Raising the bar: The 17-year-old Nelson athlete taking on the world's fittest

Monday, 13 July 2026

Seventeen-year-old Nelson athlete Hannah Granger is preparing to head to California after qualifying for the prestigious CrossFit Games later this month.

The Waimea College student secured her spot by ranking eighth in the world in the 16-17 age group, marking a massive milestone in her rapidly accelerating sporting career.

“It doesn't quite feel real at the moment,” Hannah said of her qualification.

“I was very much surprised when I qualified for the games at all… getting there and qualifying was a big achievement in itself.”

The achievement is the latest in a string of successes for Hannah. In 2024, she won the New Zealand National 14-15 age group title. The following year, she surpassed expectations by competing in the elite women’s division at the national championships, placing seventh in the country against New Zealand's fittest adult athletes.

She has since competed across the Tasman at the Down Under Championships and recently secured a fourth-place finish at the Torian Pro in Brisbane.

Despite her international standing, Hannah faces the stark reality of competing in a sport that receives little to no outside funding or official recognition. Her success relies entirely on her own rigorous work ethic and personal support network.

Hannah said she decided to take up the sport just over three years ago after watching a friend compete in the CrossFit Open.

She played netball and volleyball competitively throughout school.

“I originally joined CrossFit for like strength and extra fitness training for those two sports, and then just ended up loving CrossFit more,” she said.

“I love the individual aspect of it - everything that I do rides on me, it's not on the rest of the team.”

To maintain her elite performance, Hannah trains six days a week for two to three hours at a time at the Tasman Bay CrossFit gym in Richmond, balancing that gruelling schedule against school commitments and weekend employment.

Hannah’s training encompasses an exhaustive variety of disciplines under the banner of “functional fitness“, ranging from weightlifting and gymnastics to high-intensity cardiovascular work. While her training regime was highly structured, she said her nutritional approach remained intuitive.

'I'm not super strict on my diet - I don't track any calories or anything,' she said.

'I try and eat pretty healthy, have a pretty protein-rich diet, and eat plenty of carbs, and just eat enough to keep sustaining myself.'

Hannah said she had eyes on a long-term professional career in the sport. Her ultimate objective was to eventually move out of the age-group divisions and qualify for the individual CrossFit Games, which represents the pinnacle of open-age competition.

Hannah’s coach at the Tasman Bay CrossFit gym Scott Russell said she possessed a remarkably mature mindset for her age.

'Hannah is unbelievably competitive and she’s very hard working and very tough mentally,' he said.

Russell said the international teenage CrossFit division could be unpredictable, but he believed Hannah had a “very good shot” at a top 10 finish, and her chances of securing a place on the podium was 'not impossible at all'.

“She is training really well - she's progressing at the moment, really, really nicely.”

Hannah leaves for California on Friday, July 17, and will be accompanied by her parents and Russell.

Hannah has a Givealittle page to help cover the cost of her and Russell’s flights, accommodation, and entry fees for the California competition.