By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
NBC-TV is bringing back Dwayne Johnson’s The Titan Games for season two this month, and that worked out well for a Las Vegas resident with a hybrid career of being both a competitive crossfit athlete and winemaker.
Meet 35-year-old Margaux Alvarez, a likable crossfit workout artist, YouTube trainer with thousands of subscribers and wine lover who lifts weights as easily as she lifts glasses of her crafted wines.
You’ll see Alvarez in prime time on The Titan Games, which kicks off its second season Monday with a two-hour opener hosted and executive produced by Johnson, the actor, ex-WWE performer and former Miami Hurricanes college football player also known as The Rock.
LVSportsBiz.com spoke with Alvarez Wednesday afternoon to find out how the CrossFit Games veteran who adores the winemaking business found her way on to the set of The Titan Games, which was filmed in Atlanta in February before the coronavirus pandemic shut down America’s economy in March. The Titan Games features an array of creative athletic one-on-one competitions featuring all types of physical skills and everyday competitors with a wide spectrum of backgrounds,
Alvarez laughs when she recalls people asking her how she can drink wine and conduct her workouts, which range from running to lifting hundreds of pounds of weights. The 150-pounder has deadlifted a personal best of 410 pounds.
Named after Chateau Margaux, Alvarez produces wines under the G.O.A.T. Wine brand in Paso Robles, California. “I love the physical labor that goes into it,” Alvarez said of the growing, harvesting and crushing of the grapes.
Alvarez said her passion for winemaking came from her parents who loved wine, while her life of fitness was nurtured as a kid growing up in Montana. Her physical activities as a kid outside Missoula, Montana varied from ballet and taekwondo to horseback riding.
Alvarez said she cannot divulge details about the athletic competition events in The Titan Games’ 13-episode second season. She’s one of 18 women on the show along with 18 men.
Alvarez competed against thousands of applicants to get chosen for The Titan Games by submitting a video application and highlighting her winemaking ways and crossfit YouTube following that measures in the thousands. The friendly crossfitter/winemaker says hi to everyone who crosses her path. And she must be in good condition because she talks so fast without taking a breath.
She’s familiar with TV athletic competitions becauseAlvarez participated in seven years worth of CrossFit Games from 2013-19, including several years when ESPN broadcast the crossfit competition.
To make the Titan Games cut, the northwest valley resident had to go to a combine in the Los Angeles area in January before she got the call that she made the final cut for the TV show that was filmed during a three-week period in February.
The Titan competitors have varied backgrounds, linked by being everyday people who have found ways to overcome adversity in their lives. Alvarez said she faced rough times when she was 22 years old and her younger sister, Kerstin, died at the age of 20.
Alvarez said the competition and results on The Titan Games are unscripted and very real. “At the starting line, its three, two, one, go and it’s 100 percent real.”
She’s hoping the national exposure on the TV show will enhance sales of her wines and generate more interest in her fitness videos on YouTube. And Alvarez will always find time after her workouts for a glass or two of red wine.
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