Déjà vu all over again: Thorisdottir and Koski in first place.
Copenhagen, Denmark—Ragnar Lothbrok might rule Denmark on TV, but Annie Thorisdottir is queen of CrossFit in Europe, and she’s looking to extend her reign as the Meridian Regional welcomes both European and African athletes to the Ballerup Super Arena just outside Copenhagen.
The two-time Games champion has been dominant since the 2009 Icelandic Qualifier, and she’s won the Europe Regional four times, with a 2013 back injury providing the lone opportunity for another athlete to take in the view from atop the podium.
In 2015, with Sam Briggs competing in the Atlantic Regional, Thorisdottir is perhaps rid of her greatest challenger but will still have to best a field thick with talent, including Kristin Holte, Marlene Andersson and Icelanders Sara Sigmundsdottir, Katrin Tanja Davidsdottir and Bjork Odinsdottir.
On the men’s side, nothing is certain, and no male has ever repeated as European champion. Frederik Aegidius has been the region’s most consistent performer over the years, but at the ripe old age of 27 he’s staring down young guns Jonne Koski, Lukas Högberg and Bjorgvin Karl Guðmundsson, who represented Europe at the Games in 2014.
MEN
Jonne Koski once again has everyone asking, “Mikko who?”
After wearing a T-shirt bearing the question in 2014 as a sly tribute to his mentor, 2009 CrossFit Games champ Mikko Salo, Koski continues to make a name for himself. The 2014 Europe Regional champion was the class of the final heat of Event 1, breaking Dan Bailey’s event record of 2:18.9 with 2:17.5 and leaving the field in his wake. No one was within 30 seconds of him in Heat 1, though Alec Harwood managed 2:34.7 to take second out of Heat 1.
Filip Yang Fisker was third with 2:45 flat and said the event was punishing, noting his arms were on fire well after the event was complete: “It doesn’t feel like I’ll be able to do anything ever.”
Koski fired off the reps with a pace that had everyone wondering if he’d flame out in the final 25, but he was relentless with his muscle snatch, and it was quickly apparent that he was logging the best time in the world with two regionals to go.
Mikko Aronpää, who lives in United Arab Emirates and qualified out of the Africa Region, is a former Games athlete who’s looking for a trip back to California. His fourth-place finish is a good start to the weekend, and he was pleased with a time of 2:47.6.
“Improved my time from training, so I’m happy with that,” he said.
Aronpää qualified for the Games at the Ballerup Super Arena from 2011 to 2013, so he’s thrilled Europe and Africa are competing together in the velodrome.
“This is where it all started, so I’m happy to be back,” he said.
Frederik Aegidius, another former Games athlete who missed the big show in 2014, tied for sixth in the event—which is fine with him.
“I just need to be very, very consistent,” said Aegidius, who has used a measured strategy in the past to get to Carson.
“If you average a 10th-place finish, you’ll punch a ticket to the Games,” he said. “As long as you stay close to the leader in every single event, you’ll make it through.”
As Koski walked by, Aegidius offered a fist bump and congratulations: “Fucking madman,” he said.
Event 1 Results
1. Jonne Koski (2:17.5–event record)
2. Alec Harwood (2:34.7)
3. Filip Yang Fisker (2:45.0)
4. Mikko Aronpää (2:47.6)
5. Jason Smith (2:49.9)
Two events, two big wins for Koski.
While the Finn didn’t set an event record this time—he was 30 seconds off Aaron Hanna’s 7:17.2—he did outclass his competition yet again, winning by 20 seconds to nab 200 points with a dominating Day 1 performance.
His event was a study in calculated strategy. While Stefano Migliorini took the early lead, Koski never changed his pace. As the event progressed, other athletes lost their form and made the rope climbs look labored and even awkward at times, but Koski’s reps looked identical—perhaps another trick learned from Salo, who was noted for his robotic precision. A jump to the rope was followed by one large pull and then a smaller, measured pull that put him just in reach of the crossbar. A quick release to a controlled but brisk slide brought his hands just below the required mark before he dropped to the floor.
Migliorini eventually gave way and was left to a cruel fate: total muscular failure three-quarters of the way to the top on his final climb. Arms and hands expiring, he slid to the ground in anguish and was forced to watch the seconds fade until he could finish in 9:46, good enough for sixth.
Many competitors flirted with failure, with some falling on either side of the razor’s edge. Steven Fawcett was one of those who gambled and won.
“If I had to do one more, I’d have to slow down, so I paced it just right,” he said. “I’ve done it a few times in training … and you just get a feel for it.”
Fawcett, who wasn’t looking forward to the first two events, was thrilled to be in fifth overall after taking 11th and fifth. He’ll be looking to make some moves in the next days, which are full of events he says are more to his liking.
Perhaps most interesting of all, Fisker sits in sixth after two events, and he’s certain to have a big day tomorrow. After tying for first in last year’s hang-snatch event (265 lb.), he handily won the handstand-walk event by putting up what eventually turned out to be the second-best distance in the world (380 feet). Given his results in those two events, Events 4 and 5 couldn’t be a more welcome sight on Saturday.
“I have practiced that,” he said with a smile.
Fisker said he’s done Events 4 and 5 four or five times and is “hoping for 200 points.”
The athlete from Aarhus CrossFit said he’s done Event 4 back-to-back with a 3-minute rest in between, and his times were 1:09 and 1:20 (without the short run portion). While unofficial, both times are well under the current event record of 1:25.9.
As for the snatch, Fisker is targeting 255-275 lb. for an opener depending on how his shoulders feel. If all goes well, he’ll finish with “Neal Maddox plus 1 lb.,” he said referring to the California athlete whose 282-lb. lift is currently best overall.
First, however, he’ll have to get through a tough chipper that very few athletes have been able to complete.
Event 2 Results
1. Jonne Koski (7:46.3)
2. Björgvin Karl Guðmundsson (8:06.8)
3. Phil Hesketh (8:09.8)
4. Will Kane (8:10.9)
5. Steven Fawcett (8:31.0)
Overall Standings
1. Jonne Koski (200 points)
2. Björgvin Karl Guðmundsson (170 points)
3. Phil Hesketh (151 points)
4. Frederik Aegidius (146 points)
5. Steven Fawcett (145 points)
6. Filip Yang Fisker (143 points)
7. Jason Smith (143 points)
8. Lukas Högberg (140 points)
9. Alec Harwood (136 points)
10. Stefano Migliorini (136 points)
WOMEN
“Iceland” Annie was smiling before the event, and she was smiling afterward with a win in her pocket—but she had to work for it.
The middle lanes showcased the different styles of Thorisdottir, Sara Sigmundsdottir and Katrin Tanja Davidsdottir. Davidsdottir used a narrow stance and bent mostly at the hips, while Sigmundsdottir splayed her knees wide on each rep. Thorisdottir fell somewhere between the two, moving the bar with smooth power.
Thorisdottir and Sigmundsdottir quickly pulled slightly away from the field and were almost rep for rep. By walking with the bar overhead to her final set, Sigmundsdottir took a slight lead as Thorisdottir dropped her bar. But Thorisdottir’s speed was marginally greater across the final 25 snatches, and her judge had a single finger in the air just a fraction of a second before Signmundsdottir’s did the same to set up a sprint finish.
With timing chips logging the digits, Thorisdottir reached the mat four tenths of a second ahead of Sigmundsdottir. Kristin Holte was in hot pursuit about 3 seconds back.
“Yes, this is the way I wanted to start,” said a smiling Sigmundsdottir, who finished third in the world in the Open and is looking to continue that success at the regional level. “It went way better than I thought. The best I could do in practice was 2:33, and there was no running.”
She added: “(Thorisdottir) pushed me a lot.”
Looking forward to the rest of the weekend, Sigmundsdottir noted she’s fondest of Event 7 but isn’t upset with any of the meals on the menu.
“I love muscle-ups and I love cleans—but I love all the events.”
