Semifinals Week 4 Virtual Event Highlights: Day 3

July 1, 2021

Madison Dorn

Check out the event highlights for the third and final day of the Week 4 virtual Semifinals.

The CrossFit Atlas Games and CrossFit Asia Invitational wrapped up the last of the virtual 2021 Semifinals. Seven women, seven men, and seven teams advanced from the competitions to the 2021 NOBULL CrossFit Games. 

Find video highlights for each event with featured virtual matchups on the CrossFit Games YouTube channel. 

Check out the event highlights for the third and final day of the Week 4 virtual Semifinals below. 

CrossFit Asia Invitational Day 3

With just two spots up for grabs for the men, women, and teams at the CrossFit Asia Invitational, Day 3 was for all the marbles. 

After six events, 30-year-old Svetlana Kubyshkina of Russia was at the top of the women’s leaderboard with 544 points and her first ticket to the CrossFit Games in hand. Just 32 points behind her in second place overall was 22-year-old Seungyeon Choi of Korea, who will also be making her debut Games appearance in July. 

 

 

On the men’s side, a pair of Russians stood atop the leaderboard at the end of the weekend. Stas Solodov went into the weekend having already qualified in the 35-39 division but decided one ticket wasn’t enough, taking first place overall for a second trip to the Games as an individual. In second overall, just six points behind Solodov, was 31-year-old Aleksandar Ilin, who will be making his second Games appearance. 

 

CrossFit Asia Invitational Day 3 Standings

 

The team competition at the Asia Invitational was one of the least tension-filled competitions of the 2021 Semifinals, as the top two teams held steady throughout the entire competition.

The Kolesnikov Team finished first or second in every event, giving them a well-deserved first-place finish. Team Dubai also put up a solid performance, never finishing outside of the top four in any event and taking three event wins for second overall and a trip to the 2021 NOBULL CrossFit Games. 

 

CrossFit Asia Invitational Team Day 3 Standings

 

View the overall leaderboard here and see which individual athletes from the Asia Invitational will get one more shot in the Last-Chance Qualifier. 

CrossFit Atlas Games Day 3

Individual Event 5

Athletes’ engines and gymnastic skills were put to the test in Event 5 with rowing, handstand walking, and legless rope climbs. 

The top six men going into Event 5: Patrick Vellner, Jeffrey Adler, Samuel Cournoyer, Alex Vigneault, Tyler Christophel, and Phil Toon. 

Virtual matchup: Patrick Vellner, Jeffrey Adler, Samuel Cournoyer, Alex Vigneault, Tyler Christophel, and Phil Toon. 

 

 

Going into the virtual matchup, Brent Fikowski set the time to beat at 20:04. Fikowski was in 15th after Day 1 and moved himself up to seventh place after Day 2, 35 points out of a qualifying position.

By sticking to a strict strategy of eight seconds of rest between legless rope climbs, Fikowski earned his second straight event win and some much-needed points to move him into the fifth and final qualifying spot after five events. 

The virtual matchup featured a race between Vellner and Vigneault, as both men got off the 2-km row right around the 7-minute mark. The pair remained close throughout the first 60-m handstand walk, but Vellner pulled away on the rope. He continued to distance himself from Vigneault as he tried to chase down Fikowski’s time, finishing his last row at just past the 18:30 mark with about 90 seconds to beat Fikowski’s time. He came close: Vellner stopped the clock at 20:06, just two seconds after Fikowski for second place in the event. 

 

Brent Fikowski

Brent Fikowski at the 2018 CrossFit Games – Photo by Thomas Campitelli

The top six women going into Event 5: Mekenzie Riley, Sydney Michalyshen, Carolyne Prevost, Emily Rolfe, Anikha Greer, and Alexis Johnson. 

Virtual matchup: Mekenzie Riley, Sydney Michalyshen, Carolyne Prevost, Emily Rolfe, Anikha Greer, and Alexis Johnson. 

Emily Rolfe was sitting fourth overall going into Event 5 and picked up a valuable 100 points with the event win, moving her into second place overall after five events. Rolfe was the first athlete off the 2-km row at just past the 7:40 mark. She maintained her lead throughout the event, finishing her final 20-m handstand walk before any of the others had finished their final 500-m row. 

Alexis Johnson was sitting just outside a qualifying spot going into Event 5, only 1 point behind Anikha Greer. Johnson had surgery on her UCL in her elbow in January of this year but showed no signs of it during her handstand walks. She also made quick work of her legless rope climbs, edging out Greer in the final set and taking third in the event and third overall with a 3-point margin between her and Greer.

Individual Event 6

In Event 6, athletes faced 10 rounds for time of 3 clean and jerks followed by 3 bar-facing burpees. 

The top six men going into Event 6: Patrick Vellner, Jeffrey Adler, Samuel Cournoyer, Alex Vigneault, Brent Fikowski, and Tyler Christophel. 

Virtual matchup: Alex Vigneault, Brent Fikowski, Tyler Christophel, Logan Collins, Alexandre Caron, and Cole Greashaber. 

 

 

The top-three qualifying positions were mathematically clinched for Vellner, Adler, and Cournoyer going into Event 6. They all performed well enough in Event 6 to maintain their first, second, and third positions, respectively, at the end of Day 3. 

The two final qualifying Games positions were up for grabs going into Event 6. Vigneault did just enough to maintain his fourth-place position on the overall leaderboard by tying for 10th in the event. 

The battle for the fifth qualifying position was between the weekend’s comeback kid, Brent Fikowski, and Tyler Christophel. Fikowski had a 5-point lead over Christophel going into Event 6 and would extend that lead to 21 points with a fourth-place event finish and a return trip to Madison. 

The top six women going into Event 6: Mekenzie Riley, Emily Rolfe, Alexis Johnson, Anikha Greer, Baylee Rayl, and Carolyne Prevost. 

Virtual matchup: Emily Rolfe, Baylee Rayl, Alexis Johnson, Anikha Greer, Carolyne Prevost, and Sydney Michalyshen. 

The only thing decided going into the final event was that new mom Mekenzie Riley had clinched a top qualifying spot. She finished seventh in the event, good enough for a second-place finish for the weekend. 

 

 

For the other four qualifying spots, it came down to the final event.

Going into the virtual matchup, no athlete was safe, with only 19 points separating first from fifth. Looking to make her first Games appearance as an individual, Baylee Rayl was the gatekeeper going into Event 6, holding the fifth and final qualifying spot.

Games veteran Carolyne Prevost moved her barbell with tenacity and stayed low on her burpees, never wasting a second. Prevost’s Event 6 win moved her up five spots to finish in first place overall at the end of the weekend. Rayl’s second-place Event 6 finish was good enough for third place overall. 

 

CrossFit Atlas Games Day 3 Standings

 

Team Event 5

In Event 5, teams split into mixed-gender pairs and faced rowing, handstand walks, and legless rope climbs. 

The top six teams going into Event 5: Pro1 Montreal, 1855, CrossFit Resurrection, Rhapsody, Team Koda, and Fit to Prove STADD. 

 

Pro1 Montreal During Event 5

Pro1 Montreal – Photo by @sam_bariault

Pro1 Montreal came back with an answer to its Event 4 anomaly — the team’s sixth-place finish in that event was its only finish outside the top two — with an Event 5 win at 36:13. Pro1 Montreal was the only team to finish the event. Rhapsody and Team Koda took second and third in the event. 

Team Event 6

In Event 6, 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. 

The top six teams going into Event 6: Pro1 Montreal, 1855, Rhapsody, CrossFit Resurrection, Team Koda, and Fit to Prove STADD. 

Virtual matchup: Pro1 Montreal, 1855, Rhapsody, CrossFit Resurrection, Team Koda, and Fit to Prove STADD.

 

 

The top four spots were mathematically set going into the final event of the weekend, but the fifth and final qualifying spot was up for grabs.

The race was between fifth-place Team Koda and Fit to Prove STADD, 55 points back in sixth. Fit to Prove STADD finished Grettel just ahead of Team Koda, but Team Koda regained the lead in Ingrid with low and quick burpees from its final female athlete. Team Koda finished sixth in the event, holding onto its fifth-place qualifying position and qualifying for the Games for the first time in the affiliate’s 10-year history. 

 

CrossFit Atlas Games Team Day 3 Standings

 

View the overall CrossFit Atlas Games leaderboard here.

Two more men and women will earn a chance to compete in Madison at the Last-Chance Qualifier, this July 2-4. Click here to see the events, and tune in to games.crossfit.comYouTube, and Instagram for updates all weekend long.

 

Featured image by @sam_bariault

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