When Lori Webb walked into her first CrossFit gym, it was to do yoga, not CrossFit. Now, five years later, Webb has not only advanced to the Age Group Online Qualifier for the 2021 CrossFit Games season but she did it by winning the Arkansas masters 40-44 women’s division, placing 53rd in North America and 86th worldwide.
Competing in a new age group in 2021, Webb had been rapidly ascending the 35-39 leaderboard the past two seasons. After debuting in 2017 with a finish nearing 3,000th in her division worldwide and 2,000th in the US, she climbed nearly 1,000 spots worldwide and 600 spots nationally in one season.
Webb then made a massive jump in 2019, finishing 447th worldwide and 273rd in the United States. The following year brought her closer to the threshold, finishing 468th worldwide and 267th in the US in 2020 before moving up and onto the next round in 2021.
Recalling her first days of walking into Chopper CrossFit in Wyoming, Webb was dealing with a diagnosis of alopecia, an immune system condition that causes hair to fall out in patches or completely. That’s when she chose to don a bandana, a practice she continues today.
“People just assume I’m trying to be some bad ass but that couldn’t be any further from the truth. I am a pearls and fingernail polish kind of girl,” Webb says behind her 10,000-watt smile.
An athlete and coach at Omnis CrossFit North in Little Rock, Webb thrives on the CrossFit community, “No one cares that I’m wearing a bandana or what I look like,” Webb says. “It’s all about effort and being a great person.”
A mother and wife, Webb, who volunteers and works part time at her children’s school, will take part in the Age Group Online Qualifier over Mother’s Day weekend in May.