It’s been over two decades since Kefla Hare last appeared on The Challenge. During his return to the game in the fourth season of , he saw two elimination rounds. While he won against Syrus Yarbrough and earned a star, that very win put a target on his back and led to his elimination loss against Steve Meinke. Following his time on this season, Kefla spoke with PopCulture.com all about his grand return to The Challenge, and the injury that he discovered as a result of his tough elimination loss.
Kefla shared that he was already going into the elimination round a little worse for wear after injuring his hamstring during the daily challenge. Once the elimination against Steve got underway, he realized that there was something else troubling him. He said, “It got to a point where I just couldn’t breathe. With the hamstring, I couldn’t get leveraged, I couldn’t breathe. And the rope was like 300 pounds. Steve is probably a nice, solid, I’ll say 210, maybe 195 muscle. And so trying to lift about 400 pounds off of me, it started getting more and more, I guess you can say detrimental to me trying to stay on this side. I want to say on this side of the earth. But it was tough, man. And it wasn’t until later that I actually found out that I was only operating on 76% of my lung capacity.”
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Kefla described that he did feel “winded” after other challenges during the season. But, it wasn’t until he got back home and doctors ran tests that he found out that there was something wrong with his lungs. He stressed that he’s doing “good” now and that this experience ended up being a blessing in disguise.
“It’s like I thank God that that happened because had it not, who knows what would’ve happened,” Kefla said. “But not to put all that out there just to say, oh, I wouldn’t have lost to Steve had it not been that. Because Steve is an excellent competitor, one of the most brilliant people I’ve known in the game as far as playing the game.”
Kefla may not have won The Challenge: All Stars, but he’s walking away from the experience on a positive note. Not only was he able to compete (and noted that he would “definitely” come back for another season), but he was also able to spread awareness about an important cause — mental health, particularly within the Black community.
“We have a lack of resources when it comes to mental health and mental wellness. Not only that, but we also have a lack of the representation of people that can stand up and speak for us,” he explained. “And I don’t want it to get to a point where we wait until a problem happens before we start speaking about mental health. I want you to go in there equipped, ready for anything.” The Challenge competitor practices what he preaches, as he noted that he was even able to have his own emotional breakthrough while on the Paramount+ series.
“I was telling them I was probably a big crybaby because I was so vulnerable, and I don’t know why, but it was the first time I was able to really open up in a good 18, 17, 18 years,’ he continued. “And it was just so peaceful in the midst of the elimination, in the midst of everything, that I was allowed to be my authentic self and speak about mental wellness and speak about what I could possibly do if I won the money. It is just so amazing, man. It is something that I, even without winning the money, it’s still something that I’m striving to do.”
