Crossfitter Kaisun Raj makes the nation proud

Free Malaysia Today

The 25-year-old is the first Malaysian to have qualified for the CrossFit Games semifinals in South Korea.   Read More:   Free Malaysia Today is an independent, bi-lingual news portal with a focus on Malaysian current affairs.    Subscribe to our channel - http://bit.ly/2Qo08ry   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Check us out at https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com Follow FMT on Facebook: https://bit.ly/49JJoo5 Follow FMT on Dailymotion: https://bit.ly/2WGITHM Follow FMT on X: https://bit.ly/48zARSW  Follow FMT on Instagram: https://bit.ly/48Cq76h Follow FMT on TikTok : https://bit.ly/3uKuQFp Follow FMT Berita on TikTok: https://bit.ly/48vpnQG  Follow FMT Telegram - https://bit.ly/42VyzMX Follow FMT LinkedIn - https://bit.ly/42YytEb Follow FMT Lifestyle on Instagram: https://bit.ly/42WrsUj Follow FMT on WhatsApp: https://bit.ly/49GMbxW  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Download FMT News App: Google Play – http://bit.ly/2YSuV46 App Store – https://apple.co/2HNH7gZ Huawei AppGallery - https://bit.ly/2D2OpNP  #FMTLifestyle #KaisunRaj #CrossFit

Transcript

00:00 [Music]

00:03 I was pretty shocked initially.

00:05 Becoming the first Malaysian to qualify for the CrossFit Games semi-finals in South Korea

00:11 came as a surprise for 25-year-old Kayson Raj.

00:13 While Kayson had always dreamed of qualifying for the event,

00:17 often dubbed the Olympics of CrossFit, he did not expect it to happen so soon.

00:21 It was kind of always my goal was to qualify for semi-finals,

00:24 but I didn't expect to do it this year.

00:27 Fortunately for Kayson, fitness is more than a routine.

00:30 It's a passion which saw him hitting the gym almost daily.

00:33 CrossFit, according to Kayson, is a combination of technique, strength and fitness.

00:38 The UK-based data software engineer who hails from Selangor

00:42 balances a rigorous training schedule with his full-time job.

00:45 Unlike many competitors, he does not have a personal coach

00:48 and instead trains at his local CrossFit gym in South London.

00:51 There are classes every day, six days of training per week.

00:55 So on top of that, I'll supplement it with additional stuff that I know that I need for

00:59 my specific training and my specific goals of competing.

01:04 Of course, it's not without its challenges.

01:06 Beyond the immense mental and physical resilience required,

01:09 there are also the high costs associated with competing.

01:12 How do you fund your training and competition?

01:15 It's still a relatively new sport.

01:18 It doesn't have loads of money in it.

01:21 For me, I basically have to fund most of my competitions and everything myself.

01:27 Run a t-shirt that my gym designed for me

01:32 and that we were selling to basically raise a little bit of money.

01:35 But yeah, so I just, you know, I have my day job.

01:38 So that is what I use to fund this kind of thing.

01:41 Despite the challenges, Kayson's success has not only made him and his family proud,

01:46 but also put Malaysia on the CrossFit map.

01:49 I also hope that I can kind of encourage other Malaysians to try competing in CrossFit.

01:55 Like, it's still such a new sport in Malaysia.

01:58 Yeah, I hope that it will gain some traction.

02:01 Although Kayson did not ultimately qualify for the finals,

02:05 which saw only four athletes from Asia secure the spot,

02:08 he remains proud of his achievements.

02:10 I've learned a lot from the experience in the semifinals

02:13 and then hopefully go into next year's season better prepared

02:18 and as a sort of a better athlete and see what happens.

02:21 I would love to just keep progressing.

02:26 Samuel Choa, FMT Lifestyle.

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