At twelve, Lauren Farhat Googled "what can a 12-year-old do for work," picked caddying, and got pulled off the course on the 12th hole with blisters and blood inside her prosthetic. She called the caddy master, asked for another shot, and worked her way back to full 18-hole loops.
Lauren was born with PFFD (proximal femoral focal deficiency) and competes in the above-knee division of adaptive CrossFit. She taught herself CrossFit off YouTube in a 24 Hour Fitness before a local affiliate said yes. She won the 2023 WheelWOD Games in a tie-breaking final event, fueled by Taylor Swift's Reputation album, then won the Adaptive CrossFit Games in 2024, 2025, and 2026.
Now a DM she almost ignored has her in a sit ski. Lauren tells Mat about a para Nordic development camp in Oberhof, Germany: learning to shoot an air rifle on the exhale, eating it on downhills with no brakes, and getting classified LW12. She talks about spending her childhood trying to be "normal," why so many adaptive athletes don't find sport until their 30s, and what she wants to do after her final competitive CrossFit season: be the person she didn't have growing up.
This episode is proudly sponsored by Equip Products.
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