As the dust finally settles, Sigmundsdóttir sits solidly in first place in the Women's Division, punching her ticket to the 2020 Reebok CrossFit Games. With top-3 finishes in 4 out of the 5 OPEN Workouts, Sigmundsdóttir is looking stronger than ever and clearly on a mission as she gets ready to head back to Madison next summer.
This will be the 27-year-old Icelandic athlete's sixth time competing at the Games, having stood on the podium steps with a bronze metal around her neck twice before (in 2015 and 2016). As always, Team FITAID will be cheering Sigmundsdóttir on all the way.
All photos courtesy of Team FITAID®
> > > Live well.
This morning kicked off in Madison, Wisconsin, with Dave Castro announcing to a packed room of athletes that they would need to head on over to CrossFit mainsite (CrossFit.com) to discover the workout for Individual Event 1 (which ended up being today’s scheduled WOD, posted since yesterday evening). Castro entitled the event “First Cut,” due to the fact that only the top 75 athletes would be advancing in the competition.
As anticipated, Mayhem Freedom—led by Rich Froning—came out with a dominant Event 1 performance, making short work of “Big Bob” and showing the Team competition who’s boss. After 3 rounds of air bike calories, 30 toes-to-bar, and a Big Bob push, fan-favorites Invictus Boston tied for 6th with Team Don’t Stop.
Event 1 – Men’s Individual: First Cut
Wildcard Hunter McIntyre finished the first 400m run first, entering the coliseum with a lot to prove as he started chipping away at the remaining work in Event 1. But it was fellow Wildcard, Ben Smith, and 11-time CrossFit Games athlete who really set the pace in Heat 1 with a time of 16:28, a time which landed him an overall 8th place finish after the dust settled from the final heat. McIntyre finished 46th overall.
After his Heat 2 win in Event 1, James Newbury remarked, “I feel really good. That type of workout really suits me.” A fact which anyone watching the event was able to clearly see, as Newbury somehow made Event 1 look easy with a time of 16:21 for 6th place overall.
2018’s Fittest Man on Earth Mat Fraser came out and made sure everyone knew he came to play in Event 1, finishing all 4 rounds in 15:07 for the event win.
*WD: Frederik Aegidius withdrew for competition.
Event 1 – Women’s Individual: First Cut
There was no doubt from the second the buzzer rang that 2018’s Fittest Woman on Earth Tia Toomey was going to take this event. Her performance was dominant and strong.
Meanwhile, 18-year-old Haley Adams made her debut in the Individual Women’s division with an impressive 4th place finish in Event 1, as one of the only 4 women to even finish the event before the time cap.
Kari Pearce looked strong in the first event with her 2nd place finish nearly 2:00 under the time cap. While fan-favorites and Games veterans Samantha Briggs and Laura Horvath pushed their way through a grueling first event to sit in 8th and 16th—respectively—overall.
Event 2 – Teams: Worm Thruster
Another overall event win for Mayhem Freedom, led by the G.O.A.T. Rich Froning, 0:30 ahead of X-Terminators‘s second-place time of 16:25. Back-to-back 1st place wins has to feel good heading into final Event 3 on Day 1 of competition.
Event 3 – Teams: Clean & Jerk
Real shocker here, Mayhem Freedom stole 2nd place overall in Event 3 with a 1,120 lb. Clean & Jerk total for the team to further secure their 1st place spot overall. Invictus took 1st in the event with 1,160 lb. total, pushing them up to 4th place overall on the Team Leaderboard.
Event 2 – Men’s: Second Cut
True to form, Mat Fraser took a back-to-back 1st-place finish, looking dominant as ever alongside 4th-place finisher overall James Newbury, 5th place athlete and Wildcard Ben Smith, and top-10 finisher Jacob Heppner. His magic mullet proved to be good luck for wildcard Hunter McIntyre who tied for 72nd in Event 2, landing him outside of a qualifying spot and ending his chance of moving into Day 2 of competition. We're all damn proud of you, Hunter — you can now add CrossFit Games athlete to your resume. (Look forward to seeing more of Hunter around the FITAID Morning Show throughout this weekend.)
Event 2 – Women’s: Second Cut
Sara Sigmundsdóttir came out hungry to redeem her 40th place Event 1 finish—she led Heat 1 for most of Event 2 which consisted of an 800m row, 66 KB jerks, and a 132-ft. handstand walk. However, a fail just a few feet from the finish line sent Sigmundsdóttir back to that last section of the handstand walk and landed her an over finish of 17th place with a time of 7:17.
After the dust settled on the second (final) heat for the women …
While Mat Fraser may once again be sitting pretty atop the Leaderboard after Day 1, podium-hopefuls like James Newbury, Ben Smith, Scott Panchik and Patrick Vellner proved they came to put up a fight. Toomey will no-doubt quickly rise to the challenge of working her way up from her current 3rd place overall, sitting just below Annie Thorisdottir who sits in 2nd overall after a 6th place and 5th place finish in Events 1 and 2. Now 26th overall at the end of Day 1, Iceland's Sara Sigmundsdóttir said with a smile, “It can never start well, right?” Sigmundsdóttir seems eager to work her way up the Leaderboard over the next three days, and we are confident she will.
With the field narrowed to 50 male and 50 female athletes after Day 1, there are still a lot of events yet to come and plenty of chances for athletes and teams to shake up the standings. Hold onto your wrist wraps, the excitement is just beginning as we wrap up the first of four full days of competition here at the 2019 Reebok CrossFit Games.
Last month, the Buttery Bros. (Heber Canon & Marston Sawyers) traveled to sunny southern California to crush some waves & WODs with Brooks Laich and a ready-as-ever, Games-bound Sara Sigmundsdóttir. Check out their photo journal from the weekend below, then watch the Buttery Bros.' full episode below — brought to you by FITAID ZERO, your new zero sugar Recovery Blend, still made with only the good stuff!
> > > Live well.
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After a disappointing injury forced Sara Sigmundsdóttir to withdraw early from last year's CrossFit© Games, in Madison, Wisconsin, fans can finally breathe a huge sigh of relief. She's back and stronger than ever!
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After a disappointing injury forced Sara Sigmundsdóttir to withdraw early from last year's CrossFit© Games, in Madison, Wisconsin, fans can finally breathe a huge sigh of relief.
Following back-to-back 3rd-place finishes at the Games in 2015 & 2016, Sigmundsdóttir finished 4th at the 2017 Games, just shy of a podium spot. Then, her 37th-place finish (due to withdrawing early on in the competition) last year left a bitter taste in her mouth, as her untimely injury instantly crushed her podium dreams.
Now, Sigmundsdóttir (26) looks stronger than ever, promising to give two-time reigning champ Tia Toomey and the rest of the competition a serious run for their money as the "Fittest Woman on Earth."
The Icelandic comeback kid sat down with CNN to discuss her painful withdrawal from the 2018 CrossFit© Games competition, stating:
"It was the hardest decision I've ever made."
In the eight-part 2018 FITAID© docuseries PERSEVERANCE, Sigmundsdóttir said, “I needed to get injured to work on my biggest weakness.” #TeamFITAID
With her eyes laser-focused on that podium, she can bet her bag of Haribo gummi bears that we'll be cheering our hearts out for her at the Games. Few athletes deserve a spot atop that podium as much as this persistent badass does.
We are confident this year's CrossFit© Games will have a much happier ending, come August. To quote one of her favorite sayings, "Live long and prosper."
At WODAPALOOZA, 2019
*Official 2019 CrossFit© OPEN results may still be subject to change.
> > > Live well.