Heading into Event Nine, the pressure was on the bottom quarter of the leaderboards. The first cut of the competition was scheduled to drop the field to the top 30 athletes in each division. Danielle Brandon and Scott Panchik had the momentum of Event Eight wins.
Event Nine tasked athletes to perform a series of snatches intermixed with the Echo bike. Brent Fikowski scored the event win in the Men’s Division but could not overtake Justin Medeiros as the overall leader. In the Women’s Division, Amanda Barnhart scored the third event win of her Games career.
Here were the results:
Individual Event Nine — Top Five Men
- Brent Fikowski — 3:31.25
- Alex Vigneault — 3:37.93
- Chandler Smith — 3:39.77
- Travis Mayer — 3:40.07
- Patrick Vellner — 3:41.08
Individual Event Nine — Top Five Women
- Amanda Barnhart — 4:01.79
- Annie Thorisdottir — 4:07.26
- Laura Horváth — 4:22.04
- Ellie Turner — 4:25.98
- Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr — 4:45.20
[Related: 2021 NOBULL CrossFit Games Results and Leaderboard]
Individual Event Nine
For time, 21-15-9 reps of the following:
- Echo bike (calories)
- Snatches (short bars)
- Men — 105 pounds
- Women — 75 pounds
Time cap: eight minutes.
Men’s Division
Heat one for the men; Chandler Smith took a three-rep lead on the first round of snatches. He was the first athlete onto the bike for the round of 15. Giorgos Karavis and Alexandre Caron were jockeying for second place. Smith crossed the finish line with a heat-winning time of 3:39.77. Caron scored second with a time of 3:45.22. Jayson Hopper got in just before Karavis for third.
Justin Medeiros entered heat two with a 45-point lead over Brent Fikowski atop the overall leaderboard. Alex Vigneault was the first to the snatches in the opening round. Fikowski stayed within a rep of the lead, as did Noah Ohlsen.
Fikowski took over the lead in the final round on the bike. He held onto the lead to win the heat and the event with a time of 3:31.25. Vigneault took second with a time of 3:37.93. Travis Mayer claimed third at 3:40.07.
Women’s Division
The first heat for the women put Sam Briggs on the hot seat as she was in 31st place on the leaderboard — just outside the cut to continue to Event 10. Emma Cary took an early lead with Alessandra Pichelli a hair behind.
Pichelli overtook Cary in the first round of snatches and was first to the bike. Ellie Turner also made up some time in the snatches to hop into second place. She took the lead from Pichelli on the final bike and was the first athlete to the final round of snatches. Turner crossed the finish line first with a time of 4:25.98. Laura Clifton claimed second place at 4:45.95, less than a second ahead of Briggs at 4:46.50. Pichelli finished in 4:51.22.
In heat two, Amanda Barnhart and Laura Horváth assumed the early lead together. Barnhart was the first to get to the first round of snatches, where Annie Thorisdottir moved into second position. Barnhart and Thorisdottir left the field well behind them as they moved into the final round on the bike.
Barnhart scored the event-winning time of 4:01.79. Thorisdottir scored second with a time of 4:07.26. Horváth finished third, crossing the line at 4:22.04.
The Games Continue
There are still two more days of Individual competition to go before a Fittest Man and Woman on Earth® are crowned. In total, Individual athletes will compete in 15 events by the end of the Games. That means there are six events left for the top 30 athletes in both divisions to make moves up the leaderboard.
Featured Image Courtesy of CrossFit.
