Week Three in the Books

March 25, 2013

CrossFit

Three down, two to go.

Three down. Two to go.
 

Three down, two to go.

Week three of the 2013 Reebok CrossFit Games Open is in the books. Nearly 110,000 competitors submitted scores for the repeat workout (13.3 is 12.4). Approximately 80 percent of those athletes who submitted scores for both 12.4 and 13.3 improved over last year, according to a preliminary report. 

Last year, the best female performance on this workout was one round flat (Kristan Clever, 270 reps on 12.4). This year, Sam Briggs finished the first round in 10 minutes and 1 second, and went on to complete 53 wall balls in the remaining two minutes.
 
Although Briggs has shown she has world-class work capacity at the 2010 and 2011 CrossFit Games, she couldn't escape the questioning of incredulous fans. To help fans overcome their doubts, Briggs decided to repeat 13.3 in front of an audience, judge, and video camera. She posted the video to her Facebook profile with a note.
 
"For all those Internet doubters I did 13.3 again in front of an audience. (I) didn't beat my score but here's my 320 reps," Briggs wrote. Her 323 rep score was validated, so it remains her official result. The video performance was just to silence the haters. Either way, both remain the top performances in the world.
 
Briggs' top score solidifies her overall lead in the Open, also. She has an incredibly low seven total points after three events. Camille Leblanc-Bazinet's second place 287 reps rocketed her up five spots to claim second overall.
 
On the men's side, "the prodigy" Ben Smith tops the charts. Although Smith is only 22 years old, he's an old-timer in our sport with appearances in each of the last four Games, and a third-place finish in 2011. This week, Smith set a new record on this workout, beating Neal Maddox's world record performance (323 on 12.4) by six reps. Rich Froning Jr. and Neal Maddox both turned in 319 reps, but Froning beat Maddox in the tiebreak.  
 
Smith's top score advanced him 25 places on the worldwide overall Leaderboard to 14th. Froning remains in first overall. 2009 Games champion Mikko Salo is in second. Josh Bridges, who took second in the 2011 Games, is back, and in now in third overall. Scott Panchik, fourth in last year's Games, now sits in 4th overall. 
 
Tune in to Games.CrossFit.com on Wednesday, March 27 at 5 p.m., PT for the live announcement of Open Workout 13.4. This week, Chris Spealler will face Graham Holmberg at CrossFit TNT in St. Charles, Mo. 
 
Holmberg won the 2010 Games, while Spealler is the only athlete to compete in all six CrossFit Games. Both men have a lot to prove this year, and a fierce history of battling each other to the wire. You won't want to miss this!
 
Note: All rankings and stats are accurate as of publication time and remain unofficial until all scores are validated.