Mal O'Brien - Why She's Sitting Out, Discovering What Makes Her Happy and Surfing in Hawaii 

Miss Mal O'Brien, I doubt you'll see this. I commend you for being right with yourself, and taking the time. I am 43yrs old and 3 kids. The oldest being 21 now! Lol! Through out my kids lives I have always preached to go after your dreams,...what makes you happy to wake up every day! My oldest .....being my daughter, is is an artist. Well rounded, but her passion is photography. She started her own business at 16yrs old and it has grown every yr since. She's not making millions, but she grows every yr! And it makes my heart happy to see her going after what she wants to do instead of settling for what she" has" to do!!! She also is a waitress at 2 different restaurants while she is building her business! Always take the time to find what makes you happy to wake up!!❤️‍🔥👍👍👍

I hope she stays active in spreading her current mindset and past experiences. Her message should be heard by all young athletes and parents of young athletes

Great interview, Mal has such a great talent, really miss seeing her compete,wishing her all the best on her journey.

Great interview! I am happy for her if she’s happy now. The only thing I wonder is why we haven’t heard from her anything about Matt. He was her coach so I would have loved to know about his support and if they still keep in touch or not.

10:48 Matt Fraser has always said that he has achieved what he has because it was his life’s sole focus. Presumably this is what he instills in all his trainees. There’s nothing wrong with that but if you’re not on the same page then it won’t work

It's crazy to watch these young prodigies go full cycle in life so soon, we all probably thought they would have this amazing time and dominance starting so young but life is just not so linear. Mal knows what's what and nothing but respect for it, i see nothing but wisdom and self awareness, acquired ahead of schedule, live your life Mal good on you!

She never mentions having conversations with Matt, her coach or her camp about her fears and anxiety. I wonder if she just didn't feel comfortable, trust anyone or simply didn't want to let people down. no word from anyone on that. Seems like she was all alone.

The first generation of “greats” were adults with lives and personalities. The current generation were raised in the box (literal and metaphorical) and they are going to suffer for it.

So HAPPY for Mal! She hasn't had a real childhood. Like most athletes that compete at a high level, your life in not your own. GOOD for her. I wish her ALL the HAPPINESS and WONDER that life had to offer!

Great interview! I've always wondered why elite crossfitters don't put a hard cap on their training time. Say 2 or 3 hours a day max, and then leave the rest. Working out 8 hours a day is enough to ruin anyone's life.

it's been 2 years... I don't think she's ever coming back

I wish you would've asked her, had she won last year would she still have left the sport to take a break? Or did coming in 2nd have an impact on her decision, as well?

You are a neat young woman Mal O'Brien, and at the end of the day your happiness is paramount! I will remain a big fan whether you compete or not...and in my mind, will always think of you as the 2023 Fittest Woman on Earth!!

Mal is saying "I want to have fun, I want to allow myself to be a kid"... which means to discover new things and just have fun. And Laura, who was very sensible in this interview by the way, couldn't help but to say: oh you're baking, you should definitely sell it to people, "I would be your first costumer", "can we expect a cook book?" It was not on purpose, but don't you see the problem here? Laura then came back and finished the interview with a great message. But, we are so conditioned to think that whatever someone is doing got to have a "practical" goal that these words come out of our mouths without thinking. BTW it is refreshing to see how Mal is looking like a kid. Fortunately.

She was expected to be a huge part of Crossfit post Tia, but instead she has walked away.

she did NOT want to talk about HWPO at all

Sweet kid. Just keep being a sweet kid. Most important thing you can do.

Now 75000000 billions millions billions dollars for u Mal O'brien. Mustly now lips love joys five times 🌸 〽️ 💐 mustly 〽️

95% at least from the people competing take it as a career and to make money. Even Mat frazer had 2 goals get 5 wins and enough money to retire and fully stopped. I get when the money is not an issue, and no goal to aim for (to win …) its impossible to find the motivation to suffer day in and day out with body breaking workouts to do well in a competition. In my opinion its as simple as that.

Yeah she’s not coming back. She’s not built for a single focus anymore.

Mal is a wise woman. And a baddass.

Another example that potential does not equal performance under pressure. Sadly, too much publicity is given to potential.

Classic case of a young person doing things for the wrong reasons. I had the same problem. Gotta have something bigger. For me it's Jesus, I'd encourage everyone to follow suit

I dont think she could ever do gymnastics as a kid to Olympic level think this is a very similar type of thing.

Please don’t ever come back to Crossfit

When you break up with someone, you delete the contact, remove yourself from things associated with that person. Why would she have this breakup with “all things associated with CrossFit “ but then she creates a new RU-vid channel, does interviews with CrossFit media. You can’t have it both ways. Either embrace your relationship with CrossFit or stop doing CrossFit related activities. IMO move on get some educational skills and start working being a productive person of Hawaii. Good luck.

Women are so different than men. I was a collegiate heavyweight wrestler. I never had any doubts or remorse or excess feelings about working out at an extreme level. Also going to university classes and studying and then work the evenings at Circle K for three to four days a week. It was something that I had decided to do, no reason at all to reconsider. 1. Wrestling routine offseason: * Run ten miles in the morning: on a good day, I would finish the run in under an hour (for you non-accountants that is ten consecutive sub-six minute miles in a row) * Lift weights aggressively for 1.5 hours, with very little wasted time between intervals * Off-season wrestling practice held by the team captains w/o coaches present 2. University classes, I graduated in three years instead of four or five with a difficult degree in accounting 3. Worked two part-time jobs, Cirle K clerk from 6:00 PM to 1:00 AM for three or four days / week. And weekends as a night security guard at 19 story commercial building. I would run hard with ankle weights and punch all the check points on each floor in half an hour and study for the next half hour and repeat for 12 hours. I was invigorated to be accomplishing my goals No reason to lament not being able to party or get depressed. Too many feelings women. The only one of y'all with my attitude is Tia. That is why she consistently wins. I could not win more than conference because in my time period there was no weight limit for heavyweights. Chris Taylor (Really a sumo wrestler) at 440 pounds and 6 foot 5 in of fat was the US champion that went to the Olympics in 1972. Now the international organizations cap heavyweights at 275 pounds, no sumos allowed. At 235 pounds, 5.0% body fat (Water tank test), 55 inch chest, 37.5 inch waist, 32 in. circumference legs; I was too small to take on a 440 pounder. I could not even get my arms around his belly to try and control him. - The retired redneck accountant

She chose her health. Young lady didn’t want to destroy her hormones etc to be a crossfitter.