Aniol Ekai

Aniol Ekai is an outstanding Spanish CrossFit athlete, who has made his mark on the international scene by competing in the CrossFit Games in 2024. He reached the fourth position in the European semifinals and was crowned Open champion in 2022. In addition, he has been recognized as the second "Fittest in Spain" on three occasions.

2025

Wodland Fest

Aniol Ekai participated in the Wodland Fest 2025, a crucial event in the CrossFit season in which the top 2 qualified for the CrossFit Games. A

Throughout the competition, Ekai showed outstanding skills, starting with a solid performance in "El Puente", where he finished 5th overall. In "The Velites Separator" event, he managed to place 4th, adding important points towards his position in the competition.

After event 3, he was in 2nd position, however, his performance fluctuated in subsequent events.

In "Uma Complex", he was only able to lift 145 kg and missed several subsequent lifts, which relegated him to 14th place in that event. In the "Malaga Nightmare", the event that followed, the accumulated fatigue impacted his performance, finishing 29th, which further compromised his chances of a podium finish.

Despite the ups and downs, he managed an outstanding third place in the "Woodland Chipper", which allowed him to regain some of his form. However, he finished a disappointing 14th in the final event and expressed his discontent through his Instagram stories.

Throughout the event, Ekai was competitive in several events, but his inability to maintain consistent performance in key events left him out of the fight to qualify for the Games.

In the end, finished in seventh place overalla result considered disappointing given its potential and pre-competition expectations.

Wodapalooza 2025

Aniol Ekai shared on our Telegram channel, his feelings after the first day, in which he managed to place fifth overall and was quite happy with his performance. In the first event, he highlighted his improvement in the steps and how to take advantage of the race on the beach, although in the final round some rivals overtook him and he finished seventh.

In the second event, his favorite, he came in third after a very close fight with James Sprague. Although the second position was Aniol's, it finally went to Sprague after an appeal by the American.

The third event was a little more complicated than he expected, placing 12th, as the dumbbell had less weight in the result than expected. Despite some unlucky moments such as a no rep on the overhead lunge, Aniol appreciated his ability to stay mentally strong and do well.

In the first event of the second day, a complex of hang clean and cleanAniol opened with a solid 345 pounds, but a sore back made it difficult for him to lower the bar in the hangs. clean. He failed his first attempt and, although he managed to lift 345 lbs. on his second attempt, he did not feel comfortable, especially on the hang clean. He subsequently missed the final lift at 355 lbs. This was his worst event of the day, placing 13th, and he was frustrated knowing he was prepared to do better.

In the second event, Cuban Presswhich included bench presses with dumbbells and burpeesAniol started a bit cold due to a limited warm-up, but found his rhythm quickly. He was efficient in the bench press and finished in fifth position, staying close to fourth place.

The third event, where I had high expectations, consisted in thrusters and bar muscle-ups. Despite an initial fear that back pain might affect him, he managed to maintain a strong pace in the thrusters and held up well in the bar muscle-ups, although the last round of 4-3-3 exhausted him. He finished 11th, very close to scoring more points.

Although he fell short of his goal of fifth place, Aniol expressed satisfaction with his overall performance and thanked for the support he received.

Aniol's 6th position is the best result ever obtained by a Spaniard in this competition. The previous best was a 12th in 2023, set by Fabian Beneito.

2024

Deja Training Culture

After rumors in our Telegram channel and in the latest Training Culture podcast, we talked to Aniol and confirmed to us that he needed a changeafter 3 years, and had decided to put himself in the hands of a new coach.

However, the Spanish athlete will continue training at CrossFit Zarautz but under the tutelage of Fraser McKenzieplatform coach Team Training Programming. The best known face of this program is the English athlete Aimee Cringle.

Down Under Championship

Win the competition paired with the Australian. Ricky Garard.

1.- Aniol Ekai + Ricky Garard 695
2.- Jake Douglas + Jake Marconi 595
3.- Calum Clements + Pablo Cazalis 527

TYR Cup SoCal

The casualties of Roman Khrennikov and Ricky Garard of the world team have Aniol Ekai invited to participate in this competition of 2 teams of 8 athletes (World vs. North America).

After a bad first day, he started the second day by being the best of his team in event 4.

3000m Assault Row
60 Burpees Over the Worm
3000m Run

Win the head-to-head with Justin Medeiros

His most impressive performance took place in Event 7 (BMU / Clean Ladder), where he faced the two-time CrossFit Games champion, Justin Medeiros. Aniol shared in an audio through Telegram that the American joked with Ekai, assuring him that he was going to beat him. However, Ekai maintained his firm conviction that he would be the one to emerge victorious.

And so it was, right at the start, Aniol gets 2 no reps which gives Justin the advantage and he comes out first from the muscle-up barHowever, the Spaniard was cutting distance in the lifts until the last bar, Medeiros is not able to lift it and Aniol does it without problems and crosses the finish line euphoric.

Find out how the TYR Cup 2024.

CrossFit Games 2024

Ends in eighteenth position in the overall, becoming the best result by a Spaniard in the history of the CrossFit Games. The previous best result was Fabian Beneito's in 2023 when he was twenty-third.

His best result was a seventh place in the penultimate event. In fact Aniol won his heat of event 9 and 10 which were held back to back.

Semifinal French Throwdown

Aniol qualified for the CrossFit Gamess after finishing 4th in the Semifinal European CrossFit.

He went from strength to strength, with a difficult start after a 17th place in the first event. In event 3 he won his heat and placed 7th overall after the second day.

In event 4, one of its weaknesses appears, the Handstand walkand finished in 20th place. This result dropped him to 9th place overall.

In event 5, he won his heat, where the best athletes in Europe are located. wod is 4th and climbs to 6th place overall.

In the last event, he starts the dummbbell lunges behind Haapalainen, Fiebig and Hoffer, however, the latter 2 fail a few meters from finishing and Aniol takes advantage to cross the finish line in second place and confirm his first and long-awaited qualification to the CrossFit Games.

Event 1: 17º
Event 2: 13º
Event 3: 3º
Event 4: 20º
Event 5: 4º
Event 6: 2º

Quarterfinals

Finished fifth in the European Quarterfinals, demonstrating extraordinary form.

Open

World: 28th
Spain: 2nd

Picsil Pamplona Arena Games

Latvian Uldis Upenieks snatched the top spot in the last event of the competition. Both starred in one of the highlights as they finished their final rep of overhead squats and raced across the finish line.

Several people explain that live it seemed that Aniol was the athlete who crossed first and touched the black pivot. However, in the briefing they explained that the finish was touching the red carpet and after reviewing the videos, they could verify that Upenieks was the first to step on it.

Both athletes finished with the same points but the tiebreaker went to Uldis.

Aniol discovered that he was losing first place right at the awards ceremony and could not hide his face of disappointment.

Wodapalooza

Participates in the division of teams of 3 together with Fabian Beneito and Frenchman Guillaume Briant finished in 7th place.

2023

What does Nuru Dabai mean?

For some time now, Aniol has been using the term "Nuru Dabai" as an emblem. And although many may think that it comes from anime because he has declared himself a fan of several, the reality is different.

Aniol explained the meaning in the Meet & Grit podcas.

When he arrived in the Basque country, Aniol asked the Training Culture team to teach him some Basque for when he gave classes, and they told him "Nere burua oso haundia da".which meant "My head is too big.". Aniol tried to remember it and repeated Nuru Dabai.

When they were in Miami, to motivate himself, Mike would tell him: "Va! pull out Nuru Dabai!" Since then he has used these words to identify himself.

Dubai Fitness Championship

Good start of Aniol in his second time participating in this competition. In the steeplechase he was 7th. However, in the deadlifts he was 16th, his worst result of the whole weekend, finishing the first day 9th overall.

9th, 5th and 11th on the second day placed him 5th overall. 6th, 5th and 7th in the last wod, kept him in 5th place at the end of the competition. TOP10 in all but one 11th and one 16th place event, Aniol proved to be a consistent athlete with few weaknesses.

A 5th place that brings him a prize of 5,000$.

He injures his hamstring in a local competition just a few weeks before participating in the Dubai Fitness Championship.

ROGUE Invitational 2023

He participates in the Qualifier and manages to finish in 6th position. However, he is heavily penalized in wod 3 for a dubious rep. The CAP is applied at that moment and the rest of the wod is invalidated, something excessive. His new score brings him down to 22nd position, out of the 6 places.

Madrid Championship 2023 as a team

He participates in the team division together with the English Tayla Howe, and the French Claudia Gluck and Guillaume Briant. They finished in 2nd place.

Semifinals

Despite acknowledging that he felt he was in the best shape, Aniol finished the Europe Semifinal in 22nd position. Behind Martin Cuervo 18º and Fabian Beneito 11º.

His best result was 2nd in event 4, with 290lb / 132kg deadlift. snatch PRwhich a priori was counted as 280 lb. After claiming, he was awarded the 290.

Open

Finishes as winner of the Open in Spain.

2022

Dubai Fitness Championship 2022

6th overall in the most important competition in which it has participated.

The first event began with a spectacular second place in the ascent of the Burj Khalifa and was secondeven though we thought he had been first, in event 5.

However, 4 events outside the top 10 left him with no chance of a podium finish.

Madrid Championship 2022

Finishes second in the first competition to be held again in the Caja Mágica.

He won the last wod which catapulted him from 5th to 2nd place. There was controversy in the last wod for the execution of his DB Thrusters and David Shorunke3rd place, made his complaint public on Instagram.

The youtuber Andrew Hiller shared a video with some of the problems with the judges.

Quarterfinals

He does not participate in individual Quarterfinals to do so in teams, however, his team is eliminated before participating in the Team Quarterfinals for not meeting the eligibility criteria.

Open 2022

He achieved first place in the Spanish individual rankings.

Wodapalooza 2022

Compete in an elite team with Alexander Anasagasti and Pablo Cazalis in 7th position.

He participated in both competitions in Madrid. He is 7th individual in the Madrid CrossFit Championship and 2nd in team where he made his debut with teammates Sara Alicia Fernandez, Helena Avendaño and Martin Cuervo.

Programming change

He starts 2022 by announcing that he is changing his training program. He leaves 77feet in Blanes and moves to the Basque Country to train with the Training Culture team.

Mike, Hugo, Josete and Alex (co-owners of TC) gave him their trust, helped him with the move and with the apartment, and have helped him financially, psychologically and in every possible way.

He has been able to train regularly with Fabi, the best Spanish athlete he has ever known, who has taught him his discipline, his mental capacity and all his sacrifice.

Pablo Cazalis opened the doors of his home to him, literally, he opened his heart to a friend and he couldn't be more grateful.

2021

Wins the Fittest Freakest Challenge.

Finished 13th in the Semifinal Online German Throwdown becoming 2nd Fittest in Spain 2021.

Passed the 2021 Quarterfinals cut-off in 51st position.

At the end of the year 2021, at the Ciudad Real CrossFit Championship, he began to feel that he had to keep looking outside to improve. His ambition grew and so did his desire to compete and improve.

There he met Luiscar and Mario, who began to help him with sponsors and patronage so he could dedicate himself solely to training. He shared hours with Sara, Jon, Marga and Alex, who opened the doors and knowledge to begin to see different ways of training. He also began to train with Martin and to see his human and physical capabilities.

2020

He participated in his first international competition, the Sanctional Norwegian CrossFit Championship, finishing in 17th place.

His father had passed away a few months before and the truth is that he was not ready to compete. A few months later, he was not so ambitious, he did not train as much, much less than his friend and partner Txete, he did not sacrifice so many things, but he was doing well... until he did not.

Personal stats

First time in CrossFit

He was introduced to CrossFit in the summer of 2013. His sister had a friend who was starting classes in the garage at their parents' house, and she said it was a great thing and could help him get better at CrossFit. He and Zarate decided to go. There they met Edu, almost sitting on the ground, and the first thing he told them was, "This is the natural position of a human being."

His first WOD was a 7-minute AMRAP of max burpees to reach the goal, and he did 76.

That summer they did WODs without really knowing what it was all about, they did WODs on the beach, they were bleeding, throwing up, and it all looked like crap.

I was coming and going from 77Feet without much regularity until March 2017, when together with Txete they decided to start training more and more.

They had both dropped out of the race and just had to train. The Mediterranean 2017 came and he told Guille that he would be there next year competing in the last heat. And so he did.

In June 2018, the 77Feet team went to their first regionals and felt part of helping the team make it happen; Polpa, Edu, Ix and Jelena planted the seed of a dream: to be there competing.

Before CrossFit

At the age of 15, he started playing soccer.

He started judo at the age of 5 and reached blue belt.