The Women
Let’s take a moment to think about Sam Briggs’ week.
On Thursday night, the 36-year-old took on Open Workout 18.1 in Brazil, going head-to-head against Kristin Holte only minutes after both women learned the details of the event. Briggs, the 2013 CrossFit Games champ, won that challenge, finishing 30 reps ahead of Holte in the 20-minute test of 8 toes-to-bars, 10 dumbbell hang clean and jerks, and a 12-calorie row (14 calories for men).
Briggs traveled home to England and redid 18.1 sometime between Friday and Monday. She improved her already-impressive score by 43 reps to post 452 (15 rounds plus 2 toes-to-bars). This put her in first place worldwide for the women, 24 reps ahead of second-place Annie Thorisdottir. Briggs also occupies the top spot in the Masters Women 35-39 Division.
Briggs excels at rowing and is known as an endurance athlete—they call her “The Engine”—so she had to know this was her workout to win. Only one other Open Workout, 16.1, featured a 20-minute time cap, and Briggs finished second overall to Emily Bridgers by just 6 reps.
Holte had an equally impressive few days, traveling home to Oslo, Norway, and improving her score by 40 reps to finish with 420—good enough for a third-place tie with Laura Horvath.
With the exception of Horvath, the women’s top three after 18.1 comprises former Games athletes, and all are competing for spots in the Europe Regional, which will feature the top 20 individuals from Europe North and Europe Central.
The Men
Unlike the familiar names at the top of the women’s leaderboard, two relatively unknown athletes sit in the top two spots on the men’s side.
Nicolai Duus took the win for 18.1 with 487 reps (15 rounds plus 7 toes-to-bars). The 28-year-old from Denmark is competing in his second Open competition. Hinrik Ingi Oskarsson is second after logging 480 reps at Reebok CrossFit Valens in Luxembourg. Andrey Ganin, who finished 14th at the Meridian Regional in 2017, sits in third with a score of 477 reps.
Two-time CrossFit Games champion Mat Fraser finished Week 1 of the 2018 Open in a five-way tie for fourth place. Fraser, Marcin Szybaj, Uldis Upenieks, Patrick Vellner and Peter Shaw all finished 476 reps, four calories short of 15 rounds.
Fourth place represents a better start than usual for Fraser in the Open. Last year he took 20th in 17.1 and 15th in 17.2 but closed out with a third and two firsts, putting him on top overall when the dust settled. Fraser kicked off the 2016 Open with a 35th-place finish, and he ended up in seventh overall that year.
It’s impossible to tell what the Leaderboard will look like at the end of the Open after just one workout, but Fraser’s first score sends a strong message to his fellow male competitors.
Teens and Masters
In 18.1 athletes aged 16 to 54 shared the same standards. Teens as young as 16, all competitors aged 18 to 34, and masters as old as 54 used the same loads in the Rx’d Division.
If you’re an athlete between the ages of 18 and 54 who did the workout as Rx’d, this means you can compare your scores with kids who live with their parents and can’t vote.
Sixteen-year-old Dallin Pepper finished first in the Boys 16-17 Division, completing 416 reps (13 rounds). He was followed closely by 17-year-old Tadhg Lawless, who finished 414 reps. Pepper’s score placed him into a large group of males tied at 1,335th in the overall standings.
In a nice bit of cross-generational symmetry, Steve Johnson, the 48-year-old in the top spot in the 45-49 Division, posted the same score as 16-year-old Pepper: 416.
Seventeen-year-old Haley Adams, who finished second at the 2017 Games in the Girls 16-17 Division, took the top spot for the girls with a score of 392 reps (13 rounds plus 2 toes-to-bars). She beat out the top athlete in the women’s 45-49 Division, Tracy Bacon, who completed 372 reps (12 rounds plus 8 toes-to-bars and 4 clean and jerks).
For perspective, Jason Ferguson took first in the 50-54 Division with 400 reps even, while Eva Thornton’s 356 was best in the women’s half of that age group.
Of the oldest in the Open, Chilean Rodrigo Dominguez was first with 373 reps after taking third at the Games last year. On the women’s side, Pauline Sciascia of New Zealand was first with 338 reps in the 60+ Division.
Everyone now has a few days to breathe until 18.2 is announced live from CrossFit R.A.W in Gibsonia, Pennsylvania. Patrick Vellner, third at last year’s Games, will compete against Noah Ohlsen, who finished fourth.
*All scores are unofficial and pending final validation.
