The 2018 CrossFit Games Day one Recap
Courtesy of: CrossFit Inc.
The 2018 CrossFit Games kicked off yesterday, August 4th and there was a lot to cover. While we were NOT there, we were able to watch most of the live streams on the individual events and pick up on some very interesting things over social media. We will get to those down below after some fun facts and leaderboard scores.
Some of this information is from The Morning Chalk Up & The Barbell Spin. Head to both of their sites and follow them on social media. Our hot takes will be below their related information about Day 1 of the 2018 CrossFit Games.
Please comment below at the end of this post with anything you want to add.
7 THINGS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW
It’s not how you start the race, it’s how you finish it. While Games rookie Laura Horvath led the way for a nearly half the race, a total of seven different ladies held the leading spot. But it was Kristin Holte, who never had the top spot until the last hundred meters, who would take the 100 points and her second career bike event win. FUN FACT: Katrin Davidsdottir never dropped below third place the entire race.
The crash that could have been. Coming around the final turn on the last lap, Mathew Fraser skipped and skidded, almost to the ground, correcting his bike at the last minute and finishing fourth. This was the same exact spot that Michele Fumagalli fell and broke her wrist a half hour earlier.
Fumagalli falls and heads home early. On the final turn before the finish line, Michele Fumagalli lost control of her bike and toppled over, breaking her wrist in the process. After quickly collecting herself, she picked up her bike and ran it across the finish line, but her broken wrist would be the end of her rookie appearance at the CrossFit Games.
Can anyone go unbroken? Maybe, but not yesterday. Cody Anderson came the closest with 28 unbroken reps before he failed. Tia-Clair Toomey held on for the longest on the women’s side with 20 unbroken muscle-ups.
These are not your 2007 Games athletes folks. In 2007, the average male athlete lifted 799.7 pounds; females lifted 411 pounds on average. In 2017, male athletes increased their average to 1145.38 pounds and female to 776.92 pounds. FUN FACT: Every single female athlete beat the 2007 winner. Meredith Root, who came in 39th with 660 pounds, lifted 130 pounds more. Conversely, only seven male athletes beat Connor Banks’ 2007 total of 1225 pounds.
Margaux Alvarez bests nine male athletes in marathon row. A just 42 seconds over 3 hours, Margaux Alvarez started out in first and never gave it up. In the 2013 half marathon row, she averaged a 2:06:60 500m pace; in the full marathon, a 2:08:40 500m pace. That’s less than 2 seconds slower over twice the distance.
Who will get the Spirit of the Games Award? The Spirit of the Games Award, one of the highest honors of the CrossFit Games, is given to the athlete who exhibits extraordinary character, inspires and motivates others to live life with grace, kindness, and resilience. This year, for the first time, the CrossFit community will select the Spirit of the Games Award winner. CrossFit will choose a few athletes to nominate for the award, then fans can tune into a live Facebook broadcast to cast their vote. Vote on Sunday, Aug. 5, on the CrossFit Games Facebook Page.
Via: The Morning Chalk Up
"The Redeemed," - Tia-Clair Toomey. Photo courtesy of CrossFit Inc.
SO, WHO'S IN THE LEAD?
INDIVIDUAL — Men:
Mat Fraser (298)
Lukas Högberg (296)
Cole Sager (268)
Lukas Esslinger (258)
Adrian Mundwiler (256)
Patrick Vellner (248)
Brent Fikowski (242)
Björgvin Karl Guðmundsson (238)
Willy Georges (228)
Frederik Aegidius (212)
INDIVIDUAL — Women:
1). Laura Horvath (338)
Tia-Clair Toomey (326)
Annie Thorisdottir (276)
Kara Saunders (248)
Kristi Eramo (230)
Katrin Tanja Davidsdottir (226)
Madeline Sturt (224)
Kristin Holte (222)
Ehea Schuerch (222)
Sara Sigmundsdottir (210)
WHAT ABOUT THE TEAMS?
Teams - All:
CrossFit Mayhem Freedom
CrossFit Mayhem Independence
CrossFit Invictus X
CrossFit OC3
CrossFit 417
CrossFit Balance
Reebok CrossFit One
Don't Stop
CrossFit PRO1
CrossFit Invictus Back Bay
If you want to see all the scores from the individual, teams, masters & more, see here.
Laura Horvath during the CrossFit Total at the 2018 CrossFit Games. Photo courtesy of CrossFit Inc.
OUR TAKE ON DAY 1
From: Cam
The CrossFit Games are awesome. And brutal. All at the same time. And as much as I know about The CrossFit Games, there is a lot I don't know. As an athlete (a very mediocre one) it is so easy for the thousands of us to sit at home, judge, watch, and critique every little things about these athletes, but that's not what I'm here to write about. For me, it is truly something special to watch the Fittest Human beings on EARTH compete all at once.
The sheer will power it takes to even get to this level is beyond astonishing, and each of these competitors have worked tirelessly over the years to get to this stage. I cannot stress enough how amazing it is just to be able to watch these athletes compete. CrossFit has truly transformed over the years since its inception, and every year the CrossFit Games just keep getting better and better.
From the teens, to the individuals, teams and all the way up through 65-year old MASTERS athletes, CrossFit truly is, 'The Sport of Fitness,' and should be something everyone can get into regardless of whether or not they believe CrossFit is a cult. (It's not, but I digress).....
Athletes from all over the world kicked off four events yesterday, and while the teens, teams and masters heats were all impressive as fuck, majority of the world tunes in to watch the live streams of the individual events to see some high profile names like: Katrin Davidstottir, Annie Thorisdottir, Sara Sigmundsottir, Mat Fraser, Brent Fikowski, Patrick Vellner, Noah Ohlsen, Tia-Clair Toomey, and so many more.
SO, what happened?
Let's get to the events.
Event 1 - CRIT
Bike 10 laps for time
(1,200± meters per lap)
Hot Take: The Crit was damn fun to watch. It was a race between all 80 athletes to go 10-laps for time on the bike. As it is, Adrian Mundwiler (from Switzerland) won the bike race.
Any surprise there? No.
Mat Fraser came in fourth place, and a lot of other people were at the top of the leaderboard after event 1 for the men. Awesome stuff to see.
For the females, a couple of interesting things happened. First off, Michele Fumagalli fell and broke her wrist on the last lap. That sucks, because it was her first ever CrossFit Games appearance and now she has to leave the Games as she is unable to compete for the rest of the competition. It is somewhat similar to what happened to Camille Leblanc-Bazinet and Chelsey Hughes who both suffered Games-ending injuries back in 2017.
We wish Michele the best and hope to see her back next year. Either way, these bicycle events are BRUTAL for athletes. 2017 had the same opener for a bicycle race, and it was just as devastating this year.
Welcome to the Games.
Event 2 - 30 MUSCLE-UPS
For time:
30 muscle-ups
Each athlete will have one set of rings and will complete 30 muscle-ups before crossing the finish line.
Time cap: 5 minutes
Hot Take: 30 muscle-ups for time is HARD. I like muscle-ups, but in sets of 3-5. Anything beyond that can be exhausting, and do a number on your arms. It is a full body movement, and be to able to continuously do these with efficiency is something that takes years and years of practice. Seeing these athletes tackle them in sets of 15-20 (as many as 28, was truly astonishing.
Watching Camille Leblanc-Bazinet do 15 unbroken then win her heat was one of my favorite things to see from the day. This was uhh-mazing. Kristi Eramo came away with first place (her first event event win!) on the 30 muscle-ups for time (2 minutes and 32 seconds) while Tia-Clair finished second and Camille Leblanc-Bazinet finished in 5th with a time of 3 minutes 8 seconds.
That being said, three men ALMOST went unbroken on the 30 muscle-ups for time. I couldn't believe it. Logan Collins ended up winning Event #2 with a time of 1 minute 46 seconds and Mat Fraser finished in 3rd with a time of 2 minutes 0 seconds.
Either way. This was a super fun (and fast) event to watch live.
Go back and watch the event live HERE. It was amazing.
Event 3 - The Crossfit total
For max total load:
1-rep-max back squat
1-rep-max shoulder press
1-rep-max deadlift
3 attempts at each lift in each 4-minute window.
Athletes will have a 4-minute window to perform each lift. Within that window the athlete may make up to 3 attempts. The athlete’s score will be the combined total of his or her heaviest successful lift at each station.
Time cap: 12 minutes total
Hot Take: Watching this event was very cool. Everyone knows about the CrossFit Total, and back in 2007 when this event first appeared at the CrossFit Games, people were only getting total scores (all the lbs. added up) in the 700's and 800's. Now, people were clearing over 1,000 and the ladies were the most impressive.
That being said, there was a big controversy about Camille Leblanc-Bazinet's strict press. Watch the video down below and let us know what you think.
From: Games.CrossFit.com:
"In Heat 2, heavy hitter Whitney Gelin nailed a 405-lb. deadlift while rookie Ehea Schuerch lifted 330 lb. in the back squat. Known for her raw strength, Alessandra Pichelli held the lead after Heat 2 with an 860-lb. total.
But then it was time for Heat 3.
Toomey surprisingly failed her first back-squat attempt at 325 lb. but subsequently loaded the bar with 330 lb. and nailed it. Saunders matched Toomey’s back squat and Pearce shined in the shoulder press, lifting 155 lb. with ease.
Toomey and Wells lifted 415 lb. in the deadlift, and rookie Horvath wasn’t far behind with a successful 405-lb. deadlift.
“I’m very happy with my shoulder press and my deadlift,” Toomey said after the event. The back squat didn’t go as planned, she added.
Still, Toomey took the event win with a total of 875 lb., followed closely by Wells with 870 lb."
Tia-Clair Toomey. Photo courtesy of: CrossFit Inc.
From: Games.CrossFit.com
"In Men’s Heat 2 of 3 in the CrossFit Total, Scott Panchik pulled off a back squat with a 440-lb. barbell that he made look like a PVC pipe as he stood up with ease. His second lift, at 470 lb., was good, and his final lift at 500-lb. would hold as the heaviest back squat of the day.
Heat 3 saw several back squats nearing 500 lb., shoulder presses upward of 215 lb. and plenty of deadlifts over 500 lb. But the crowd pleaser of the day was Patrick Vellner, who lifted 595 lb. off the floor.
Vellner knew he had to make up some points on this event, after a disappointing 35th-place finish in Crit. He took 36th in last year’s opening event and recognizes this pattern is a problem.
“It’s a long weekend, and I know that. You gotta dust yourself off,” Vellner said. “I gotta stop making a habit of that. It’s pretty bad.”
Royce Dunn won the event with a total of 1255 lbs. (Vellner came in 2nd at 1250 lbs.) and for the women Tia-Clair Toomey won the event with total of 875 lbs.
"Fraser holds the overall lead after three events."
Photo courtesy of: CrossFit Inc. Patrick Vellner deadlifting 595 lbs.
All in all: Wild take. I do not even think I could come close to some of those women's scores....absolutely astonishing work by all. This was a fun event to watch, but definitely some times where I was holding my breath. Push it to the limit.
Event 4 - Marathon Row
For time:
Row 42,195 meters
Each athlete will row 42,195 meters for time. All athletes will perform this event at once.
Time cap: 4 hours
Hot Take: People knew this event was going to be the big one of the day. With a time cap of 4-hours, it was going to be damn tough for athletes to know what to expect, unless you had done it before, like Margaux Alvarez, who took 1st place in the event. And Lukas Esslinger, who took 1st place for the Men.
Photo courtesy of: CrossFit Inc. Lukas Esslinger.
Similarly, on the men's side, Swiss-man Lukas Esslinger, took home 1st place with a time of 2 hour, 43 minutes and 50 seconds on the row. Margaux's time was 3 hours 0 minutes and 42 seconds, which oddly would have landed her in 29th place (out of 40) if she were competing in the Men's division. That is pretty badass.
Overall, I didn't really know what to expect on this event. Since there was a half-marathon row in the CrossFit Games before, I felt like this was overkill, especially since the athletes had competed in three pretty tough events earlier in the day. And while I did not watch the whole thing, I kept checking in here and there, and Margaux Alvarez had the lead the whole time!
Rasmus Anderson, from Denmark, was also in the lead for the majority of the event, but I believe Lukas overtook him towards the end. This workout was all about pacing, not blistering, and using the big muscles to get you through. It was a mental grind as much as a physical one, and not something I would wish on anybody! Cole Sager finished 3rd, while Fikowski finished 4th and Vellner finished 5th.
Can you imagine having to judge this, be a commentator, or a spectator? I'm not sure this was a 'win' for anybody, and thank god the athletes have a recovery day today (Thursday August 2nd) because this event will be about who can recover the best for Friday.
Annie Thorisdottir took third in the Marathon Row, behind Whitney Gelin.
P.S. Miraculously, Esslinger kept a 1 m 56 second 500 meter row pace. Damn....that's fast.
End of the day, Mat Fraser and Laura Horvath are at the top of the leaderboard, but with a rest day coming up for the individuals, Day 2 will be all about the Masters and Teens competition.
If you want to live stream the events from Facebook for Day 2 (or any day), you can watch all the streams here.
Check out the full Leaderboard for standings in all divisions.
Leave us a comment and let us know what you think down below!
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