BILLINGS — Hope Cicero has been doing CrossFit since 2014, and she has qualified for the NOBULL CrossFit Games three times since. The games are designed to see who are the fittest athletes in the world.
Cicero could be described as a wife, mom and nurse, but she is also known as one of the top CrossFit athletes in the country and the world.
"Hope crushes everything. She's really good at a lot of the things," said Alec Clinger, CrossFit Billings' general manager.
You have to be crazy fit to compete at the national CrossFit games, held this year in Madison, Wisconsin, where Cicero is this week.
"It's a really big deal in the CrossFit community," said Clinger.
"I went in 2019. Great experience, and then the last few years just have missed the cut-off by certain weaknesses and that's been a great time to dig in and, and just refine certain things," said Cicero.
Clinger has been helping her refine. The duo train together three times a week competing against and pushing one another.
"I like to think that I'm supporting her, but really it's her supporting me to, like, finish the workout because she's usually done before I am," said Clinger.
This will be the second time Cicero will be competing at the games as an individual. Her first time, she qualified as a part of a team.
This go-around, she will be competing in the women's 40-to-44 age group, which took just the top 10 in the country.
"It's a huge, huge privilege," said Cicero. "I am so joyful moving into this time because it's taken a little bit to get back and I am really excited."
While CrossFit is technically a hobby for Cicero, it has strengthened several parts of her life.
"CrossFit, and I've said this before, because you experience such high, highs and low lows. I think that has molded my relationship with the Lord more so than anything else," she said.
Second, she says her dad has been her number one fan.
"My dad has really been the one that has said, like, I want to walk beside you on your journey to the games. We've been swimming at Lake Elmo, and he is just you know, swimming right next to me."
Quite the super woman you could say.
