IS SAM BRIGGS THE TRUE GOAT?
As we have largely discussed over the past year, the CrossFit Games season is under a massive wave of change. This is not the first wave of change the Games has experienced, and it will not be the last.
The Games started out as a small throw down on Dave Castro's private ranch in 2007. Slowly the sport grew, moving to the Stub Hub center, getting sponsored by Reebok, airing on Youtube, then ESPN, and eventually CBS. Now the Games hails from Madison, Wisconsin, has multiple age groups and divisions, and has its own sanctional season. What a whirlwind of growth and change.
Photo: CrossFit Inc
Many faces have come and gone in that time, but certain athletes have been able to adapt through years of change, growing more and fitter as the years have worn on. Perhaps no athlete has been able to manage these changes and stay as impactful as Samantha Briggs.
Briggs broke onto the scene in 2013 when she won the CrossFit Open and then the Games. Since then, Briggs has truly done it all. She missed games qualification only once, has appeared in the Games 5 times, including a podium finish in both the main Games and the Master's competition. She has participated in the CrossFit Lift Off multiple times including a victory in 2015, participated several times in the CrossFit Team Series, thrown down as an athlete and a coach for team Europe at CrossFit Invitationals, and has lasted the test of time unlike any other.
Photo: CrossFit Inc
This year, at the age of 37, Briggs has secured a Games spot via innumerable methods: a top 20 finish in the Open, a national champion bid for being the Fittest in England, winning multiple sanctional bids for winning multiple events, and has even secured a spot on a team with a team victory at a sanctional (Team JTS) this past weekend in Iceland.
As a longtime fan of the sport, I haven't ever seen anything like this. The longevity of fitness at a high level is astounding. Yes, it is impressive to see someone like Fraser or Froning win 3-4 CrossFit Games titles in a row. But to see the wide array of success that Briggs has, and continues to have, at her age is remarkable. I think its quite clear, Samantha Briggs is the greatest CrossFit athlete of all time. If there was a CrossFit hall of fame (and I am sure someday there will be), Sam Briggs deserves an inaugural spot.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments!
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