The Adaptive Athlete Podcast

The Adaptive Athlete Podcast is dedicated to sharing the stories of athletes in the Crossfit space and beyond who have pushed past the limits doctors or others gave them. In these conversations, you'll hear stories of resiliency, adaptation, grit, and determination. You'll also hear about the ways the adaptive space is growing. Whether you are an adaptive athlete, a coach, or you know someone who would benefit from adaptive athletics and adaptive fitness, this podcast is the place to hear stories and build connections. New episodes drop every Tuesday.

The Adaptive Athlete Podcast is a health podcast hosted by The Adaptive Athlete, with 74 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

The Adaptive Athlete hosts The Adaptive Athlete Podcast, a health show with 74 episodes published.

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  Episode #29

  What's the Worst That Can Happen? (Feat. Courtnei Lopez)

  Aug 18, 202648 minS2

  Courtnei Lopez was in a car accident a week before the 2026 Adaptive CrossFit Open. Six months later, she stood on the Adaptive CrossFit Games podium in third after securing the spot in the very last workout. Mat Hotho talks with Courtnei about the doubt she carried into the season, the moment she decided to make it you versus you, and why she says the whole thing was mental. Courtnei also opens up her sponsorship playbook, built on her mom's advice that no's are free, and traces how a conversation at the 2023 Games in Madison turned into her first deal. The Adaptive Athlete podcast is made possible with support from Equip Products . Send us Fan Mail Follow the podcast on Instagram: @TheAdaptiveAthletePod

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  Episode #28

  Keep the Negative, Develop the Positive (Feat. Sue Jordaan)

  Aug 4, 202645 minS2

  Sue Jordaan qualified for her rookie season and then made the call not to go because a $4,000 flight from South Africa deserves the fittest version of herself. Mat Hotho talks with Sue about a 2013 car accident that broke her back in three places, cost her her job, and left her raising two daughters from a wheelchair. What came after is amazing. Wheelchair rugby, a community that pulled her out of isolation, a CrossFit gym in Pretoria that put five athletes in the semifinal top ten, and scuba diving —where she dives fully independent, and puts other adaptive athletes in the water through her nonprofit. The Adaptive Athlete podcast is sponsored by Equip Products Send us Fan Mail Follow the podcast on Instagram: @TheAdaptiveAthletePod

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  Episode #27

  High Vibes, Low Vision (Feat. Emma Hood)

  Jul 14, 202636 minS2

  Emma Hood walked off a roof (literally) and landed on both feet, shattering her ankles and heels. Months later she was back in the gym, and this year she's a rookie at the Adaptive CrossFit Games in the Vision division. Mat Hotho talks with Emma about aniridia, the rare condition she shares with her dad and grandfather, and how growing up her family never asked whether she could do something—only how. They get into her jump from jiu-jitsu to CrossFit, finding WheelWOD by stalking another vision-impaired athlete's Instagram, and fighting back from illness to place fourth at Semifinals. It's a conversation about doing hard things your own way, and the community that shows up to cheer you on. The Adaptive Athlete podcast is made possible by sponsorship from Equip Products . Send us Fan Mail Follow the podcast on Instagram: @TheAdaptiveAthletePod

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  Episode #26

  A Year Nobody Could Have Predicted (Feat. Tori Clinch)

  Jul 7, 202641 minS2

  Mat Hotho talks with Tori Clinch , a rookie competing in the Seated Two division heading to the 2026 CrossFit Games in San Jose. Tori's year has been anything but expected—she got back into CrossFit in January purely for her own sanity, never intending to compete, and ended up finishing first in the Open and first at Semifinals. She opens up about her path to adaptive CrossFit: an above-knee amputation after months of sepsis and surgery, the box that turned her away once she started using a wheelchair, and the new box, CrossFit Brough , that welcomed her without hesitation. Five of its members are flying to San Jose just to cheer her on. Tori also talks wheelchair basketball, the Matt Hampson Foundation , and what she'd tell the younger version of herself sitting in a hospital bed. Send us Fan Mail Follow the podcast on Instagram: @TheAdaptiveAthletePod

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  Episode #25

  Lights Out, Locked In (Feat. Noah Cook)

  Jun 30, 202653 minS2

  Mat Hotho sits down with Noah Cook , a 25-year-old vision athlete gearing up for his first CrossFit Adaptive Games appearance after going completely blind by age 18. Noah lost his sight to glaucoma-related injuries, never touched CrossFit until after he went blind, and now trains under his dad, who's also his handler on the competition floor. They talk prosthetic eyes, producing hip-hop tracks in Logic Pro by feel using VoiceOver, and the blind soccer and goalball club Noah's building in San Antonio with his team, San Antonio Fuego. Noah opens up about wanting to start a nonprofit to make blind sports more accessible, and closes with a message for anyone new to this community: it's okay to be afraid. That's where the growth happens. The Adaptive Athlete podcast is sponsored by Equip Products . Send us Fan Mail Follow the podcast on Instagram: @TheAdaptiveAthletePod

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