In 2007, 19 women and 41 men looked on as variegated balls corresponding to different movements were pulled from the hopper to create the following event:
For time:
1,000-meter row
Then, 5 rounds of:
25 pull-ups
7 push Jerks (85/135 lb.)
Two women — Jolie Gentry and Mary Rigney — finished the event ahead of the 20-minute time cap. Sixteen men completed the event, and Brett Marshall finished first with a time of 13:07.
Fast-forward 13 years: The Games returned to the Ranch and kicked off with 2007 Reload, an event inspired by the hopper event in that inaugural competition.
For time:
1,500-meter row
Then, 5 rounds of:
10 bar muscle-ups
7 shoulder-to-overheads (145/235 lb.)
The Men Kick off the Competition
The field, significantly narrowed after Stage 1, looked much sparser than it had 13 years before. The men took the floor first, 2007’s sea of rowers reduced to only five.
CrossFit Games announcers Chase Ingraham and Sean Woodland bantered about the competitors as they waited for the event to start: How will Noah Ohlsen do without the energy of the crowd? Is Justin Medeiros generating as much excitement as Mat Fraser did when he was a rookie? Does Jeffrey Adler have a competitor’s fire?
Ingraham and Woodland also discussed strategy for the event, noting 1,500 meters on the rower would force athletes to be very careful with pacing. More unfamiliar than a 1,000-meter pace, the 1,500 would force athletes to choose how close they wanted to come to playing with fire: approach that thin red line and they might save 5 seconds — only to discover they’ve imploded before they reach the barbell. Go even a hair too slow and they might lose 15-20 seconds that they would be unlikely to gain back if everyone goes unbroken on the bar muscle-ups and shoulder-to-overheads.
Ohlsen, who took second place in last year’s Games and again in Stage 1 this year, was the first off the rower. The red line beckoned, and the stakes of giving in showed when he reached the barbell. As the rest of the field started to pass him, he bobbled, eventually failing a rep at the barbell and needing to recover before continuing.
Meanwhile, rookie Justin Medeiros chased defending champ Mat Fraser. As the rep tally next to their names ticked away at the top of the screen, Medeiros looked like he might claw his way into striking range.
The gap between the two event leaders widened, though, when Medeiros dropped off the bar during the muscle-ups, taking a brief rest before continuing his pursuit of Fraser.
Fraser’s event win appeared to be secure, but a momentary misstep again closed the gap between him and Medeiros. Fraser failed on the final rep of his shoulder-to-overheads, earning an uncharacteristic “no rep.” But the champ quickly recovered to cross the finish line eight seconds ahead of the rookie, stopping the clock at 13:07.
Ohlsen took last place in the event.
The Women Take the Floor
Next up were the women competitors. All eyes were on three-time Fittest Woman on Earth Tia-Clair Toomey in the center lane, flanked by Haley Adams, Brooke Wells, Kari Pearce, and two-time champ Katrin Davidsdottir.
Differing competition styles became immediately apparent after the call of “3, 2, 1 … go!” Toomey looked steady and focused. Ingraham said of “sled dog” Davidsdottir’s expression, “I like the look on her face. That is a kill or be killed mindset.”
The intensity of the two former champs was offset by the youngest competitor’s demeanor. “She looks so — almost bored getting off the rower,” Ingraham said of Adams, who was also the first to finish her 1,500 meters.
Unlike Ohlsen, Adams held it together in the five rounds that followed. And like Medeiros, she nipped at the heels of the defending champ. Toomey’s tight kip swing on the bar muscle-ups and signature skill cycling barbell movements allowed her to maintain the edge over Adams.
Though she hit failure on the last rep like Fraser and needed to pause to recover, she still took the event win, finishing the event in 12:47, 20 seconds faster than Fraser.
Toomey and Fraser have been training partners this season. If they both continue to dominate the other competitors in their divisions — which is possible but certainly not guaranteed at this stage — it will at least be fun to see which of the former champs performs better than the other.
A Quartet of Coincidences
Four somewhat surprising similarities unfolded during the livestream of Event 1:
- The youngest competitors in each division — Medeiros and Adams — chased the champs and took second place in the event.
- The pressure from the younger competitors perhaps pushed the defending champs beyond their comfort zones, and both Fraser and Toomey got a “no rep” on their final rep before completing the event.
- Fraser finished in 13:07, which is exactly the same amount of time it took Marshall to complete the original event 13 years earlier.
- For both the men and women, Stage 1’s second-place competitor struggled, with Ohlsen and Wells taking last place in the event.
Number three on that list is particularly striking. It underscores the scientific precision that accompanies the programming of these events. Every Games event is tested, refined, and retested until the stimulus is dialed in. Fraser’s matching of Marshall’s time demonstrates the dials were where they should be for this event.
As the bar for elite fitness rises higher, movements, reps, and weights have to evolve to continue to push the competition to the next level. Maybe in another 10 to 15 years, some 8-year-old who just watched Fraser go for the gold in Event 1 will show up for the Games and perform a 2,200-meter row and 5 rounds of 5 strict muscle-ups and 7 shoulder-to-overheads at 315 in exactly 13:07. Maybe future athletes will have to wear a weight vest to make the muscle-ups harder. Who knows, maybe they’ll be competing on Jupiter at more than twice their earthly body weight. Despite the similarities from 2007 to now, the striking differences and stunning performances this year show the future is bright for the Sport of Fitness.
Cover image: Duke Loren
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