Ben Smith really got worked over this time.
In 2015, when Games Director Dave Castro offered fans the chance to vote to decide if the athletes would do Heavy DT or Double DT, Smith voted for the stout version because it had fewer reps.
“At the time, I was really sore,” said Smith, who finished first in Heavy DT by more than 35 seconds.
Then, knowing 270 reps were in front of him in the evening engagement with Double DT, he smiled the smile of a man who ate the dessert before the vegetables.
“Now I’m really, really sore.”
Smith said his quads are particularly fatigued after six events, including three today.
The defending champ, sore as he was, used a steady pace to take ninth in the event, pulling into second overall. That impressive accomplishment was overshadowed by Mat Fraser’s dominance of the last heat. The athlete from the East led start to finish, though he fended off an early challenge from Alex Anderson and a late push by Scott Panchik.
Fraser’s 11:41.59 was tops in his heat, but Samuel Kwant, the youngest competitor in the men’s field, posted 11:37.20 in an early heat and took the event win. Rasmus Wisbech Andersen was third, also in an early heat.
The men’s competition is now Fraser’s to lose. With three of five days down, Fraser has finished first or second in five of seven events and holds a monstrous 142-point lead over second-place Smith. Alex Anderson is third, 14 points back of Smith.
“I’ve never really been one to win a lot of workouts,” Anderson said, so he was thrilled to take the top spot in Squat Clean Pyramid, and he’s well on his way to accomplishing his goal of finishing in the top five.
He said he’s as sore as all the other competitors and doesn’t know how his date with the Snail will go tomorrow.
“No thoughts at all, but I like moving heavy things.”
On the women’s side, the final heat knitted the top of the leaderboard together. Tia-Clair Toomey remained on top when the last heat was complete, but she’s now only 4 points ahead of Sara Sigmundsdottir, with Sam Briggs and Katrin Tanja Davidsdottir 10 and 14 points back, respectively.
The Icelandic crew—Sigmundsdottir, Davidsdottir and Annie Thorisdottir—made short work of the deadlifts and moved through the cleans, using an abrupt shrug to bring the bar to their shoulders. Even though the loads moved very easily, all were clearly choosing their breaks wisely with 10 rounds of work ahead.
Toomey, behind early, bent more at the hips and was far slower on the cleans. She was 30 reps behind when Sigmundsdottir entered Round 7 first, and she fell 50 back as the leaders pulled away further.
Sigmundsdottir and Davidsdottir were neck and neck for a brief period, but the former faded slightly, with several no reps in the cleans costing her valuable time. Davidsdottir seized the day, and Brooke Wells was able to zip past Sigmundsdottir to steal 6 points with a late burst that put her 5 seconds ahead.
Still, Sigmundsdottir accomplished her goal of being in the top five, and she avoided an excitement-fueled implosion. At the Meridian Regional, she said she went way too fast in the snatch ladder and burned out—“I did that in the cleans today,” she confessed.
She’s happy she made up ground on first place, but she has no idea what the outlook will be when she knows everything that’s coming Saturday.
“Depends on what’s tomorrow,” she said.
At the CrossFit Games, it always does.
