CrossFit Presents the 2nd Annual CrossFit Games: July 5-6, 2008 in Aromas, CA

Just a reminder: If you want to share your photos from the games, feel free to add them to the Flickr pool at: http://www.flickr.com/groups/crossfitgames2008/

from watching the finals video, I would not count many of jasons reps on the clean and jerk/thurster.

check it out:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Hyz8eEgbZ-k

towards the end there he didn't lock out at all just pretty much threw the weight up and let go like a wall ball. when i did my c & j although not so great time, i locked out and only put the bar down whenever i hear the coach count the rep.

James, as you can see, he had TWO judges a couple feet away from him that knew the qualifications better than anyone, staring at his form and accepting it. I think they knew what to look for. therefore all the reps, completely legit, well deserved.

this was the rules:

The barbell goes from ground to overhead, passing through a front squat in which the crease of the hip passes below the height of the kneecap. The finish position is with the arms, hips and knees fully extended, arms overhead, with at least a portion of the ear visible in front of the arm. Dropping the barbell is acceptable.

a lot of his "finish" position was with NOT the arms, hips and knees fully extended. pause some of the reps in the video, you will see this very clearly.

it wasn't just him i noticed a lot of competitors were doing this as well.

and those two judges can't see well, cause they were in front of him. at least one of them should be looking from the side.

Check out Khalipa's first official WOD time here:

http://crossfitoneworld.typepad.com/crossfit_one_world/2006/12/crossfit_traine.html

It was Fran.

James (and all the others questioning Jason's form):

Jason was able to discern a completely legal advantage and use it. He managed this while performing physically at the very peak of his abilities.

In my mind, there is absolutely ZERO doubt, that had a single rep been called no-lift, Jason would have immediately adjusted and still won the games.

The fact he was able to adapt in such a manner only confirms his standing as the all around champion.

I personally am in awe.

Khalipa's final Workout(all 30):

http://crossfitunlimited.typepad.com/wod/2008/07/just-added-khalipas-final-workout.html

Absolutely amazing! Congrats again Jason!! You are a freeking machine!

Nick

James I understand your concern please watch my full video for a better representation of my ROM.

http://crossfitunlimited.typepad.com/wod/2008/07/just-added-khalipas-final-workout.html

Khalipa's reps & victory are legit. Congrats Jason you are unquestionably the champ for 2008.

I still feel that a lot of the reps were not legit. jason, at the point when your arms were straight, you transfered weight on your left leg and you right leg steps back then you let go of the bar.

I don't see many reps where both your arms and legs were straight at the same time.

I have seen both vids. Jasons reps were legit. The work was getting done and even if he missed a few reps its not as though he won the competition by 4 seconds he won it by a min and eight seconds!!! That is a huge margin of victory in a competition that up until that point in time was decided by seconds. He is the legit winner of that competition, a total beast, and great guy. Great job Jason the unquestionable champ of 2008.

I can't believe all the flack your are receiving for those reps. Nice work and don't let the whining diminish your accomplishment. You earned that stay on the podium, not just with the Day 2 performance but with a great Day 1 as well. That was a great performance and you are worthy of your reward. Congratulations.

I can't believe your work has to be defended.

Josh Everett has probably had more big clean & jerks turned down in big competitions than anyone else in the Crossfit community. Josh knows a thing or two about the no-lift criteria for lockouts. If Josh says Khalipa's lifts were legit, then they were.

James et al,

I was responsible for choosing the judges for each competitor in the final heats of the day. I had been working with many of theses judges for the entire weekend at the Deadlift/Burpee workout and then again at the final event. There were 20+ judges available to me. It was no mistake who was chosen for the final 10. The ones selected were all the most experienced, scrutinizing judges available. All were instructed by me seconds before the final event began to be, and I quote, "ruthless. No bar interference, no questionable reps". I had and have the utmost confidence in their officiating.

Regarding the complaints that the judges should have been positioned more profile to the athlete in order to judge the reps more accurately: I say again that these selected officials were experienced and competant. It is laughable that those questioning the judges are doing so while reviewing video that was grainy, low resolution/frame rate, filmed from a distance AND NOT AT ALL PROFILE TO THE ATHLETE! Why then does the 'get profile' argument not apply to you? Are you seriously making the case that those videos with the qualities above filmed from the angles seen are more telling than a trained eye ON THE FIELD NEXT TO THE ATHLETE? Do you believe that you had more experience with the event than the officials that were there all day (most both days) and that your eye is much more capable than theirs while reviewing a less than stellar video or two? To me, there is no question.

Furthurmore, the event was won by a giant margin. Jason was able to walk off the field, get mobbed by friends and family and walk back on (nobody else had finished yet) before any of the announcers had realized he had won. If this contest had come down to a quick one-two finish I might be more sympathetic to the un-neccissarily harsh review Jason seems to be recieving. As it stands, I really can not fathom the harsh critique Jason is recieving for his inhuman performance. The photo above was taken at a random rep in the event. Looks pretty damn text-book to me.

To Jason,

Well done! You are a fantastic champion! It was a great pleasure to meet you. Your humility is as impressive as your freakish work capacity!

-Boz

Touche, Adrian. Touche!

Adrian,

I really appreciate the time and effort you took to write the response above. I believe that the judging was solid all weekend! Thank you again for your comments hopefully I can make my way up to San Francisco soon and train with you!

Jason

To have made the CJ competition fair, the competitors should have used weight determined by the Sinclair formula. Chris doing 30 reps w/bdw. under 8:00 is awe inspiring. Congratulations to him...

Okay, this is the world's worst segue, but any chance of getting a playlist of the killer tunes that rocked the games? (Was that buzzwordy enough?)

Of course, with blood rushing in my ears on the deadlift/thruster and way up the hill on the run, I didn't hear all of it . . . but I'd like to get some of it.

Good times. Good times.

Jason, my hat goes off to you my friend, what an amazing come-from-behind performance. Well done!!

KHALIPA IS A MONSTER. This guy is the biggest stud in the world!