Meet the ex-rugby league star who’s become one of Europe’s leading CrossFit athletes

This August, a handful of the world’s fittest athletes will travel to the US to compete in the CrossFit Games – a gruelling series of intense workouts designed to push the body to the limit.

More than 144,000 male competitors entered this year’s competition, with around 50,000 of those coming from Europe. Of that figure, just 60 have qualified for the continent’s semi-final. It’s an exclusive club – one that former rugby league star Sammy Wright is proud to be part of.

The 29-year-old, who represented Dewsbury Rams and Featherstone Rovers before calling time on his rugby career, became engrossed in the athletic sport seven years ago. He opened the CrossFit Utopia gym in Leeds and dedicated his career to the discipline – aiming to compete at the highest level.

“Around three years ago I said, ‘Let’s aim for the semi-finals, regionals and bigger events,’” Wright tells . “I could’ve done smaller, local events and won a lot more – but I’ve never really been interested in that… I wanted to go against the best athletes.

“If I get hammered, it’s on me and I have to work harder… there’s definitely been events that I’ve tried to win and missed out on. That’s been hard to swallow but dealing with that failure has made me train more and pressed on to where I am now.”

CrossFit, a branded fitness routine founded in the US more than two decades ago, has become one of the most popular athletic sports on the planet. Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr – a five-time women’s CrossFit Games winner – boasts more than 1.7million followers on Instagram.

The company’s annual competition started in 2007 and is now established as an exhausting six-month event. The Games start with the Open, a three-week international competition where anyone –