The second workout of the 2016 Reebok CrossFit Games Open brought on the heavy barbells. But Dave Castro made athletes earn the heavy weights after a big dose of toes-to-bars, double-unders and lighter-weight squat cleans.
For the third year in a row, week 2 of the Open featured a threshold time cap, with athletes being “rewarded” extra time and work for completing each round in the allotted time. It made for some exciting finishes and dramatic PRs, and put athletes’ grip and midline through the ringer. Workout 16.2 sent a stern reminder that strength and work capacity must exist simultaneously.
Here I hand out grades for some of the notable 16.2 performances. All athletes are graded relative to my high expectations.
Grade: A+
Kara Webb: Chuck Norris can win a game of Connect Four in only three moves, and Kara Webb can complete a five-round workout in four rounds. Webb’s dominant 15:07 finish of 16.2 was like a “Chuck Norris fact” in real life, with her finishing all five rounds nearly five minutes ahead of the time cap. It was the most impressive Open performance I’ve ever seen. (Watch.)
Frederik Aegidius: After coming short of Games qualification in 2014 (fourth place at the Europe Regional) and 2015 (eighth place at the Meridian Regional), the two-time Games competitor is surging in 2016. He’s in third place worldwide in the overall standings, behind Josh Bridges and Noah Ohlsen. Not known for his strength, Aegidius impressively was the 11th fastest man in the world on 16.2 (19:22), finishing ahead of heavy-hitters Aaron Hanna (19:38) and Alex Anderson (19:42).
Janet Black: A 42-year-old woman walks up to a bar and asks, “How much?” “205,” is the response. She replies, “Good, I’ll take a double then.” Get it? OK, maybe Black’s 16.2 score doesn’t make for a good joke but it’s a performance that bested Individual competitors Anna Tunnicliffe and Alex Parker (424 reps).
Grade: A
2015’s Top Men: Remove Rich Froning and the 16.2 worldwide standings match the men’s podium at the 2015 Games: Ben Smith leads, followed by Mat Fraser and Björgvin Karl Guðmundsson. Scott Panchik and Noah Ohlsen also fall into the same position they earned at the Games (sixth and eighth, if you take Rich out of the equation).
Brooke Wells: No one questions her strength. Now with a second-place worldwide finish on a workout packed with toes-to-bars and double-unders, it’s clear she has improved her gymnastics skills and engine as well.
George Sterner: The 16-year-old completed his age group’s variation of 16.2, which ranged from 115 lb. to 235 lb., in a blazingly fast 14:46. No other athlete in any division completed an Rx’d version of 16.2 that quickly. With second place on 16.1 and first on 16.2, Sterner has taken the top spot on the Leaderboard from last year’s Games champ Nicholas Paladino.
Grade: B-
Joe Ames: The 2015 champion in the Masters Men’s 50-54 division finished 16.2 in 66th place. He sits in 42nd overall, which is well within the top 200 that move on to the Masters Qualifier, but well below the standard that he set last year by winning at the Games. Finishing outside the top 40 in the Open brings a less than 10 percent chance of making it to the Games after the Masters Qualifier.
Grade: C
Nicholas Urankar: Coming one rep shy of finishing the workout is a fantastic score, yet I expected more from Urankar. One rep more. The workout suits him so well on paper, considering that he claimed the top spot on the worldwide Leaderboard after 15.1/15.1a. He is in 24th place in the ultra-competitive Central East Region after two weeks.
Sammy Wood: The 12th-ranked woman at the 2015 Games is currently in 383rd worldwide and 12th in the Australia Region. Only Sara Sigmundsdottir and Tia-Clair Toomey finished better than Wood during their rookie year at the Games, and I want to see her further up on the worldwide Leaderboard.
Grade: D-
Pat Sherwood and Me: We guessed that only a handful of athletes would finish 16.2. Thirty-five men and 62 women proved us wrong.
