The former Dunedin athlete has finished at the top of the women's CrossFit open standings after a strong performance in the fifth and final workout at the weekend.
Greene, who was brought up in Dunedin but now works at a CrossFit gym in Abu Dhabi, beat about 80,000 other competitors around the world. The workouts are sent out to each competitor, who completes them in their own gym and sends them away to be judged.
Greene, a former Otago rugby player, took up CrossFit when she was still living in Dunedin in the middle of 2013.
Despite rupturing her Achilles tendon a few months after taking up the sport, she went on to make the Pacific regionals the following year.
She trained in one of Darryl Munro's two Dunedin CrossFit gyms and left for the Middle East only at the start of last year.
‘‘The first time I saw her in one of my classes, I thought, ‘This girl is going places','' Munro said.
‘‘She is a naturally gifted athlete. She's been a gymnast and a rugby player. You can't coach that, you just watch it in awe.''
But there is more to come after the open. The regional qualifiers, which include the best athletes from each region in the open stage, are next.
Greene, who works at CrossFit Yas in Abu Dhabi, has qualified for the Meridian regionals in Spain from May 27-29.
They will feature the 40 best men and women from Europe (30 men and women) and Africa (10 men and women), 20 teams from Europe and 10 from Africa.
Despite being on top of the world individually, Greene has opted to enter in the team section of the regionals for CrossFit Yas.
The team of three men and three women has unfinished business. It was disqualified a year ago on a technicality - a team member had not started training with the team by January 1 last year.
‘‘It's pretty impressive for her to finish on top of the world individually and she's still sticking with the team,'' Munro said.
Teams are decided by the accumulative score of the best six athletes from a gym during the open competition.
CrossFit Yas finished the open ranked second in the world, and needs a top-five finish at the Meridian regionals to qualify for the premier event on the calendar, the CrossFit Games.
They are the third and final stage and will be held in Carson, California, in June. They will feature the top five men, women and teams from each of the eight regional qualifiers.
