DAVID SEGUN IN SEMIFINAL (FUNDRAISER)

David originally from Nigeria got his ticket for the Fittest In Cape Town South Africa. Because the region is mainly dominated by south african athletes, I took the opportunity to introduce you the one who call himself « the dark horse in the room » !

 

FLA: Congratulation for your qualification, please introduce yourself to Africa.

DS: My name is David Adeola Segun, I’m native from Festac town in Nigeria and living in USA since 1996 where I am Customer success manager.

FLA: When did you started and did you discover Crossfit®?

DS: I discovered CrossFit in college while playing rugby (one of my sport background) and started at CrossFit Hard in 2014. I didn’t get serious with competing until 2018 when I was an alternate for CrossFit ReVamped’s Atlantic Super Regional Team. I qualified for the CrossFit Games in 2020 as Nigeria’s national champion but was unable to attend due to the global shutdown with the pandemic. In 2021 I missed out on making the Africa Semifinal taking 67th and this year finished 24th in the region to qualify for my first semifinal ever.

FLA: What made you decide to start to compete instead of just doing this sport for health ?

DS: I loved the challenge of CrossFit and the thrill of competing, finding out what I was really made of both physically and more especially mentally was too big a draw to ignore.

FLA: Are you following a specific programming ?

DS: Yes! TTRU Fitness (Train To Rise Up)

FLA: What About you diet?

DS: No sweat!
To be honest I don’t have one necessarily. I used to count macros but now I eat to fuel my performance as best as possible. I don’t eat to be “ripped” or “shredded,” I eat a fairly balanced diet but I have a HEAVY emphasis on carbohydrates. As long as I’m weighing in around 195 and performing well I don’t tweak my diet much if ever.

FLA: How your training journey is programed, how many sessions per day ?

DS: 2-3 sessions a day depending on the time of the year.

FLA: Does semifinal was planned longtime back or you just feel it was possible during this open 2022?

DS: The goal was to make my semifinal this year. I knew I was improving and getting fitter and fitter but I had no idea where I was going to finish. I felt it was certainly possible but exceeded my goals for sure with my qualification this year!

FLA: How are you approaching FICT about mental readiness 

DS: I’ve already accomplished my goal this year so I have nothing to lose. I’m the dark horse in a room full of other stallions, so I’m going to attack the field. I have zero fear of who I’ll be competing against, they bleed just like I do!

FLA: Talk about your fundraiser

DS: My coaches back home have created a GoFundMe  and they’re raising money to help fund travel expenses, hotels, registrations, gear etc.

FLA:Your message to African fitness community

DS: We aren’t the most talked about region, if anything we are talked down because of how small the region is or how much fitter other regions are than us. We have all the physical potential to go toe to toe with anyone else in the CrossFit space, any sport as a matter of fact around the world. I am competing for the pride of my homeland, to bring greater attention to the African region of crossfitters and most importantly to hopefully get more people physical active and investing in their health as a whole, CrossFit doesn’t just have to be for competitors, it’s for everyone.

Thank David, we wish you the best!