Alexia Williams’ past year has been quite the rollercoaster. Williams, who competes out of the South America region, qualified for her first CrossFit Games in 2023, but didn’t perform as well as she had hoped due to an accident prior to Quarterfinals that limited her training. Now as she was ramping up training for the 2024 CrossFit Games season, Williams suffered another injury.
This one, however, will cut her 2024 season short.
Last month Williams was slated to compete at the Dubai Fitness Championship, but withdrew due to pain in her neck, trapezius and shoulder. On top of that she had significant strength loss in her right arm.
Once she got back home in Argentina, she underwent tests and it was found that she has a cervical hernia. The initial plan was to give it rest and see if it would start to heal, but after three weeks it has not improved.
A cervical disk herniation is when the gel-like center of a disk, in this case the neck, ruptures through the outer wall. Many times cervical herniated discs can be managed through nonsurgical treatments, but in Williams’ case that did not work.
When Williams returned to her doctor, she was told that her only option was to undergo surgery to repair the hernia. “Surgery is scheduled for Tuesday, January 16th,” Williams told The Barbell Spin. “I’m still trying to get into my head that I won’t be able to compete this season.”
When asked if she knew when the injury occurred, Williams said she felt some pain in her neck during a push jerk in training a week prior to Dubai. However, her doctors believe the hernia was there long before that.
So with surgery on tap in two weeks, Williams will have to set her sights on 2025. “Doctors told me it will take about six months to be fully recovered,” said Williams. She then added, “I’ll be back.”
Williams was one of two female athletes to qualify out of Copa Sur, the host of the South America Semifinal, this past year. She was joined by Victoria Campos.
With Williams out, it leaves the door open for another athlete to earn their way to Fort Worth, Texas, for the 2024 CrossFit Games.
