Iceland’s Sara Sigmundsdottir first showed up on the CrossFit Games scene in 2015 when she stood on the podium in third place overall behind future three-time Games champion Tia-Clair Toomey in second and eventual two-time Games champion Katrin Davidsdottir, a fellow countrywoman, in first.
At the 2016 Games, the women’s podium looked exactly the same: Davidsdottir, Toomey, Sigmundsdottir.
Sigmundsdottir followed that up with fourth at the 2017 Games, and it seemed she had only just begun to make her mark on the sport. Many assumed she was an eventual champion herself.
But in 2018, Sigmundsdottir faced a few challenges. A stress fracture in her rib forced her to pull out of the Games, ending her 2018 season early.
The next year, her weekend was cut short when she was one of the many big-name athletes who was cut early from the competition, which started with the largest and most diverse field we'd ever seen, but also featured the most cuts, dwindling the field down to 10 men and 10 women by Saturday afternoon.
In 2020, the finals will be missing a prominent Dottir on the leaderboard. At the close of Stage 1, an online competition that took place in affiliates around the world, Sigmundsdottir landed in 21st place, well outside of qualification for the finals, which will take place in Aromas, California, beginning Oct. 23.
Expectations were high for Sigmundsdottir as the competition got underway, but she failed to finish inside the top 10 in all but one event. Talk of her potential echoed among commentators Sean Woodland and Annie Sakamoto on The Road to the Ranch show, but it seemed as though Sigmundsdottir was just not up for the task this year.
Not long after the close of Stage 1, Sigmundsdottir addressed her performance in this post, offering up no excuses but admitting the outcome was not what she had hoped.
She followed that post up with another post in which she revealed the details of a box jump injury that left her with 12 stitches, a gnarly infection, and a cortisol imbalance.
Sigmundsdottir expressed much gratitude for her supporters and fans and even offered some insight into what the future holds for her. It’s safe to say she’ll be back, and I know we all look forward to the day Sigmundsdottir brings her big smile and positive attitude onto the competition floor again.