One might be the loneliest number, but five is the most stressful at regionals.
Athletes and teams occupying or in reach of fifth place are clawing for the last spot in the CrossFit Games, and they’re assured of either joy or pain—nothing in between—when the competition wraps.
It’s far easier to sit 30th and know that you’re playing only for pride and the joy of the game. Even the top of the leaderboard is more comfortable. Expectation weighs heavily on those in first, but they’re used to the pressure, and it’s usually balanced by a cushion of points that allows for a mistake or two.
Fifth is the knife’s edge, the bubble, Game 7. Perform well and your season continues. Perform poorly and you’d best make sure you have a good Internet connection to watch the Games online in July.
Fifth is not for those who lack character and grit—and neither is the StubHub Center in Carson, California.
Sam Briggs, who famously missed qualifying in 2014 one year after winning the Games, sat 11th at the beginning of the day, 37 points away from the last Games spot. But just as Rich Froning dug himself out of a hole to win the Games in 2014, Briggs more than rose to the challenge on Day 2.
Competing in the third heat of four to start the day, Briggs did nothing less than set back-to-back event records. Her 4:52.11 bettered Kara Webb’s 5:01.64 in Event 3, and in Event 4 Briggs posted 13:35.24 to erase Alanna Fisk’s 13:42.23. While Annie Thorisdottir (4:35.24) and Sara Sigmundsdottir (4:49.14) both beat Briggs’ Event 3 record in the next heat, the second mark stood up.
After an amazing performance worth 190 points, Briggs reflected on Day 1. She hadn’t hoped for great success on Friday, but she said 25th and seventh were “much, much worse” than expected.
“I knew that the snatch was going to be bad, but realistically the third and fourth bars were in my capabilities. I can lift the last bar, but I’ve not reached it in training. But I did better than the second bar.”
When the time cap sent her back to the starting mat to watch her rivals complete Event 1, she sat and tried to figure out why she’d performed below her capabilities.
While Briggs is known for her skill with muscle-ups, Event 2 was a struggle as well.
“I’ve got a little bit of an elbow issue, something that I’m aware of. When I do a slow transition there’s no problem, but every time I tried to rush it, I’d end up getting a no rep just ’cause like I can’t get full extension in my arm unless I force it,” she said, pointing to a ball of scar tissue on her forearm just below her elbow.
Briggs figures she let self-imposed expectations get the better of her on Day 1.
“I announced that this year was going to be my last year, and I feel like I put too much pressure on myself. … I think I’ve lost what I’m normally about. Normally I come and I have fun. Yesterday wasn’t fun, so today I’ve got nothing to lose. I’m here to give it everything and just have fun.”
Briggs wants to show what she’s capable of but doesn’t actually think it will be enough to get her back to the Games.
“It’s kind of likely that I’m going to come sixth at the end of this weekend. I think the girls that are sitting in fifth (and above) at the moment aren’t going to make mistakes in the next workouts, so I think they’re the top five that you’re going to see at the Games.”
Be that as it may, Briggs indeed sat fifth after the day’s first two events, 6 points out of fourth and 26 ahead of sixth. She used a near-record performance in Event 5 to take second, pulling her into third overall.
As impressive as her recovery was, she’s just 4 points ahead of Thuridur Erla Helgadottir and Kristin Holte, who hold fourth and fifth, respectively. Emma McQuaid is 48 points back of fifth, and Briggs has traditionally struggled with the overhead squats and handstand walks that come on Day 3, so she may well need those extra points tomorrow.
Lukas Högberg, 30th at last year’s Games, sat 4 points ahead of sixth to start the day. After Events 3 and 4, his 20th and second combined to drop him to sixth, part of a quickly developing log jam involving Lukas Esslinger and Adrian Mundwiler. Both were 6 points ahead.
“I’ve never been—except in small competitions—like in the top from the first day. I don’t mind,” Högberg said of being on the bubble.
In fact, he’s come from behind before, and he’s prepared to do it again.
“In 2014, I took (36th) place on the handstand walk on the first day. Still made it to second—second place overall. So it’s hard, but this scoring system makes it possible for people to qualify in the last event even. So that’s good,” he said, doubled over a railing and still out of breath from Event 4.
Being on top, he noted, can also set you up for disaster—and pressure.
“You start to relax too much instead of being ‘I’m the dog and want to bite them in the ass.’ … Maybe better for the pressure to be not on top from the regionals to the Games. So either way, if I make it, I’m super happy.”
In the day’s final event, Högberg took sixth, putting him back into fifth overall. But he’s not safe yet: fourth and sixth are separated by 13 points.
Day 3 promises to be stressful for both Briggs and Högberg.
The Team Bubble
Heading into the final event of Day 2, CFXY sat in fifth, with Team CrossFit Nordic and CrossFit Reykjavik 22 points behind. Stacked up next to each other in three lanes, the teams clearly felt extra pressure as the first pairs on the finish mat screamed at the last groups.
The five-six-seven ranked teams finished fifth, fourth and sixth, respectively, in a very tight race. When you’re on the bubble every spot is precious, and the teams knew it.
Numi Katrinarson, whose team finished fourth and picked up 5 points on fifth place, would have preferred to leapfrog CFXY.
“It’s better to be in top 5 coming into Day 3 instead of being sixth or seventh or less,” he said. The answer was perhaps surprising given Katrinarson famously came from behind in the final event of the 2012 individual competition at the Europe Regional, taking the last Games spot by tiebreaker.
The members of CrossFit Reykjavik, seventh after Day 2, were steeling themselves to climb the leaderboard tomorrow.
“We knew from the beginning it would be a tight race for that fifth position. … I think we are mentally ready for that fight,” said Stefán Jóhannsson.
The bubble, however, can also bring mixed emotions as athletes try to navigate through doubt and pressure. While Solveig Sigurdardottir of CFXY said “we’re just doing it for fun,” teammate Hilmar Arnarson quickly chimed in with certainty: “We’re going to get to the Games.”
On the Bubble for Day 3
Men
4. Lukas Esslinger—368 points
5. Lukas Högberg—357 points
6. Adrian Mundwiler—355 points
7. Stefano Migliorini—340 points
Women
3. Sam Briggs—395 points
4. Thuridur Erla Helgadottir—391 points
5. Kristin Holte—391 points
6. Emma McQuaid—343 points
Team
5. CFXY—476 points
6. Team CrossFit Nordic—459 points
7. CrossFit Reykjavik—449 points