Dawn ‘Til dusk
ISSUE 2
Eldmóður The Progrm 1
For the last 7 years the Island of Mallorca has hosted some of the World’s best CrossFit Athletes. Over the years many have come and gone. However, in 2019 I made the decision to establish a full-time training group right here on this small but mighty island in the Mediterranean sea. Together with photographers Xisco and Vicki, I began documenting the journey of 3 of these athletes: Jacqueline, Gabi, and Kristof. Dawn til Dusk is a photographic story that aims to capture the life of these athletes as they make their way out of the constraints imposed from the 2020 COVID lockdown and train in Mallorca. John Christian Singleton #Eldmodur #ActaNonVerba #TheProgrm
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Instagram: @TheProgrm Contact: info@theprogrm.com Produced by: The Progrm Text by: Alexandra Rumsey @a.rumsey Graphic Design by: Maria Camila Valencia @mariacamilav Photographers: Xisco Fuster @xisco_fuster Vicki Mcleod @vicmcleod Athletes: Jacqueline Dahlstrøm @jacdah Gabi Migala @gabimiga Kristøf Horvath @kristofhorvaht Shella Badaseraye @Shella_Badaseraye 3
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Faith, religion, sacrifice, suffering, success, sport. We all need something to believe in. A reason to explore, a reason to push through pain, a reason to simply get up in the morning. Sport is our Religion. It’s our belief, our sacrifice and our success. The 0.001% of athletes who succeed in sport become our Gods. Looked at with reverence and put on a pedestal: we take their words as Gospel and share their teachings as though we are their disciples. However, in the background, quiet murmurs question their "godliness" and the lifespan of their reign. These murmurs are never silenced. There is the constant threat of the youngblood overtaking the ruler, signaling the change of an era and swaying the disciples to preach a new testament. Like all religions, we have Gods and we have Meccas: sacred places that have been the training grounds of the best of the best. These places are now destinations for the ambitious souls of the new generations.
Cookeville, Iceland, California... Mallorca. Athletes will travel to these locations to spend every single day sweating, bleeding and crying just for a shot at proving themselves and a chance to stand among the same legends that walked that path before them. Here in Mallorca, we welcome the brave souls that are ambitious enough to attempt such a feat. Our motto? Acta Non Verba. Act, don't speak. Don't tell us you want to be the best. Show us, every single day. Put in the work, no matter how tired you are. Be prepared for it to be rough, things will indeed get nasty. As we run, you will want to quit whilst your sweat dries burning under the hot Spanish sun. When you wake, you will want the option to lie on a sandy beach. Instead, the athletes we seek are the ones who day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year are putting in the work for a chance to reach Olympus.
Eldmodur #002 The Progrm This is our story and this is our Mecca.
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THE GROUP Iron forges Iron. Through the years this small Spanish island has seen athletes come and go. Some have graced the Mallorquin streets for just a couple days or weeks. Some have learned to call the island their second home after spending months on end here.
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... if you are the best in the room you better find another room
Athletes flock to the island not just for its optimal training conditions and warm weather but because deep down they all know one thing to be absolutely true: iron forges iron. In other words, "if you are the best in the room, you better find another room". True competitors thrive off the push of their similars and when they find themselves all gathered under the same roof, drenched in sweat and gasping for air, that's when the real magic happens. That's when you can make the jump from good to great, from great to dominant. And so here we are, proudly watching over another group of athletes that have gathered once again to test their hunger for success and race each other every day for the pure joy that is competing
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JACQUELINE DAHLSTRØM 12
She's the queen of the no bullsh*t kingdom. Always straight to the point, she will give it to you as it is no matter how much reality may hurt.
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She showed just how serious she is about making it to the top after winning two of the biggest international competitions back-to-back on different continents!
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She showed just how serious she is about making it to the top after winning two of the biggest international competitions back-to-back on different continents! She earned the "badass" title when she walked out on the competition floor and managed to hide a debilitating injury so as not to give the women chasing her down any hope that they could take her spot from the highest step of the podium
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GABRIELA MIGALA 20
The child prodigy. At just 17 she landed her first Crossfit Games podium in the Teenagers division.
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At 20 she kicked off the European Region's first event by taking the first spot among the most competitive womens' roster the world had ever seen in one single region. Since then, she's been a regular on the "one's to look out for" list of every Crossfit column and editorial. Outside of the gym her bubbly personality is contagious but you can trust that as soon as she hears "3..2..1..go!", something switches and she's all business
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Outside of the gym her bubbly personality is contagious but you can trust that as soon as she hears “3..2..1..go!”, something switches and she’s all business.
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KRISTÓF HORVÁTH The Hungarian gentle giant. Standing at more than 2m tall the guy is huge and with a piercing gaze that would make most men a little weak in the knees.
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Always ready to give anyone who needs it “the talk”: if you feel like your mindset is off, he’s your man.
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He looks like he could break you in two. What they don't know is that Kristof is one of the kindest souls on the island. Always ready to give anyone who needs it "the talk": if you feel like your mindset is off, he's your man. And you can trust he knows his sh*t. After all, this is the guy who got ran over by a car and had to go through multiple surgeries just to bounce back from it all and return to the competition floor stronger and hungrier than ever
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JOHN CHRISTIAN SINGLETON The man. The myth. The legend. 36
The dude that has seemingly lived 100 lives in one: John moved to Asia as a youngster to learn martial arts; competed in the CrossFit Regionals on a South American team; studied and worked in London as an osteopath, and after years of travelling, he finally chose to settle down in Mallorca, the island which he would ultimately play a part in transforming into a European CrossFit sanctuary. Now his
life emulates that of Chiron, the Greek mythological figure that trained brave warriors to raise them into heroes. In the same manner, John has been guiding athletes on their path towards the ultimate goal: The CrossFit Games
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The project started in May 2020, we had just come out of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. We had literally been locked in our houses for 3 months, despite the initial fears the energy was positive that the virus would subside and things would return to normal relatively quickly. Coming out of the lock down I wanted to create something that would express the hard work and effort the athletes put in on a day to day basis. Firstly thank you to Xisco and Vicki for taking the time and applying their knowledge. Alex for he many rewrites of the text. Maria for putting the project together and of course the athletes for their time and patience. John Christian Singleton
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