Toomey-Orr and Fikowski Lead After Day One of the 2021 CrossFit Games
The first day of Individual competition at the 2021 NOBULL CrossFit Games is done. Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr and Brent Fikowski are leading their divisions with 397 and 322 points, respectively, after four events. Haley Adams and Justin Medeiros are in second place, and Kristin Holte and Jonne Koski are in third.
The athlete’s day started early at 9 a.m. central time in Madison, WI, and they remained active throughout, with the final event wrapping at 6:20 p.m. CT. Check out the top 10 men and women on the leaderboard below:
2021 CrossFit Games Top 10 Leaderboard
| Rank | Country | Name | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Tia-Clair Toomey | 1435 |
| 2 |  |
Laura Horváth | 1179 |
| 3 |  |
Annie Thorisdottir | 1099 |
| 4 |  |
Kristin Holte | 1064 |
| 5 |  |
Haley Adams | 995 |
| 6 |  |
Gabriela Migała | 972 |
| 7 | |
Mallory O'Brien | 963 |
| 8 | |
Kristi Eramo O'Connell | 959 |
| 9 | |
Amanda Barnhart | 936 |
| 10 | |
Katrín Tanja Davíðsdóttir | 921 |
Event One Results
The first event for the Men and Women was a nonstructural feat that had them swim a single mile with fins and kayak for three miles. On the Men’s side, Jonne Koski of Finland took a significant lead and never let up. In addition to dominating the swim, he showed competency with paddling, assuming a wider grip, and taking consistent strokes. As a result, he finished a full three minutes ahead of Lazar Đukić, who came in second. On the flip side, Patrick Vellner, who you’ll see a lot more of below, finished in a surprising 35th place.
First, Amanda Barnhart led the way. Then, Emma Tall, who qualified for the Games through the Last-Chance Qualifier, and Kristi Eramo O’Connell were neck and neck for a while. Lo and behold, four-time reigning Fittest Woman on Earth®, Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr captured the lead toward the end of the event. In contrast to Koski, her lead was far narrower — she finished just nine seconds ahead of Eramo O’Connell, who finished seven seconds ahead of Tall.
Individual Event One — Top Five Men
- Jonne Koski — 1:06:44.23
- Lazar Đukić — 1:09:08.68
- Rogelio Gamboa — 1:09:48.17
- Brandon Luckett —1:10:35.29
- Justin Medeiros — 1:10:54.31
Individual Event One — Top Five Women
- Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr — 1:10:46.37
- Kristi Eramo O’Connell — 1:10:54.64
- Emma Tall — 1:11:01.45
- Emily Rolfe — 1:11:27.94
- Haley Adams — 1:11:37.08
[Related: 2021 Crossfit Games Event One Results]
Event One
For time:
- 1-mile swim with fins
- 3-mile kayak
Event Two Results
This was the first event that saw the Men and Women divisions perform at separate times and split up into heats. The heats are a small but important detail that can alter an athlete’s potential performance. If an athlete is blitzing through their heat, they may ease up on the gas pedal towards the end, but then a competitor in another heat may beat them by a full minute or the seconds left on the table.
A perfect example of this is Samuel Cournoyer finishing his heat in 8:09.17 only to have Vellner blitz past him by 27 seconds in the next heat. (Though, no one would accuse Cournoyer of dogging it — that’s for sure.) Also, Scott Panchik, who announced that he’s retiring from competitive CrossFit after this year’s Games, got third by inching out Jason Smith by a single second.
On the Women’s side, the event was Toomey’s, and it wasn’t even close. Danielle Brandon won the first heat in gritty fashion. Side note: two of Brandon’s teammates, Kari Pearce and Bethany Shadburne, were medically withdrawn from the Games after testing positive for COVID-19. The commentators thought the news fueled her. Unfortunately for Brandon, it wasn’t enough. She was the only woman in heat one to finish in the top five, with Laura Horvath coming in at 10:07.70, Emma McQuaid besting her with a time of 9:36.70, and Toomey leading McQuaid by over a minute with a time of 8:27.92.
Individual Event Two — Top Five Men
- Pat Vellner — 7:42.42
- Samuel Cournoyer — 8:09.17
- Scott Panchik — 8:16.30
- Jason Smith — 8:17.50
- Brent Fikowski — 8:35.34
Individual Event Two — Top Five Women
- Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr — 8:27.92
- Emma McQuaid — 9:36.70
- Laura Horvath — 10:07.70
- Danielle Brandon — 10:22.76
- Haley Adams — 10:27.80
[Related: 2021 Crossfit Games Event Two Results]
Event Two
For time:
126-ft. sled drag, 180 lbs. | 220 lbs.
5 Pig flips, 350 lbs. | 510 lbs.
12 muscle-ups
12 bar muscle-ups
12 bar muscle-ups
12 muscle-ups
5 Pig flips
126-ft. sled drag
Time cap: 12 min.
Event Three Results
Half an hour after the gymnastics-heavy Event Two, the athletes had to sprint five and a half football fields (550 yards) as quickly as possible. Heat three literally ran away with it. Brazilian Guilherme Malherios won a very close race to come out on top, sprinting the entire track in 1:15.37. Will Moorad of the USA placed behind him by two-tenths of a second, and Vellner earned 94 points with a third-place win.
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Toomey — surprise, surprise — won again. The Australian beat Brooke Wells by just three-tenths of a second. Haley Adams was right behind them in third. Also of note, this is Danielle Brandon’s second top-five event finish. Brandon is proving to be consistent early on.
Also, shout out to the cameraman on the first corner of the track. Whoever he is, the guy sprinted, sometimes faster than the athletes, what had to be about 100 yards. He did that eight times while holding a camera in one hand. (It gave us serious Marston Sawyer vibes.)
Individual Event Three — Top Five Men
- Guilherme Malheiros —1:15.37
- Will Moorad— 1:15.59
- Pat Vellner — 1:15.72
- Saxon Panchik — 1:15.94
- André Houdet — 1:16.77
Individual Event Three — Top Five Women
- Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr — 1:24.17
- Brooke Wells — 1:24.43
- Haley Adams — 1:25.74
- Kristin Holte — 1:26.67
- Danielle Brandon — 1:27.20
[Related: 2021 Crossfit Games Event Three Results]
Event Four Results
We saw the Wall Walk debut in the 2021 Open, so it’s not surprising to see this nefarious movement creep into a Games event. Paired with relatively heavy barbell thrusters, athletes surely need to ice their shoulders after this one.
Both Panchik brothers made it into the top five — Scott in first with a wicked fast time of 13:39.61 and Saxon in fourth. This was both Panchik brother’s second top-five finish of the day. CrossFit Games sophomore Justin Medeiros managed to snag second place by 15 seconds over Brent Fikowski. Jay Crouch, who got second in heat one, rounded out fifth place. Ultimately, Medeiros’ and Scott Panchik’s pace allowed them to take such strong leads over their respective heats.
The Women’s leaderboard was finally shaken up — though not a whole lot. Seventeen-year old Mallory O’Brien was the only woman to log a sub-14 minute time and became the youngest CrossFit Games event winner. Emma Cary, also 17-years-old, won her heat and finished in third place overall. Toomey and O’Brien were neck-and-neck for the duration of the event — with Toomey crushing the thrusters and O’Brien blasting through the Wall Walks — until the American was able to pull ahead and hold that lead.
Individual Event Four — Top Five Men
- Scott Panchik — 13:39.61
- Justin Medeiros — 14:50.28
- Brent Fikowski — 15:05.03
- Saxon Panchik — 15:17.35
- Jay Crouch — 15:18.65
Individual Event Four — Top Five Women
- Mallory O’Brien — 13:41.22
- Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr — 14:15.83
- Emma Cary — 14:25.57
- Brooke Wells — 14:34.55
- Amanda Barnhart — 14:35.9
[Related: 2021 Crossfit Games Event Four Results]
Event Four
For time:
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 reps of:
- Wall Walk
- Thruster, 135 lbs. | 185 lbs.
On to Day Two
Thursday, July 29, 2021, will be a rest day. However, there are still three days of competition after that left. They will feature 11 more events (15 total). Event Five will involve rope climbs, ski ergs, and sandbags. Event Eight will be a handstand walk, the details of which are still up in the air — as is the case with many of the remaining events. The goal for the women, it seems, is to put a meaningful dent into Toomey-Orr’s lead. The Men’s podium still appears fairly open, heading into the next three days of Individual competition.
Stay tuned to BarBend, as we’ll be bringing you robust coverage of events in real-time. You can also check out our leaderboard and results page, which is updated frequently.
Featured Image Courtesy of CrossFit