At the conclusion of Event One, which involved a mile-long swim and a three-mile kayak, Jonne Koski of Finland was atop the Men’s leaderboard with a stellar opening performance. Reigning four-time Fittest Woman on Earth® Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr claimed the 25th event win of her Games career to lead the Women’s Division.
For Event Two, the men competed first — 45 minutes before the women. It involved the triplet of a long sled drag, a bunch of Pig flips, and a lot of muscle-ups. There were two heats of 20 athletes for each division. For the Men’s Division, it was an impressive showing for Canada as four of the top 10 athletes hailed from the great white north, including the overall winner Patrick Vellner.
Here are the results:
Individual Event Two — Top Five Men
- Patrick Vellner — 7:42.42
- Samuel Cournoyer — 8:09.71
- Scott Panchik — 8:16.30
- Jason Smith — 8:17.50
- Royce Dunne — 8:26.19
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
Individual Event Two
Event Two had a time cap of 12 minutes to perform the following for time:
- 126-foot sled drag — Men: 220 lbs. | Women: 180 lbs.
- Five pig flips — Men: 510 lbs. | Women: 350 lbs.
- 12 muscle-ups
- 12 bar muscle-ups
- 12 bar muscle-ups
- 12 muscle-ups
- Five pig flips
- 126-foot sled drag
For those unfamiliar, The Pig flip is a pillar with weight plates on both ends that competitors must flip over five times. It is functionally similar to a tire flip, but the apparatus allows for weight adjustments.
[Related: Kari Pearce Tests Positive for COVID-19, Out of 2021 CrossFit Games]
Drags, Pig Flips, and Muscle-Ups — Men’s Division
Fikowski was the first through the sled drag to The Pig. Notably, The Pig had to flip five times regardless of distance. Additionally, all the rings were at a fixed height for all athletes. That means that the taller athletes like Fikowski had to adjust their kips so their kips wouldn’t hit the ground.
By the first round of bar muscle-ups, Justin Medeiros caught up to Fikowski. Sam Cournoyer then took over the lead when Fikowski and Medeiros took breaks. All the athletes towards the front of the pack settled into a rhythm of three to four muscle-ups per set. The event called for 48 total muscle-ups.
Cournoyer was the first athlete back to the 6’10”-tall pig. Fikowski, Medeiros, and Colten Mertens were close behind. Ultimately, Cournoyer won heat one with a time of 8:09. Fikowski took second and Will Moorad claimed third after making up a ton of time on the pig.
Koski struggled out of the gate in heat two. Roy Dunne was on the opposite end to the spectrum — he smoked the first drag and the five pig flips to get to the muscle-ups first. However, it was Pat Vellner who claimed the lead after 30 muscle-ups. This was a much-needed turn of events for Vellner who ranked 35th in Event One. He was the first man back to The Pig.
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Koski made up a tremendous amount of time to come within striking distance of Vellner. Vellner did not give up the lead and scored a huge Event Two win with a time of 7:43. Scott Panchik gained ground on The Pig and took second place, moments ahead of Jason Smith.
At the conclusion of Event Two, there is a three-way tie for second place — Lazar Đukić, Fikowski, and Björgvin Karl Guðmundsson with 167 points. Koski sits atop the field with 170 points. Cournoyer is third with 158 points.
Women’s Division
In heat one, Danielle Brandon took an early lead. Brandon, Emma Tall, and Amanda Barnhart were at the front of the field early in the muscle-ups after Dani Speegle, who blitzed through The Pig flips, settled into a slower pace on the rings.
On the back half of the 48 muscle-ups, Kristi Eramo O’Connell was in the mix for the lead, as was Sydney Michalyshen. Eramo O’Connell and Brandon were the first to The Pig. Baylee Rayl was the third athlete back to the 350-pound pig. Brandon was the first to the sled and scored the heat win with a time of 10:22. Barnhart pushed through to a second-place finish, followed by Rayl.
In heat two, four-time reigning Fittest Woman on Earth® Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr took to the field. However, Laura Horvath made her presence known with sprint-like speed on the sled drag to be the first to the pig. Two-time Fittest Woman on Earth® Annie Thorisdottir — in her 11th Games appearance — was right behind her.
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Horvath, Toomey-Orr, and Thorisdottir traded the lead through the early round of ring muscle-ups, but it was Toomey-Orr to the bar muscle-ups first. She took full control of the lead after performing both rounds of bar muscle-ups nearly unbroken.
Haley Adams and Mallory O’Brien caught up to the front of the field by the time Toomey-Orr was back to the pig. The returning champion obliterated the top time to win the event with a time of 8:27.92. McQuaid rallied to a second-place time overall. Horvath finished third.
The Games Continue
Here are the time slots for the rest of Event Two and the next two events for the Individual competition. All times are in Eastern Standard Time (EST).
- IE3 (Men): 2:45-3:05 p.m.
- IE3 (Women): 3:05-3:25 p.m.
- IE4 (Men): 5:30-6:20 p.m.
- IE4 (Women): 6:30-7:20 p.m.
Featured Image Courtesy of CrossFit