ready. Let's do this. Yeah, I'm super ready. At this point, I don't think there's much more you can do. I don't think you can get much better in one and a half week.

I think it's more important to stay uh stay healthy and even even though like at this point i i even think i catching myself thinking am i doing enough right now like maybe i should do extra this extra that maybe i should do another training session or something but like John the coach is saying that it's much better to stay to not get over trained coming to the games like it's super important to trust the process and

be rested so Gabby this is going to be actually your third games but it's it's really the first one that of this format i mean i'm not counting the teenage years because in 2019 obvious well you can can you talk to us about what happened in 2019 for you um yes no, no, I cannot, Brian. Let's keep this. I really preferred when you were just talking about my... Sorry, Brian, my internet went out again. The Hungarian bear squashed the internet access.

He tripped over the cord. He ate the router. The Hungarian bear is eating the router. I'm sorry. This podcast is over. Jesus Christ. Is this okay now? Gabby, we'll wait'm sorry. This podcast is over. Jesus Christ. This is okay now. Gabby, we'll wait for you.

You do your thing. You do your thing. Okay. I'm back. Okay. We can't see you or hear you, but we're just chilling. I actually look good today, so I'm enjoying looking at myself. We still can't hear you.

What about now? Brian, while she fixes her internet, while she pushes the bear... No. Hey, while she pushes the bear off the internet router, how's she going to do with the games? How's Ms. Gabrielle Megawa going to do with the games? Well, like I said, this will be her third year going, but in the first year she mentioned earlier that she's been working on her upper body pulling, but she didn't make it out of the first cut event that year.

She was actually the first one cut, like 76th place. the first one cut like 76th place which i'll show 75th i think maybe even 74th because of subsequent uh drug people who failed drug tests but anyway um so she only got one event so we and i was really looking forward to seeing her that year i thought she had a top 20 potential out of that like massive field obviously she was still younger and let last year uh was the online version of the test. And basically if you didn't make the top five, no one knows who you are anyway, or what you did. So it was kind of a irrelevant year. You didn't really get to see her, her, what she could do. So I, I do look at that competition in Dubai as like the biggest kind of

indicator of what's her, what her potential is. And I think it's a really deep field for the women this year. I'd say that a range of possible finishes for her is everywhere from 7th to 17th type range. And so this is really her first games. Yeah, I would say that. Outside of the teenage years, she said it was not really the same, but at least she got to complete all the tests.

But there's only about half as many tests as they'll have this year. So she's done a big competition before in Dubai twice. She's done Guadalupalooza. So she's put herself in situations to compete against the best, even though she hasn't had that opportunity. But yeah, this is going to be the biggest and hardest and longest competition she's ever done. And I think she's ready for it. It's a little weird that it's her third year in the games. We can see you now, by the way, Gabriella, a second ago, we were talking behind your back, but now we're talking to your face. Um, uh, it's, it's interesting that it's her third games and she's had to deal with those two, um, situations, the games where they, uh, kind of a bastardized version of the games where so

many people were cut. And then the games that I don't even know what you call last year, but now this year. So this is a special one. This is a special one for you, huh, Gabriela? This is super special. Actually, when I look at my games appearance, it's like I try all the formats. I try games in Carson,

California. Okay, it was maybe as a teen, but it was still in Carson. Then I tried a new format with this unfortunate cutting system. And I tried the Stage 1 CrossFit games

online version. So I'm really, really excited to do like real games at this time. Get at it. Did you hear Brian's predictions for you? I heard. You heard. Do you have any feedback for Brian?

You can tell him to eat a dick. It's fine. Well, Brian, I thought you put me a little bit higher on the scale, but it's okay. I still like you. You can use it as motivation. Show me that I screwed it up. Yeah, I will. Exactly.

I'm going to prove you wrong. Yeah, I will. Exactly. I'm going to prove you wrong. Thanks for coming on. I appreciate it. I really apologize that we had so much trouble in the beginning. That's my fault.

Everything after that, it's all your fault. Sorry for that as well. I can't control the cough here. It's a pleasure speaking with you. Where are you staying for the games? You're not staying there where you're at, are you? No, no, no. So we're going to head to Madison

on Saturday, next Saturday. Okay. And we're going to stay in one of the hotels close to Arena. So it's going to stay in one of the hotels close to arena so it's going to be quite close okay okay fabulous

go ahead Brian do you want to say one more thing Gabby is it easy for you to take naps nap no I'm very very bad at naps even though I I'm super tired, I'm just... I have a feeling that Kristoff is good at taking naps. Yes. He can sleep anywhere in any kind of conditions.

Anytime, anywhere. It's a really good skill to have, actually. I'm very jealous of that. Why do you say that, Brian? Because bears are good at hibernating no i just i i just know that about him but uh no it's been this is great it's great to catch up with you and um i'm excited that you guys are here i'm really looking forward to both seeing you and jacklyn um on this stage this season and uh so it'll be fun to see you guys uh gabriella um i may bug you during the games week

no pressure feel free to say no but there may be times during the games week that i reach out to you and say hey do you want to jump on a call but seriously low pressure just be like no not now there's no no offense will be taken i understand that you guys are in a crazy week but um we'd love to get insights from athletes as the week as the week goes on okay sure that