To watch the Olympics is to find yourself bewildered by the fitness of participating athletes. And while it’s only natural for conversation to land on the debate of just which sport boasts the fittest athletes, it’s hard not to watch track and field and look in awe of those thundering down the track at lightning quick speeds. With their powerful leg muscles and superhuman fitness, track and field athletes stand like something out of a Marvel film. For them, anything is possible.
But for navy veteran and fitness YouTuber Austen Alexander, he wanted to see just what a track athlete is capable of. Having already subjected himself to an array of different military fitness tests, Austen enlisted the services of three track athletes to take on the U.S. Marine Corp’s Combat Fitness Test.
The athletes taking part include a pair of two-time Team USA Olympians, with track and field athlete Kendell Williams, triple jumper Keturah Orji and Atlanta Track Club middle distance runner Allie Wilson. All up for a challenge, the three might not have known exactly what they were getting themselves into, but they were willing to give it a try nonetheless. First up came the 800m run which had to be completed in under 4:41 for a passing grade. It should be said that this was a fairly easy task for the three. Keturah went first with a time of 3:20, Kendall then completed her run in 2:52, surpassing the maximum score for her age.
Then Allie went for her run, admitting that she felt some nerves given that she does 800m all the time as a middle distance runner. “Normally I don’t have these pants and boots on, so I’m a little nervous about it,” she said. Even so, she finished the run in 2:28. “I’m pretty proud of that.”
After the run comes the ammo can lift, which requires a full extension of the arms at the upper end of the move for each rep count. Keturah must complete a minimum of 30 reps in 2 minutes in order to pass this round and manages to churn out 91 reps in the allotted time, surpassing the maximum score and lighting up her shoulders in the process. Then comes Kendell, who performs 119 reps in 2 minutes. Allie also manages 90 reps.
The third and final round involves a “manoeuvre under fire,” or rather a sequence of drills that include low crawls and bear crawls through markers, dragging a person back around the field markers, carrying them over their shoulders, a farmer’s carry, a “grenade” throw and five pushups. Keturah completes it in 2:28, Kendell in 2:24 and Allie in 2:32. All three achieved the max score for their respective age groups, with Kendell and Allie hitting top marks of 300 points, while Keturah sits behind with a passing grade of 294.
