Zachary resident Jason Day competed in the 71st Annual Gayle Hatch Louisiana Christmas Meet this past Saturday, coming in 1st in the Masters Division and 4th overall, out of 12 participants. Competing in the snatch and clean & jerk categories, Day’s weightlifting total was 243 kg (535 lb!), which qualified him for the 2023 North American Open in March in Columbus, Ohio.
The USA Weightlifting sanctioned event was held in Walker at Slingin’ Iron CrossFit as a qualifying event for the Open in the spring, where Day will compete with others from around the country in hopes to advance to other national level weightlifting competitions.
After serving in the Marines, the Louisiana native settled in Japan, where he competed in the sport of CrossFit in the Asia region and was the Fittest in Japan in 2017 and 2018. Day and his wife owned two CrossFit gyms in Okinawa, as well as a sports performance business. Day was the strength coach for the England Women’s National Rugby team and was also the strength coach for the local high school rugby team in Kadena, Japan. He, along with his wife and four children, moved to Zachary from Japan two years ago.

