CrossFit Games 2020 and The Progrm
The 2020 Games have been anything but a straightforward journey, after months of changes and postponing of event dates we have finally reached the long awaited peak of the season. If you haven’t been able to keep up with all the changes this is all you need to know going into this weekend.
After numerous cuts to the athlete rosters and divisions CFHQ announced that the definitive leaderboard will be comprised of 30 athletes for each the Elite Male and Female divisions. The athletes have been selected through the Open (Top 20) and through 10 Sanctioned events.
The Games will be divided in two phases this year with the first one being held online. The top 5 athletes will then move onto phase 2, set 4-5 weeks later, at Dave Castro’s Ranch in Aromas, California.
CrossFit Games 2020 Phase 1 breakdown
Athletes are allotted 3 hour time windows in which they will be able to complete a number of given events. The time windows are set from 9:00 to 12:00 and from 12:00 to 15:00. These times are relative to each athlete’s time zone, as a matter of fact 15 countries will be represented so it’s crucial that the scores remain confidential until every single athletes has completed the workouts.
Additionally each athlete is assigned a judge that will meticulously weight out all the equipment being used as well as measure the distance the athlete will be running on Event 3.
The Progrm at the Crossfit Games
We are saddened that most of our initially Games qualified athletes have lost their Games ticket for this year due to the cuts, we are sure they will be back hungrier than ever for the 2021 season. Still one of our youngest yet most promising athletes is still set to compete this weekend: Gabriela Migala.
Hardcore Crossfit fans may remember her from the 2018 Meridian Regionals where at age 19 she made her elite division debut winning the first event: Triple Three. She put up an incredible performance despite the packed leaderboard and missed her Games ticket for only one spot. That wouldn’t have been Gabriella’s first trip to the Games as she had already earned a podium spot in 2016 in the Teen division, since then she has been the reigning national champion of Poland. Regardless she persisted in her Games dream pursuit and qualified for the Games in 2019.
2019 was a special year for the Games as the cut system was implemented for the first time, with athletes being cut after each workout there was no space for error. Even fan favorite athletes who’ve been dominant in the sport for years didn’t make it into the final day of competition. Gabriella wasn’t in luck, the first event featured what she often describes as one of “her biggest weaknesses”: legless rope climbs. She didn’t make it past the first cut.
With a renewed hunger to prove herself the Polish athlete has since then been chipping away at her gymnastics skills to bring them on the same level as her impressive weightlifting numbers and aerobic capacity. She soon after qualified for the Games through the Open Top 20, and added a Sanctional win to that for good measure. Now ready to prove herself Gabriella has her eyes set on this weekend.
Athlete: Gabriela Migala
Age: 21
Nationality: Polish
Coach: John Singleton
Location: CrossFit C23, Mallorca, Spain.
DAY 1
Event 1
Friendly FRAN
3 Rounds:
21 Thrusters
21 Chest-to-bar Pull-ups
F 38kg (85lb) / M 52kg (115lb)
Coach thoughts: You couldn’t get a more quintessential CrossFit workout, a couplet with thrusters and pulling gymnastics.
Obviously a harder version of Fran. As there is higher reps, higher load and pull-ups moving to C2B ?.
However my guess is we will see a few of the top athletes go unbroken on this, gymnastic biased athletes shouldn’t find the 21 C2B a problem and the thruster is heavy but doable. However the majority of the top 30 are going to have to break and use a good strategy.
The 3rd round is where we will see a lot of movement in the rankings as if an athlete has gone out too hard then getting through the last sets they will lose a lot of seconds breaking the Reps and resting.
Event 2
1 rep max front squat
Establish a 1-REP-MAX Front Squat
Time cap: 20 Min
Coach thoughts: Turn the music up and go heavy…
Most athletes will have a good idea of the weight they can hit here and although Event 1 has thrusters they shouldn’t be too taxed.
I predict we will see some 200+kg Front Squats on the male side and possibly a 140kg on the female side.
Event 3
Damn DIANE
3 Rounds:
15 Deadlifts
15 Strict Deficit Handstand Push-ups
F 93kg (205lb) / 2-inch deficit
M 142kg (315lb) / 3,5-inch deficit
Coach thoughts: Maybe the second most quintessential CrossFit workout, pressing gymnastics and a pull from the floor.
The weight shouldnt be too much of a factor for the athletes on the DL, however the HSPU with a deficit may be.
Some athletes will be loving this workout, some hating as unfortunately if you arent great at HSPU the timer will just keep ticking as you are resting to do you next rep.
Event 4
1000 m ROW
Row 1000 meters for time
Coach thoughts: Simple but effective, if you have gone all in on a short row you can relate to how this is going to feel. CrossFitters can typically pull some quick times especially over this distance, just as long as they pace correctly, riding the red line, not pushing through it. The 2 British athletes are the ones to watch: David Shorunke and Sam Briggs.
Top Time prediction.
Male side sub 3 minutes and female sub 3.30.
Event 5
Nasty NANCY
5 Rounds:
500-m Run
15 Overhead squats
15 Bar-facing burpees
F 56kg (125lb) / M 83 kg (185lb)
Coach thoughts: Looks simple, however 75 OHS, 75 Bar facing Burpees and a 2.5km run means this is going to be the longest of the workouts.
I think this is actually quite a deceptive workout and we are going to see a huge time discrepancy on the leaderboard as the “heavyish” OHS will take away from the running and burpees then the running and burpees will take away from the OHS.
As the weight is heavier it will effect the mainly endurance based athletes, however I think Sam Briggs could still take a win here.
Event 6
Handstand Hold
Max freestanding handstand hold
Time cap: 20 Min
Coach thoughts:An interesting event, we have seen this come up before in competitions outside of the Games. Obviously the ex-gymnasts are going to love this, girls like Katrin and Andrea could probably stand the whole 20 minutes…
Therefore I am a little surprised they didn’t make it a 5 min window, maybe not the most viewer friendly event.
Although I just googled the World Record and one guy in India stood for 56 minutes on one arm.
A hard prediction, however I am going to take a guess at 7 minutes.
Event 7
Awful ANNIE
For Time
50-40-30-20-10
Double-under
GHD sit-up
5-4-3-2-1
Clean
F 83kg (185lb) / M 124 kg (275lb)
