Competing in sports at the highest level is tough enough, but being disabled makes it even harder. But Port Orchard’s Sierra Landholm refuses to let that keep her from going for her dream.

Landholm qualified as one of 10 competitors in the 2024 Adaptive CrossFit Games by WheelWOD. She will be competing in the Lower Impairment Below Knee Division Sept. 19-22 in San Antonio, TX.

“My goal going into the Open was to make the semifinals and then the goal in the semis was to reach the finals,” Landholm said. “It was a lot of waiting but once the leaderboard was finalized, I felt really proud of myself because I know a lot of people don’t get this opportunity.”

Landholm was born with Congenital right hip disarticulation. Her hip joint was unstable at birth and so she is without her right leg.

Landholm began doing CrossFit as a hobby with her husband in March 2023. She never expected to make it this far in her first year as a competitor.

My husband and I “talked about it for months before we decided to sign up for a class,” Landholm said. “I wasn’t originally planning on competing at all. They had an adaptive division for a few years but the lower impairment division were people with one leg competing with people with two legs who were impacted somehow. It wasn’t a fair playing field in my mind.”

Even though Landholm is new to CrossFit, she has been an athlete her entire life. She grew up with five siblings who played sports, and she competed right along with them. Landholm played soccer from kindergarten to second grade and basketball in the local recreational league through elementary school. However, her disability began to hold her back in middle school when she tried out for the school basketball team.

“The coach told me he appreciated my effort and that I worked really hard but I didn’t think I was ready for the team because I wasn’t fast enough,” Landholm said. “That made me realize I didn’t want to play basketball anymore so I began swimming.”

Landholm became a competitive swimmer in middle school. She swam for about a decade, competing at Ripon College in Wisconsin. She ended up finishing 19th in the 1650 freestyle in the Midwest Conference Championships with a time of 23 minutes, 54.80 seconds.

Landholm followed that up by winning the 1500-meter freestyle in the 2012 Paralympic Trials. Afterward, she retired from swimming and became a paralegal for the state Attorney’s Office. But she wanted to remain active despite working up to 45 hours a week.

“I worked out at a gym before COVID hit at VIE Athletics,” Landholm said. “This started my lifting journey where it was an all women’s gym with functional strength training with high- intensity exercises.”

Shortly after, Landhom made the cross to CrossFit. She struggled at first because she was the only one with a disability. She had to battle her mindset to push further. “With everything going on in life, it’s hard to get out of my head and do my best,” Landholm said. “All we can do is wake up, live and keep going, and with the support of the gym, my husband and family, it is doable.”

Landholm’s first competition was the CrossFit Open Feb. 29-March 18. She placed sixth and qualified for the semifinals May 8-13. She finished seventh to qualify for the 2024 Adaptive CrossFit Games.

Each competition has different events, depending on their abilities. Landholm has competed in cardio, burpees, deadlifts, squats and more. She does not know her events for the finals yet but is ready to make a name for herself as one of two Washington competitors. “My goal was to get there, and now it’s just to see what I can do,” Landholm said. “I am training harder but going with the flow at this point because I don’t know what to expect.”

Since several CrossFit athletes are sponsored, they do not have to worry about the costs of traveling to San Antonio. However, Landholm has created a GoFundMe to raise $4,000. “I am not expecting anything because if I cover it myself, I’ll just work harder,” Landholm said. “There is something special about a community rallying behind someone trying to do something important to them.”

If she does not raise all the money, she will still head to San Antonio with hopes of making new CrossFit friends. “CrossFit is really about the community, and I am excited to get to know about different parts of the community,” Landholm said. “It’s important to show disabled people can still be very fit and compete at the top level.”