Lift Off
By Dan Froehlich
Trygve Nilsen of CrossFit Oslo | Photo by Adam Bow
It should come as no surprise that a team from CrossFit Oslo drew some of the biggest cheers during Friday morning’s first test, Olympic Total. But it may not be the team you are thinking of.
Competing in Heat 1 was rookie team CrossFit Oslo NAJS. Having successfully hit a first snatch at 225 lb, Trygve Nilsen waited for his turn to come back around for an attempt at 240.
At his turn, Nilsen pulled the weight over his head but began to walk it forward before abandoning the lift.
With plenty of time to make a second attempt, he gathered himself, waited until the final 3 seconds of the interval, and pulled the bar over his head again. But this time he stayed in the bottom of the squat. And stayed. And stayed.
“It felt like a lifetime,” Nilsen said. “We practiced in the warm-up area with the setup … . I knew I had to take just a couple of breaths and then go for it. I knew it would be heavy, but I knew exactly what I had to do.”
For more than 5 seconds, Nilsen sat in the hole, the noise growing louder as he braced himself. Then, he simply stood the 240-lb bar up to the delight of his teammates and a supportive crowd.
Nilsen described the roar: “That was electric!”
Survive ’Til Saturday
By: Brittney Saline
Caroline Stanely of College Hill CrossFit | Photo by flsportsguy photography
The sixth individual test of the 2023 NOBULL CrossFit Games was Helena, a souped-up version of the benchmark workout Helen: 3 rounds for time of a 400-meter run, 12 bar muscle-ups, and 21 dumbbell snatches.
For 10 men and 10 women, it would be their last test of the CrossFit Games.
Before the event, three women straddled the 30th-place cutoff line by just 1 point: Shelby Neal in 29th with 169 points, Kelly Baker in 30th with 169 points, and Ella Wunger just beyond with 168.
But the race — it seemed — for survival to Saturday was between Manon Angonese and Abigail Domit. The duo danced early and often; Domit leading on the dumbbell with overhead passes and Angonese overtaking on the run. Angonese had a few paces’ lead coming out of the final run, but Domit ate ’em up like Pac Man by leaping without hesitation into the final 12 bar muscle-ups, gaining a 1-rep advantage.
But somewhere amid the flying fury of rubber Rogue dumbbell heads, time seemed to glitch ahead. Caroline Stanely — who entered the test in 34th, 14 points out of contention — had gone double-time, pelting her dumbbell from hand to hand overhead.
By the time the crowd realized there was a new contender in the game, Stanley had blitzed down the floor for a first-place heat finish (16th in the test), 27th place overall, and a another day of competition.
Thank You, Boz
By: Kelley Laxton
Roman Khrennikov of CrossFit Mayhem | Photo by Adam Bow
Mother nature didn’t want to see legless rope climbs in the 2022 NOBULL CrossFit Games event The Alpaca. On a rainy final day, the legless rope climbs were taken out for safety, and Roman Khrennikov wasn’t too happy about that decision.
He won the event anyway.
That wouldn’t be the last time Khrennikov would see The Alpaca. Competition Director Adrian Bozman brought the test back to the 2023 Games, and on Friday morning not a cloud was in the sky.
Don’t you worry, Khrennikov, the legless rope climbs are fair game this year.
As the second heat lined up on their starting mats, all eyes were on Khrennikov, who donned the leader’s jersey. To no surprise, he was trumping the field from the start.
In the last half of the test, Canadian Brent Fikowski began to threaten his lead, providing the pressure Khrennikov needed to just keep moving. The duo reached their final legless rope climbs at the same time, took a seat, straddled the rope, and looked to the top of the rig. Receiving a no rep on a legless rope climb is costly, so they had to make the rep on the first try.
Although there were no competitors in sight, the longer they sat, the faster their lead shortened. Fikowski and Khrennikov would periodically glance at each other as if to ask, “Are you going to go yet?”
Khrennikov was the first to say yes.
He started to climb, swinging his hip to launch his hand the final few inches to the top. Quickly dismounting, Khrennikov walks to his final 12 kettlebell clean and jerks, looking over his shoulder at the still-resting Fikowski. The victory was his.
At the 12-minute mark, Khrennikov started his final sled push, heaving the equipment across the finish just 34 seconds later. This was Khrennikov’s fifth career Games test win.
In a post-test interview, Khrennikov said he would be giving both Alpaca winner’s trophies to the test creator Boz.
“So you can remember me for the rest of your life. Thank you for creating this workout for me,” Khrennikov said through a translator as the crowd laughed.
Rhino CrossFit Moves On
By: Dan Froehlich
Rhino CrossFit Dawgs | Photo by Meg Ellery
Competing in the first heat in the last test on a cut day is not where anyone wants to be. But that’s where Rhino CrossFit Dawgs found itself entering Friday’s Bike, Row, Hold in the Coliseum.
Entering the event in 32nd place and just 13 points below the cutline, the team knew it had to perform at its best to see another day.
Fortunately for the team, Bike, Row, Hold played right into their strengths.
“We had to push really hard,” team member Christine Middleton said. “Ethan (Helbig) is an absolute animal on any bike machine. We just knew we had to give him a long handstand hold. We can all push really hard, but he’s our ‘go guy.’ I think we executed really well on all the holds. Nobody slipped up and that was crucial.”
Rhino won its heat and the team’s total time of 12:33.78 withstood many challengers. When all the times were in, CrossFit Rhino was the eighth-fastest.
“I knew I had the chip timer on (my leg) and having that in mind, I just went ham on (the final 10 calories),” Middleton recalled. “Finish hard.”
Not knowing where the time would fall when the team walked off the Coliseum floor, it was business as usual.
“Have a drink of water. Eat. Prepare,” Middleton said about the team’s mentality after the test. “Assume we are going to get ready for tomorrow and hope that was enough to push us over the line.”
Rhino CrossFit Dawgs moved up to 23rd place overall, surviving the cut.
Teen Takeover
By: Kelley Laxton
Olivia Kerstetter of Solution 1 CrossFit | Photo by flsporstguy photography
When Olivia Kerstetter was 9 years old, Katrin Davidsdottir had just won her first CrossFit Games. Now the two are competing side-by-side on the competition floor.
During Individual Test 5, Ski-Bag, now-17-year-old Kerstetter was placed in a heat alongside some of the most prominent names in the Sport of Fitness: Davidsdottir, Danielle Brandon, and Emily Rolfe.
For the first 3 minutes, it looked as though Davidsdottir was going to dominate her competitors, clearly riding the energy of the crowd. But she began to fade, allowing Kerstetter to creep up. As the battle began, the cheers crescendoed across the Coliseum, reminding Davidsdottir she wasn’t alone. The pressure became too heavy and she started to crumple under costly no reps.
But Kerstetter was still holding strong.
With just 10 seconds to spare before the time cap, the teen had finished her final sandbag squat and sprinted across the finish line, leaving Davidsdottir behind.
The youngest woman in the individual division just won her heat and took third overall in the test.
Resilient
By: Kelley Laxton
Colten Mertens of CrossFit Kilo | Photo by Adam Bow
In January 2023, Colten Mertens was admitted to the hospital. He had lost most of his vision and was experiencing painful migraines. Five days later, he was released with a rare autoimmune disease diagnosis: Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) antibody disease.
Mertens and his doctors weren’t sure if he would compete in CrossFit again. But a few weeks later, he would take third worldwide at the 2023 NOBULL CrossFit Games Open.
After a 16th-place finish at Quarterfinals and an eighth-place finish at the North America West Semifinal, Mertens was headed to his fourth CrossFit Games.
On Day 2 of individual competition, Mertens joined the other men in Heat 3 to test Ski-Bag. He wasn’t first off the ski, but oh could he squat. Completing the 30 reps quickly and unbroken, Mertens caught up with the leaders and surpassed them heading into the final ski. This was his time to crank up the power. Ferociously pulling down on the handles, Mertens finished the ski by just over the 3-minute mark and was onto his last set of sandbag squats.
There was no catching him now.
In 4:30.60, Mertens crossed the finish line, and the Coliseum exploded. This was his first test win of his career, and it came just in the nick of time — right before the looming cuts.
“I know my squats are the best that there is in this sport,” Mertens told sideline reporter Mike Arsenault. “So I just went out there, executed it well, pushed hard, and got it done.”
Catch Up on the 2023 NOBULL CrossFit Games
Other Notable Stories
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- Longevity and Camaraderie in Competitive CrossFit
Cover photo by Adam Bow