Title photos: CrossFit Inc.
Newcomer Mat Fraser took it for the men, making 2015 the first time someone other than Rich Froning won the competition since 2011. For the women, 2012 Games champion Annie Thorisdottir is back on top and in great shape.
Here’s a comprehensive round-up of who crushed what, how the workouts compared to 2014, and some straight-up speculation, just to keep your debate game strong.
Fraser vs Froning
It’s been the talk of the Open since day one, at CrossFit One in Canton, Massachusetts. Ever since four-time Games champion Rich Froning announced that he was going team, the community has been split as to whether he might take his foot off the gas and be bested by 2014 Games runner-up Mat Fraser.
Week one was a tough call, since both men would do well at 15.1 and 15.1a. Froning seemed to have the strategic edge during the toes-to-bar, deadlift and snatch, pushing Fraser to go at his pace, or fall behind. The 25-year-old Fraser rose to the challenge, beating Froning by three reps to take 15.1.
As a veteran Oly lifter, Fraser would have no problem with 15.1a – max clean and jerk – and although both athletes put up huge numbers, it was experience that won in the end, with Rich Froning taking 15.1a.
Rich Froning: (15.1) 226 (15.1a) 350lbs/159 kg
Mat Fraser: (15.1) 229 (15.1a) 346lbs/157 kg
It seems as though Fraser is the crowd favourite to win the Games this year, but as we’ve seen in previous years, competition can bring with it some big surprises, and we can’t count out some of the other big guys who came close to snatching victory last year – Scott Panchik, Noah Ohlsen, Josh Bridges, Ben Smith, to name a few.
Scandinavians on top of the world: Annie and Sara
Perhaps one of the biggest talking points for this year’s Open has been the incredible performance of former champion and fan favourite, Iceland’s Annie Thorisdottir.
It’s been an emotional ride for Annie over the past couple of years, as she’s battled numerous injuries that have kept her from reaching that top spot she knows can be hers. Things are looking up for the 25-year-old, though, and after winning the Open she had this to say to Games HQ’s Sean Woodland:
“I never go into the Open with the mindset that I’m going to win it, but this is a very pleasant surprise. It’s a great start to the season.
“Obviously the main goal is to try to win the Games, so this is just the first step, but it’s very exiting.”
Alongside Annie – second place in Europe and third in the world – fellow Icelander Sara Sigmundsdottir looks set to seriously shake up the competition this year.
Sigmundsdottir looked untouchable in Europe throughout the Open, and at just 22 years old, she’s surely a future champion in the making.
Strength from a land down under: Kara Webb
Australian Kara Webb looked like she was on track to take the Games in 2014, but after an injury sent her crashing out, she had to wait a whole year to prove herself again.
She did not disappoint. Webb posted a score of 624 reps for 15.3 – the muscle ups, wall balls and double unders workout – and a lightning time of 06:36 for the simple but brutal thrusters and rowing couplet of 15.5. If you’re Camille Leblanc-Bazinet, you’d better know that the Australians are coming.
The current women’s champion had no problem, however, showing everyone why she’s the best in the world. Solid performances throughout the competition, all delivered with the tenacity that we’re used to seeing from Leblanc-Bazinet.
If any of these girls want to take the title from Camille, they’d better be willing to go to what the champ calls “the dark place.”
The best of British: Sam Briggs
Who doesn’t love Sam Briggs? After failing to qualify in 2014, the 2013 Games champion returned this year, looking stronger than ever and showing off that trademark engine.
Briggs posted an unbelievable score of 633 reps for 15.3, a workout that she repeated after some questions from the HQ judges.
If Briggs can stay injury-free, expect to see her on the podium in 2015.
Squat Mafia in the house: Emily Bridgers
We saw Emily Bridgers throw down against Michelle Letendre for 15.2, and now the South East region athlete (Bridgers) sits in 4th place worldwide. With an impressive roster of finishes for all five Open workouts, does Emily have what it takes to stand in first place this year?
The California Bear goes team: Jason Khalipa
This year more than any other is going to be fierce for the team athletes, with both current champion Rich Froning and the California Bear Jason Khalipa forgoing individual competition in favour of teams.
The growing popularity of the Grid competition, too, where teams of athletes compete in intense CrossFit races, has pushed standards even higher. Any cracks in your team, and you will not be standing on the podium come July.
2015 Open workouts recap
Whether you’re a veteran athlete or just starting out, the workouts this year were tough. We saw snatches in the very first workout, at a weight heavier than expected based on previous years (52/34kg). Athletes were also subjected to thrusters, handstand push-ups and the dreaded muscle-up, which stopped plenty of competitors in their tracks in 2014.
See full descriptions of the workouts on the Games site.
15.1 was a pacing game. Not too slow, but not so fast that your grip burnt out. A lot of the top athletes broke up their sets of toes-to-bar early, and those who found the right balance came out on top. 15.1a was a max clean and jerk, and favoured not just the strongest athletes, but those who paced properly during the first part of the workout.
15.2, overhead squats and pull-ups. Can you move quickly and still control your breathing? Josh Bridges and Camille Leblanc-Bazinet could. They took 15.2.
15.3 tested athletes’ ability to cycle movements quickly with little rest. Samantha Briggs crushed this workout, which consisted of 7 muscle-ups, 50 wall balls and 100 double unders in a 14-minute ‘As Many Rounds as Possible’ style.
15.4 was a couplet of power cleans and handstand push-ups. It was a speed workout, which relied on athletes having excellent technique, especially with the introduction of a new standard for the handstand push-ups. In 15.4, athletes had to extend fully with their heels over a line marked on the wall, which was measured according to their height before the workout.
15.5 was another couplet, and a total quad killer. A rowing and thrusters race, which Samantha Briggs blitzed at the announcement, beating both Annie Thorisdottir and Camille Leblanc-Bazinet. Kara Webb would later beat Briggs’s time by 24 seconds, and in the men’s competition, Mat Fraser posted a blinding time of 05:19.
The 2015 CrossFit Games are looking to be the most fiercely contested so far, on both the men’s and women’s sides. We’re definitely going to have a new men’s champion, whether that’s Mat Fraser, or one of the other hopefuls, and it’s all to play for in the women’s competition.
Who do you think will win? Let us know on in the comments below.
The post CrossFit Open Recap: Is 2015 the Year of Fraser? appeared first on BOXROX.