Emily Tanner has been to the CrossFit Games twice on a team. Most recently, her team, CrossFit Greater Heights Ascend finished 18th at the 2022 CrossFit Games. What’s crazy is that Emily competed exactly one year after giving birth to her daughter.

But Emily is not just an athlete. She is also a coach and runs Ascend Athlete Training, an elite coaching and programming platform. While competing on a team this year, Emily also coached Hailey Rolfe at the Games. Hailey competed in the Teenage Girls 16-17 age group division.

We chatted with Emily about her experience at the Games, both as a competitor and a coach, how she ended up competing months after having a baby and what it takes to run a successful training program for aspiring CrossFit Games athletes.