How this Charlotte team earned a berth at the Olympics of CrossFit, representing NC

Anyone walking into The Grit Haus Saturday, would hear laughs and cheers echo over some good pump-music. Around 30 of probably the fittest people in the city patted each other on the back as they headed out of this CrossFit affiliate gym, owned by Kevin Steinhaus.

But completing a grueling workout isn’t the only thing this crew is celebrating: While Steinhaus led the charge for Saturday’s grinder, he also captains a team of four Charlotte athletes headed to the 2023 CrossFit Games, with competition starting Thursday.

CrossFit is a high intensity type of exercise that combines heavy weightlifting, basic gymnastics and endurance activities — such as biking, running and swimming — culminating in what many call the “sport of fitness.”

First time competing on the world stage

Steinhaus’ team — dubbed CrossFit CLT — includes Josh Hardin, Stevie Dellinger and Caroline Kluttz. This four-person powerhouse is making their debut on the CrossFit world stage this week after placing 6th in the North American East semifinal in July. CrossFit CLT is the only group from North Carolina at the 2023 Games and the third Queen City team in the contest’s 16-year history.

The CrossFit Games represent the highest level of competition for the sport, their equivalent to the Olympics. This year, the Games are taking place in Madison, Wisconsin, and will draw nearly 450 athletes from 42 countries, according to sports and marketing firm BZA PR.

“It will be a little intimidating,” Steinhaus says of his team going to the Games for the first time. “We’ve competed against a lot of big teams before — and did pretty well — so we have proved to ourselves that we do belong.”

Over four days, CrossFit CLT will compete in eight challenges — called tests — for a chance to earn the title “Fittest Team on Earth.” Individual men and women have separate contests, too. But here’s the catch: the specific tests at the Games are not announced ahead of time, so the athletes don’t know exactly what they’re training for. They find out the day before.

“CrossFit is known to say, ‘Be ready for everything,’” Steinhaus says. “And that’s what CrossFit training is for.”

“People who have been prepared and are the fittest are going to do well no matter what they throw at you.”

Preparing for the games

For Team CrossFit CLT, that necessary preparation meant six weeks of high-intensity training with increased volume, followed by one week of tapered workouts, all while getting used to working out in the heat outside.

Kluttz, as a registered dietitian, paid extra close attention to her nutrition in fueling her body to avoid injury and burnout during this grueling training period. She even took Dellinger under her wing when she first joined the team, ensuring the meals they eat promote sufficient energy, healthy hormone levels and proper recovery.

CrossFit is inherently a competitive sport, but Steinhaus and his team caution the line between competitiveness and comparison.

“We want to do well, but we can’t worry about how well we’re doing against other people,” he says. For CrossFit CLT to do their best, Steinhaus says, they must use the presence of other teams as a fuel for — not a focus of — their performance at the Games.

The watch parties are ready

Another motivator for Steinhaus’ team while in Madison is the support system back at the Grit Haus. Gym members played a huge role in getting CrossFit CLT ready for the international stage and have already planned watch parties this week to watch them compete.

“We couldn’t have asked for a better community over here at the Grit Haus,” Steinhaus says. “And you’re not going to see that at another type of gym.”

CrossFit is all about athletes bettering their fitness and pushing their physical limits, with every workout scalable to an individual skill level. That collective goal within a CrossFit affiliate lends itself to a competitive yet team-like atmosphere in the gym.

“You’re a part of something,” Steinhaus says of the group environment at a CrossFit affiliate.

“Getting to work out with people with the same goals and aspirations as you is the best way to push yourself,” says Hardin.

How the team came to be

Soon after Steinhaus stepped into a CrossFit affiliate for the first time and experienced that community — back when he lived in Arizona — he became hooked on the sport.

A former college football at Ball State University, Steinhaus ended his collegiate career with the weight of untapped potential on his shoulders. It was the YouTube videos of Rich Froning Jr. — CrossFit Games’ Fittest Man on Earth four years in a row (2011-2014) — that sparked Steinhaus’ initial interest in the sport of CrossFit.

For Hardin, he started CrossFit 10 years ago with the intent of getting in shape to become a firefighter — just like his dad and brother. Hardin describes firefighting as a “team-oriented” job, and as a former high school athlete, he found a similar camaraderie in CrossFit and at the Grit Haus. Training to get in shape soon turned into competing. He’s never looked back.

Kluttz, on the other hand, fell into the CrossFit world because of a Groupon. You read that right. In October 2018, she tried a CrossFit affiliate in south Charlotte for the month. A newer athlete to the sport, Kluttz “found a purpose to her fitness” in CrossFit and stuck with it, she says, as it fuels her competitive spirit.

Steinhaus and Hardin began competing together in local CrossFit contests in 2019, and he coached Kluttz back when he managed at STAX, another Charlotte CrossFit affiliate that closed at the start the pandemic.

In October 2020, Steinhaus opened the Grit Haus with his then-fiancé now-wife Amanda. Soon after, he roped in Dellinger from Morgantown to complete the team currently at the 2023 CrossFit Games.

Dream to reality

Competing at the CrossFit Games has been a dream this team has been working towards for years. This week in Madison, they will be living it.

“We’re glad to be here,” Hardin says on the phone from his hotel room the night before competition. “I want us enjoying the moment of something that we’re not sure we’ll have the chance to go back to.”

While the pressure and intensity at the Games will be at an all-time high, Steinhaus and his team “will work harder than anyone to push through it,” he says.

That grit — built into the environment at the Grit Haus — has set the foundation for Team CrossFit CLT to succeed.

The 2023 NOBULL CrossFit Games will be broadcast live on Games.CrossFit.com and in the CrossFit Games app. Live coverage will also be available on YouTube and Facebook.