Adaptive Trailblazers Take on Day 1

Note: All current leaderboard standings are unofficial and may be updated throughout the week.

Day 1 of the 2021 NOBULL CrossFit Games is in the books, and the pioneers of the adaptive competition put on a show! Check out how Day 1 went down. 

Men’s Lower Extremity

The Norwegian and French competitors atop the Open leaderboard maintained their dominance in Event 1 at the CrossFit Games. Thirty-year-old Ole Kristian Antonsen and 25-year-old Séraphin Périer finished first and second in Event 1, respectively. Antonsen completed his 6,000 meters on the SkiErg in 23:08.00 and took the event win with Périer following just a short 23 seconds behind. 

Antonsen continued his dominance in Event 2, finishing in 4:07.57 and averaging well under a minute per round. Felipe Maturana Infante, the 28-year-old from Chile, took second in the event at 5:59.00 and was the only other athlete to finish under the time cap. 

Elliot Young of the U.K. dominated Event 3 with a 205-lb. max snatch. Young won the event, followed by Périer who put up 190 lb.

Antonsen and Périer went into Day 1 seeded in first and second and finished the day maintaining their positions. Antonsen’s dominating performance in Events 1 and 2 coupled with a third-place finish in Event 3 earned him the top spot on the leaderboard at the end of Day 1 with Périer in second overall just 50 points back. 

Day 1 Men’s Lower Extremity Standings

1. Ole Kristian Antonsen (255)
2. Séraphin Périer  (205)
3. Elliot Young (190)

Women’s Lower Extremity

New York competitor Beth Tannatt and 27-year-old Valerie Cohen made it to the Games after clinching fourth and fifth, respectively, in the 2021 Open. And the two competitors brought their A games to their first day in Madison as well. Cohen started strong with an Event 1 win, followed closely by Tannatt, who finished in second. 

Event 2 was all Cohen. She was the only woman to complete the event and finished with a time of 3:26.03. With her second event win, she racked up another 100 points. Sarah Rudder finished second in the event, followed by Tannatt in third. 

Cohen rounded out Day 1 with her third event win. She took Event 3 with a 125-lb. max snatch, followed closely by 38-year-old Natalie Bieule, who took second with 110 lb. on the bar.

Day 1 Women’s Lower Extremity Standings

1. Valerie Cohen (300)
2. Natalie Bieule (165)
3. Sarah Rudder (145) | Beth Tannatt (145)

Men’s Upper Extremity

Casey Acree came into the CrossFit Games having taken first place in his division in the 2021 Open. Acree’s momentum continued on Day 1 in Madison. He jumped out to an early lead, taking Event 1 by over six minutes. Josue Maldonado finished second. 

All competitors finished under the 6-minute time cap in Event 2. Acree shared that he trains rope climbs frequently, and it showed. He won the event with a time of 3:04.54. Logan Aldridge made quick work of his rope climbs and finished second in the event. 

After tasting second place in Event 1 and third place in Event 2, Maldonado decided it was time for an event win. And he delivered in Event 3. The 22-year-old hit a 525-lb. max deadlift and took his first event win of the competition. Aldridge wasn’t far behind with a 502-lb. deadlift, good enough for second. 

Here’s what Dave Castro had to say about Aldridge’s lift:

Day 1 Men’s Upper Extremity Standings

1. Casey Acree (255)
2. Josue Maldonado (230)
3. Logan Aldridge (185)

Women’s Upper Extremity

Elizabeth Bride was both the oldest and most dominant competitor to step onto the competition field for the Women’s Upper Extremity Event 1. The 44-year-old finished over two minutes ahead of the next-closest athlete, 31-year-old Sabrina Daniela Lopez. 

Event 2 was a repeat neck-and-neck race between Bride and Lopez. This time it was Lopez who came out on top and won the event with a time of 4:57.09. Bride clocked in at 5:41.66. 

Lopez rounded out Day 1 with her second event win. After hitting a 300-lb. deadlift, she is sitting on top of the leaderboard heading into Day 2. With the heavy barbell out to play, 32-year-old Eileen Quinn was in her element. Her 285-lb. deadlift earned her a second-place finish in the event. 

Day 1 Women’s Upper Extremity Standings

1. Sabrina Daniela Lopez (275)
2. Elizabeth Bride (210)
3. Eileen Quinn (145)

Men’s Neuromuscular

Event 1 was a tight race between 25-year-old Brett Horchar and 33-year-old Mijail Pedrini. Horchar was able to hold off Pedrini and finish the three-mile run in 24:23.14, taking the event win. Pedrini finished second with a time of 25:49.51. 

In Event 2, Horchar was the only competitor in his field to finish under the time cap. Making quick work of his rope climbs, he finished just over halfway to the time cap with a time of 3:16.57. Jcruz Gudino, a 33-year-old California native, finished second, just shy of crossing the finish line before time expired. 

Thirty-five-year-old Sylvania Harrod broke Horchar’s winning streak in Event 3. Harrod put up a 280-lb. clean to earn his first event win of the competition. Horchar finished second in the event, just five lb. shy of Harrod. 

Day 1 Men’s Neuromuscular Standings

1. Brett Horchar (275)
2. Mijail Pedrini (185)
3. Sylvania Harrod (170)

Women’s Neuromuscular

The race was on between 33-year-old Alisha Davis and 45-year-old Rebecca Shingledecker in Event 1. Davis did just enough to edge out Shingledecker and finish first in the three-mile run event with a time of 21:12.95. Shingledecker took second at 26:47.54. 

Thirty-year-old Shannon Ogar took her first event win in Event 2. She finished under the time cap at 5:13.59. Shingledecker took second at 5:29.00. Ogar and Shingledecker were the only two competitors in their field to finish under the cap. 

Letchen Du Plessis, the 23-year-old South African competitor, hit a 185-lb. clean to win Event 3. The battle for second was between 41-year-old Ebby Isbill and Ogar, but Isbill edged out Ogar for second place in the event by 10 lb. after cleaning 160 lb. Ogar finished third in the event with a 150-lb lift. 

Learn more about Ogar’s story in “The Other Ogar,” by Brittney Saline.

Day 1 Women’s Neuromuscular Standings

1. Alisha Davis (190) | Shannon Ogar (190) | Letchen Du Plessis (190)

Cover photo by Meg Ellery