As senior counsel at Hanson Bridgett, Payam Saljoughian spends most of his time representing hospitals, senior care providers and other health care clients in litigation and transactional matters. But recently, he's been spending a decent amount of his hours at the gym, training for the 2019 CrossFit Games.

Saljoughian, a 32-year-old Iranian-American lawyer from Oakland, will be the first athlete to represent Iran at the international fitness competition, which runs from Aug. 1-4 in Madison, Wisconsin.

Saljoughian, who was born in the U.S. to Iranian parents, obtained Iranian citizenship through his father, who came to the U.S. for graduate school decades ago, and ended up staying in the country.