For most of her marriage, Veronica Ledesma has taken care of her four kids and her husband Marcelo Elizaga, who played professional soccer for years.
But after discovering CrossFit and opening CrossFit Iron Tigers in Buenos Aires, Argentina, she wants you to know one thing: “Here, the boss is me.”
Ledesma started CrossFit to lose weight after having her fourth child. Soon, weight loss became secondary to her passion for sharing CrossFit with others.
When Elizaga retired from soccer, Ledesma applied to open an affiliate—in her own name. Friends told her it might not work if her husband’s well-known name wasn’t attached, but she didn’t change her plans.
“I opened the Google translator and I (started) to tell my story,” says Ledesma, whose first language is Spanish.
On May 20, 2013, Ledesma received approval to open the affiliate. More than a year later, her best friend, Leticia Ischia, is running a second Iron Tigers location, and the two have more than 400 members combined. More recently, Ledesma’s branch of CrossFit Iron Tigers became the first affiliate in Latin America to offer the CrossFit Kids program.
Video by Gary Roberts
6min 24sec
Additional reading: “Coach.” by Maureen O’Hagan, published Oct. 1, 2014.