The first three of five virtual Semifinals are a wrap. Twelve women, 12 men, and 12 teams in total will be advancing from the Lowlands Throwdown, German Throwdown, and the Brazil CrossFit Championship to the 2021 NOBULL CrossFit Games.
Video highlights for each event with featured virtual matchups can be found on the CrossFit Games YouTube channel. Check out the event highlights for the third and final day of the week three Semifinals below.
Individual Event 5
Event 5 tested athletes’ engines with rowing and put their gymnastic skills to the test with handstand walking and legless rope climbs.
CrossFit Lowlands Throwdown
The top six men going into Event 5: Björgvin Karl Guðmundsson, Adrian Mundwiler, Sam Stewart, Uldis Upenieks, Henrik Haapalainen, and Lukas Grouleff.
Virtual matchup: Guðmundsson, Mundwiler, Stewart, Upenieks, Haapalainen, and Grouleff.
Grouleff put his gymnastics skills on display yet again in this virtual matchup taking his second event win by over 40 seconds. Grouleff was the only man to finish Event 5 under 20 minutes followed by Guðmundsson at 20:26 in second and Yundov at 21:06 in third.
After four events, the top six women going into Event 5 were Emma McQuaid, Laura Horváth, Gabriela Migała, Annie Thorisdottir, Thuri Helgadottir, and Elena Carratala Sanahuja.
Annie Thorisdottir – Photo by @nwrproductions
Virtual matchup: McQuaid, Horváth, Migała, Thorisdottir, Helgadottir, and Sanahuja.
Helgadottir and Sanahuja were 2 athletes on the bubble going into Day 3 sitting in fifth and sixth on the overall leaderboard. Helgadottir picked up 2 minutes over Sanahuja in the handstand walk and finished the event 3 minutes ahead of Sanahuja. Helgadottir’s 23:58 performance was good enough for a second-place finish in Event 5 edged out by Laura Horváth who wins the event with a time of 22:34.
CrossFit German Throwdown
After four events, the top six men going into Event 5 were Lazar Đukić, Jonne Koski, Giorgos Karavis, Fabian Beneito, Alex Kotoulas, and Luka Đukić.
Virtual matchup: Lazar Đukić, Koski, Karavis, Beneito, Kotoulas, and Luka Đukić.
Going into Event 5, Luka Đukić was just outside a top 5 position sitting in sixth overall. But the gymnastics focus of Event 5 played well to his strengths as he got through the first 60-meter handstand walk in just 2 minutes. Luka Đukić continued to dominate, finishing his first set of rope climbs and getting himself back to the rower in 1:27 and taking the event win at 19:32. His performance earned him a huge boost on the leaderboard and moved him into third overall after Event 5.
Jacqueline Dahlstrøm, Kristin Holte, Katrin Davidsdottir, Emilia Leppänen, Evie Hollis, and Emma Tall were the six women at the top of the leaderboard after four events.
Virtual matchup: Dahlstrøm, Holte, Davidsdottir, Leppänen, Hollis, and Sam Briggs.
It was a back and forth battle for second in Event 5 between Briggs and Tall. Briggs showcased her pulling strength as she was the first off the 2K row and onto the first handstand walk. Tall decided to showcase some gymnastic strength of her own, overtaking Briggs in the 60-m handstand walk and being first to the rope climbs. Games veteran Briggs wasn’t going to give up easily and started to gain back some lost time during the 1K row but it was Tall who got off the final row first and immediately jumped into her final handstand walk, putting over a minute between her and Briggs going into the final round. Tall held her lead through the last round and walked away second in the event with a time of 23:28. Holte maintained her position at the top of the leaderboard with an Event 5 win at 23:16.
Brazil CrossFit Championship
After two days of competition, the six men sitting atop the leaderboard were Agustin Richelme, Guilherme Malheiros, Kaique Cerveny, Omar Martinez, Anderon Primo, and Nicolas Bidarte.
Virtual matchup: Richelme, Malheiros, Martinez, Primo, João Pedro Barcelos, and Cerveny.
João Pedro Barcelos – Photo by @mirianmarquesf
Cerveny came into Day 3 just 4 points back of a qualifying spot and wasted no time setting the tone with a 7-minute 2K row. Cerveny’s total working time for all 12 legless rope climbs was only 2:25 giving him the event win and the fastest time this weekend of any athlete at 19:27.
The top six women going into Event 5: Larissa Cunha, Sasha Nievas, Victoria Campos, Julia Kato, Luiza Dias, and Amanda Fusuma.
Virtual matchup: Cunha, Nievas, Campos, Kato, Dias, and Fusuma.
Nievas sat in the second qualifying position on the leaderboard and held a 50 point lead over Campos going into Day 3. Campos put her pulling strength to work utilizing a long run and jump on the rope climbs to avoid failure, easily taking her third event win of the weekend. Nievas did not finish Event 5 under the time cap allowing Campos to move ahead of her on the leaderboard.
Individual Event 6
Event 6 Grettel made its debut at the Mid-Atlantic CrossFit Challenge.
Athletes faced 10 rounds for time of 3 clean and jerks followed by 3 bar-facing burpees.
CrossFit Lowlands Throwdown
Going into the last event it was Guðmundsson, Mundwiler, Upenieks, Stewart, Grouleff, and Haapalainen atop the men’s leaderboard.
Virtual matchup: Mundwiler, Upenieks, Stewart, Grouleff, Haapalainen, and Moritz Fiebig.
The race for the fifth and final spot was on between Haapalainen and Grouleff. Haapalainen was a man on a mission, snagging his only top 3 finish of the weekend and earning the fifth and final qualifying Games spot. Cieślik won Event 6 with just a 3 second lead over Haapalainen with a time of 2:23.
After 5 events, the top six women going into Event 6 were Horváth, McQuaid, Thorisdottir, Migała, Helgadottir, and Sanahuja.
Virtual matchup: Horváth, McQuaid, Thorisdottir, Migała, Helgadottir, and Sanahuja.
Going into Event 6, Games and Last-Chance Qualifier spots were relatively secure making Event 6 all for the bragging rights. From the outset, it was Thorisdottir and Migała going toe to toe within one second of each other but it’s Migała who found some final juice on her last round and took the event win by one second over Thorisdottir.
CrossFit German Throwdown
The top six men going into the sixth and final event were Lazar Đukić, Koski, Kotoulas, Luka Đukić, Karavis, and André Houdet.
Virtual matchup: Kotoulas, Luka Đukić, Karavis, Houdet, Beneito, and Simmonds.
Koski didn’t need to crush Event 6 to keep him within the top 5 advancing to the Games but he decided to do it anyway, winning Event 6 with a time of 2:18.
In the virtual matchup, it was a three-horse race for the fourth and fifth qualifying spots to the 2021 CrossFit Games between Houdet, Karavis, and Beneito. Houdet finished second in Event 6, solidifying his fourth-place qualifying position. Karavis did just enough and tied for sixth in the event which earned him the fifth and final qualifying Games spot.
At the start of the sixth and final event the six women on the top of the leaderboard were Holte, Dahlstrøm, Davidsdottir, Tall, Briggs, and Leppänen.
Virtual matchup: Davidsdottir, Tall, Briggs, Leppänen, Hollis, and Moya.
Even though Holte had already qualified for the Games as a masters athlete, she just kept getting better throughout the weekend and proved it as she dominated Event 6, taking her fourth win for the weekend.
Tall and Briggs held onto the final two qualifying spots going into Grettel, just 12 and 6 points, respectively, ahead of Leppänen. Leppänen put the pedal to the metal and stayed low during her burpees, finishing second in Event 6 and moving into fourth place overall. Tall and Briggs were neck and neck in the event, but a penalty Tall incurred during the video review process caused Briggs to come out on top, taking the final qualifying spot at the competition.
Brazil CrossFit Championship
After five events, the top six men going into the sixth and final event were Richelme, Malheiros, Cerveny, Martinez, Primo, and Marins.
Virtual matchup: Richelme, Malheiros, Cerveny, Martinez, Primo, and Bruno Marins.
Event 6 was a win and you’re in a scenario between Cerveny and Malheiros. Both men came into Event 6 tied for second place on the leaderboard. Malheiros stepped up to the plate finishing second in the event just 11 seconds behind Event 6 winner Martinez who finished with a time of 2:18.
Cunha, Nievas, Campos, Dias, Kato, and Fusuma were the top six women going into the weekend’s final Event 6.
Virtual matchup: Cunha, Nievas, Campos, Dias, Kato, and Fusuma.
Amanda Fusuma – Photo by @luizmlivramento
Cunha led after every event throughout the weekend and continued her dominance winning Event 6 and finishing in the top leaderboard position at the end of the weekend.
Nievas went into Event 6 holding onto the fifth qualifying spot. She needed to place sixth or better in the event and that’s exactly what she did. After missing her chance at the Games in 2020 due to the pandemic, Nievas took third in Event 6 finishing second overall and punching her ticket to the 2021 NOBULL CrossFit Games.
Athletes narrowly missing the top spots to qualify for the Games will have one more shot at the Last Chance Qualifier taking place July 2-4. Check out the leaderboard to see which athletes will get one more chance at the 2021 NOBULL CrossFit Games.
Team Event 5
For team Event 5, teams split into mixed-gender pairs. Each pair faced rowing, handstand walks, and legless rope climbs.
CrossFit Lowlands Throwdown
After five events, the top six teams going into Event 5 were Team CrossFit Holistic, Motion, CrossFit Nordic, Bergen Limitless, Team Butchers Lab T-Bone, and CrossFit 8020.
Virtual matchup: No video stream
Motion is a team with a lot of Regional and Sanctional experience and it showed as Motion put up 224 reps to take first in Event 5. Finishing just behind Motion in second place in the event was CrossFit Nordic with 212 reps.
CrossFit German Throwdown
The top six teams going into Event 5 were CrossFit Oslo Wolfpack, The Athlete Program, Team CrossFit Genas, AOD Fitness, From the Port, and Heart n Heavy CrossFit.
Virtual matchup: No video stream
Coming in as the number two seed out of the Quarterfinals, From the Port came into day three picking up a much-needed win in Event 5. CrossFit Oslo Wolfpack continued to look good finishing second in the event by just 9 points.
Brazil CrossFit Championship
At the top of the leaderboard after five events were FourMixx Brazil, CrossFit Villa Luro, Q21, Team Treta, Team Punk, and Team SP.
Virtual matchup: No video stream
Team Punk – Photo by @thiandrade.fotografias
FourMixx Brazil, the number 1 seed out of the Quarterfinals, dominated Event 5 picking up its fourth event win with 221 total reps. CFP9 finished Event 5 in second with 185 reps followed closely by Q21 with 178 reps in third.
Team Event 6
Team Event 6 was a sprint to finish the weekend. One man and one woman from each team faced Grettel—10 rounds for time: 3 clean and jerks + 3 bar-facing burpees. After the first two athletes completed Grettel, the remaining athlete pair faced Ingrid—10 rounds for time: 3 snatches + 3 bar-facing burpees.
CrossFit Lowlands Throwdown
After five events, the top six teams going into Event 6 were Motion, CrossFit Nordic, Team CrossFit Holistic, Bergen Limitless, Team Butchers Lab T-Bone, and CrossFit Caen.
CrossFit Nordic was the first team through Grettel followed closely by Butchers Lab. These two teams remained neck and neck tying for first in the virtual heat with a time of 13:23 and tying for third overall in Event 6. Dauntless Fitness dominated Event 6 and was the only team to finish under 13 minutes. They would take the event at a time of 12:59.
CrossFit German Throwdown
The top six teams going into Event 6: CrossFit Oslo Wolfpack, The Athlete Program, Team CrossFit Genas, From the Port, AOD Fitness, and Team Norce Fenris.
AOD Fitness was the first team through Grettel with a 5 second lead over CrossFit Oslo Wolfpack going into Ingrid. AOD Fitness’s fourth and final athlete came out hot giving AOD Fitness the boost they needed to pull away. AOD Fitness was the only team to finish under 13 minutes with a time of 12:46. Oslo Wolfpack finished third in Event 6 which was enough to keep them at the top of the leaderboard at the end of the weekend.
Brazil CrossFit Championship
Going into the final event of the weekend the top six teams were FourMixx Brazil, CrossFit Villa Luro, Q21, Team Treta, Team Samurai, and Team SP.
Virtual matchup: FourMixx Brazil, CrossFit Villa Luro, Q21, Team Treta, Team Samurai, and Team SP.
Team FourMixx Brazil – Photo by @thais.oliveira
Q21 is a team stacked with experience and has been on the Games doorstep qualifying for Regionals in 2018. Q21 decided that close wasn’t close enough. Out for some Madison dirt, Q21 dominated Event 6 with a time of 12:25 earning their long-awaited ticket to the 2021 NOBULL CrossFit Games. FourMixx Brazil was just 5 seconds behind Q21 and finished second in the event followed by Team SP in third.
Teams narrowly missing the margin will get one last chance to advance to the 2021 NOBULL CrossFit Games at the Last-Chance Qualifiers taking place the week of July 2-4. View the leaderboard to see which teams will get one more shot at the Games.