In Kari Pearce's first CrossFit Open, she could barely do a set of 10 double-unders. A few months later—after less than a year of CrossFit—she qualified for the CrossFit Games in 2015.

What Kari lacked in experience she made up for with a robust athletic background. She was a gymnast for nearly 20 years and competed on the gymnastics team at the University of Michigan in college. She took up weightlifting after her college gymnastics career was over.

Kari has finished in the top 10 at the Games from 2016 onward and has also been named the fittest woman in the U.S. for the past three years. Here, she speaks with Sean Woodland about how her gymnastics career set her up for success in CrossFit and how she's working to become the first American woman to stand on the Games podium since 2014.

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Instagram: @karipearcecrossfit

Timeline:

1:26 – Starting gymnastics at just 3 years old.

2:27 – Training 20 hours a week and mental toughness as a young child.

3:21 – Developing a work ethic in the gym.

4:08 – Competing on the University of Michigan gymnastics team while also managing her studies.

7:31 – Finding weightlifting after college.

9:00 – Embracing CrossFit after first rejecting it.

11:25 – Qualifying for Regionals after her first Open—depsite being bad at double-unders.

13:51 – Her rookie CrossFit Games experience.

16:35 – The fire to do better.

18:18 – Taking fifth in 2016.

20:22 – The key to sustained success.

21:59 – Pursuing the podium.

24:10 – Best Games memories: Doing Mary strict.

26:47 – On what it takes to succeed at the Games in its new format.

27:47 – Rehabbing a slight Achilles injury.

30:15 – Plans for Sanctionals and training to peak at the Games.