[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-115515-en":3,"doc-seo-115515-105":30,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":92},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":11,"is_downloadable":11,"audit_status":11,"page_count":21,"language":22,"language_code":23,"site_id":24,"html_lang":23,"table_of_contents":25,"faqs":26,"seo_title":27,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":28,"read_time":29},115515,1099523885336,"Violet","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_276721f389ce27ea32af1340a28f341c",1,"Story & Novel","Iceland - Annie Thórisdóttir - Prologue","Prologue opens with Annie Thórisdóttir waiting to compete in what may be her final event at the 2021 CrossFit Games. After more than a decade of participation, she describes a comeback shaped by the physical and psychological strain of childbirth, comparing her reality with other athletes’ return stories. She recounts slow recovery, uncertainty during key stages, and the relief and anxiety that followed qualification through Semifinals, while redefining success as competing and winning—not merely reaching the Games.","[OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com)  \nBegin Reading  \nTable of Contents  \nAbout the Authors  \nPhotographs  \nCopyright Page  \nThank you for buying this  \nSt. Martin’s Publishing Group ebook.  \nTo receive special offers, bonus content, and info on new releases and other great reads, sign up for our newsletters.  \nOr visit us online at  \n[us.macmillan.com/newslettersignup](us.macmillan.com/newslettersignup)  \nFor email updates on Annie Thórisdóttir, click here. For email updates on Christine Bald, click here.  \n[OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com)  \nThe author and publisher have provided this e-book to you for your personal use only. You may not make this e-book publicly available in anyway. Copyright infringement is against the law. If you believe the copy of this e-book you are reading infringes on the author’s copyright, [please notify the publisher at: ](please notify the publisher at: us.macmillan.com/piracy)[us.macmillan.com/piracy](please notify the publisher at: us.macmillan.com/piracy).  \n[OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com)  \nFor my parents, who taught me that anything is possible if you’re willing to  \nwork for it, and showed me how.  \nAnd for Frederik, my teammate in everything, through every storm and  \nevery season. We built this together.  \n[OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com)  \nPROLOGUE  \nI stand in the tunnel under the Alliant Energy Center coliseum, waiting to take the floor for the final event of the 2021 CrossFit Games. Possibly my final event, ever.  \nRetirement.  \nAfter more than a decade of running out of these tunnels, it’s about that time. Thirteen years. Eleven CrossFit Games. It’s the longest career of any individual CrossFit athlete, male or female. I am the only person to have competed in every Games era: the Ranch in Aromas, the StubHub Center in Los Angeles, and here in Madison, Wisconsin. Technically, this has been true since 2019, but it seems to have just dawned on the commentators this week. Every time I turn around, someone is reminding me that I’ve been doing this thing since 2009. The consensus assessment: “Remarkable!”  \nTo me, this year is more remarkable than all ten of my previous Games appearances combined. The fact that I’m here at all is nothing short of miraculous. The 2021 season has been, without question, the hardest of my life. Last August, I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl—my Freyja. I assumed that because I was an elite professional athlete, I would snap back to normal relatively quickly. The sports world is full of such stories: Serena Williams made her return to tennis just five months after the birth of her daughter. Paula Radcliffe won the New York City Marathon nine months after welcoming her first child. American Nordic skier Kikkan Randall won bronze at the 2017 world championships one year after delivering her son. In my own sport, Kara Saunders returned to the CrossFit Games one year after the birth of her daughter. These stories shaped my expectations for my own comeback, so it was that much more devastating when they proved  \nwildly off base. It took five weeks after giving birth before I could even sit on a stationary bike. In that moment, the idea of competing this season felt like science fiction. Even when I started ramping up into real fitness a month later, I didn’t dare to even hope that I could be ready. During the first two stages of competition, I wasn’t ready. During the Open and Quarterfinals, I had to hold myself back because my body wasn’t recovered enough to push into that dark place Games athletes go when we compete. When I somehow did enough in those qualifiers to advance, it felt more like luck than anything else. I was relieved and grateful, of course, but if anything, my anxiety deepened. I knew that if I had to compete in the physiological equivalent of low-power mode during Semifinals, the final qualifying stage, I would have no hope of making it back to the Games. Itold myself the only thing I could control was my training, so I went back to the gym and di","cbCaiaUVr6jJKWA4","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiaUVr6jJKWA4","pdf",14640940,5,383,"English","en",105,"# Prologue\n## Waiting under the coliseum\n## The 2021 comeback and recovery challenges\n## Qualification pressure and shifting expectations","[{\"question\":\"What situation does Annie Thórisdóttir describe at the start of the prologue?\",\"answer\":\"She is standing in a tunnel under the Alliant Energy Center coliseum, waiting to take the floor for the final event of the 2021 CrossFit Games.\"},{\"question\":\"How did childbirth affect her preparation for the 2021 season?\",\"answer\":\"After giving birth to her daughter Freyja, it took weeks before she could even sit on a stationary bike, and her early competition stages felt like she was not recovered enough to push fully.\"},{\"question\":\"What does Annie say is her real goal at the Games?\",\"answer\":\"Her goal is not only to qualify, but to perform, compete with the best, and win.\"}]","Iceland - Annie Thórisdóttir - Prologue | PDF",1785474224,590,{"code":4,"msg":31,"data":32},"ok",{"site_id":24,"language":23,"slug":33,"title":13,"keywords":34,"description":14,"schema_data":35,"social_meta":87,"head_meta":89,"extra_data":91,"updated_unix":28},"iceland-annie-thorisdottir-prologue","",{"@graph":36,"@context":86},[37,54,69],{"@type":38,"itemListElement":39},"BreadcrumbList",[40,44,48,51],{"item":41,"name":42,"@type":43,"position":11},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":45,"name":46,"@type":43,"position":47},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":49,"name":12,"@type":43,"position":50},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/story-novel/",3,{"item":52,"name":13,"@type":43,"position":53},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/iceland-annie-thorisdottir-prologue/115515/",4,{"url":52,"name":13,"@type":55,"author":56,"headline":13,"publisher":58,"fileFormat":61,"inLanguage":23,"description":14,"dateModified":62,"datePublished":63,"encodingFormat":61,"isAccessibleForFree":64,"interactionStatistic":65},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":57},"Person",{"url":41,"name":59,"@type":60},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-08-16","2026-07-31",true,{"@type":66,"interactionType":67,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":68},"ViewAction",{"@type":70,"mainEntity":71},"FAQPage",[72,78,82],{"name":73,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":75},"What situation does Annie Thórisdóttir describe at the start of the prologue?","Question",{"text":76,"@type":77},"She is standing in a tunnel under the Alliant Energy Center coliseum, waiting to take the floor for the final event of the 2021 CrossFit Games.","Answer",{"name":79,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":80},"How did childbirth affect her preparation for the 2021 season?",{"text":81,"@type":77},"After giving birth to her daughter Freyja, it took weeks before she could even sit on a stationary bike, and her early competition stages felt like she was not recovered enough to push fully.",{"name":83,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":84},"What does Annie say is her real goal at the Games?",{"text":85,"@type":77},"Her goal is not only to qualify, but to perform, compete with the best, and win.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":52,"og:type":88,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":59,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":90,"canonical":52},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":24},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":93},[94,97,101,105,109,114,119,124,129,132,136],{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":95,"slug":96},90,"story-novel",{"id":47,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":98,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":53,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":20,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":106,"show_sort_weight":107,"slug":108},"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":110,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":111,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":120,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":121,"show_sort_weight":122,"slug":123},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":125,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":126,"show_sort_weight":127,"slug":128},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":130,"show_sort_weight":127,"slug":131},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":133,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":134,"show_sort_weight":133,"slug":135},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":137,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":138,"show_sort_weight":20,"slug":139},19,"General","general"]