2023 Rogue Invitational CrossFit Event 3 “The Circus” Results
Rounding out the first full day of the 2023 Rogue Invitational CrossFit competition was Event Three, “The Circus.” A rain delay pushed the start of the event back by more than two and a half hours. But when the Dell Diamond Stadium was finally ready for competitors to take the field again, they faced down a brand new Rogue implement. By the time the rain cleared and the dust settled around the ski erg, shoulders-to-overhead, and the Killer Cage, Roman Khrennikov and Laura Horvath were atop of the standings.
At the start of Event Three, six-time Fittest Woman on Earth® Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr and reigning Fittest Woman on Earth® Laura Horvath sat together on top of the women’s leaderboard. On the men’s side, reigning CrossFit champion Jeff Adler topped the leaderboard in a tie with 2022 Rogue Invitational silver medalist Chandler Smith and Australian Ricky Garard, who is on his way back from a devastating shoulder injury.
“The Circus” featured a new stainless steel Cyr dumbbell and an old favorite, the Killer Cage. All told, Toomey-Orr surrendered five points to Horvath, leaving a tight race at the top of the overall competition. As for the men, the event win gave Khrennikov the points he needed to enter Saturday on top of the overall leaderboard.
[Stay Tuned: 2023 Rogue Invitational CrossFit Live Results and Leaderboard]
2023 Rogue Invitational CrossFit Event Three Results — “The Circus”
Three rounds for time:
- Ski Erg — Men: 40 calories | Women: 32 calories
- Five Single-Arm Strongman Dumbbell Shoulder-to-Overhead — Men: 100 pounds | Women: 70 pounds
- Killer Cage — down and back
Below are the full results:
Men’s Division
- Roman Khrennikov — 9:18.80
- Brent Fikowski — 9:38.48
- Pat Vellner — 9:55.95
- Jayson Hopper — 10:03.10
- Noah Ohlsen — 10:14.20
- Björgvin Karl Gudmundsson — 10:31.89
- Jelle Hoste — 10:35.57
- Tudor Magda — 10:44.98
- Jeffrey Adler — 10:51.12
- Dallin Pepper — 10:51.17
- Chandler Smith — 10:51.54
- Bayley Martin — 10:56.81
- Will Moorad — 10:56.84
- Travis Mayer — 11:13.11
- Jay Crouch — 11:13.14
- Victor Hoffer — 11:20.25
- Lazar Đukić — 11:24.99
- Ricky Garard — 11:38.92
- Garrett Clark — CAP+48 (6:15)
- Jonne Koski — WD
Women’s Division
- Laura Horvath — 10:48.15
- Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr — 11:22.71
- Dani Speegle — 11:33.55
- Emma Cary — 11:51.01
- Arielle Loewen — 12:15.14
- Gabriela Migała — 12:17.00
- Bethany Flores — 12:43.49
- Paige Powers — 13:05.20
- Emma Lawson — 13:37.18
- Danielle Brandon — CAP+1 (4:02)
- Karin Freyova — CAP+1 (4:04)
- Lauren Fisher — CAP+1 (4:11)
- Paige Semenza — CAP+1 (4:12)
- Christine Kolenbrander — CAP+1 (4:27)
- Kyra Milligan — CAP+1 (4:41)
- Alex Gazan — CAP+2 (4:08)
- Manon Angonese — CAP+2 (4:30)
- Shelby Neal — CAP+2 (4:44)
- Elena Carratala Sanahuja — CAP+2 (5:06)
- Emily Rolfe — CAP+2 (5:09)
2023 Rogue Invitational CrossFit Event Three — “The Circus” Recap
Originally, athletes would have to go back to the beginning to start over if they slipped off the Killer Cage. But given the rain, which continued during the event, athletes were allowed to hop right back into action, even if they failed to get across unbroken.
Men’s Division, Heat One
Through the start of the first two rounds, 21-year-old Tudor Magda led the pack, closely followed by Jayson Hopper, Will Moorad, and Noah Ohlsen. Hopper managed to get to dumbbells first, going unbroken while Magda took a pause. Hopper traversed the grown-up monkey bars hand-over-hand, trailed closely by Ohlsen.
Ohlsen went unbroken on his final set of shoulder-to-overheads to put more space between himself, Magda, and Björgvin Karl Guðmundsson. The 10-time CrossFit Games vet ultimately took second place behind Hopper in the heat, trailed by Gudmundsson, then Magda.
Meanwhile, Garard — still recovering from shoulder surgery — rode near the back of the pack in this shoulder-intensive, largely unilateral workout. He was sure to surrender points on the overall leaderboard here.
Men’s Division, Heat Two
To finish out the men’s day, Roman Khrennikov was the first man to the dumbbell, with Jelle Hoste on his heels. He was also the first man through the monkey bars, trailed by Brent Fikowski and Pat Vellner, who were battling rep-by-rep with Hoste. Dallin Pepper also kept close tabs on the leading men.
Once again in the second round, Khrennikov was the first to the dumbbell and Killer Cage, as Pepper continued to climb the ranks behind him. To kick off the third round, Fikowski and Vellner fought off Pepper to get back to the ski erg, with Jeff Adler creeping up into the mix, too. With only 20 points separating the first-place trio (including Adler) from second-place Khrennikov, every point between them in this event would matter.
[Read More: 2023 Rogue Invitational CrossFit Event 1 “Texas Heavy” Results]
Taking his shirt off and tossing it into the crowd on his stroll to the finish line, Khrennikov easily surpassed Hopper’s time from the previous heat to secure the overall event win. Fikowski and Vellner rolled in next, their years of expertise in competition showing readily.
Adler, Smith, and Pepper sprinted through a high-heat foot race over the finish line, with Adler, then Pepper, then Smith finishing within moments of each other.
Women’s Division, Heat One
If the athletes from heat one were thrown by the malfunctioning start buzzer, they didn’t show it. The women made short work of their bouts on the ski erg, with Bethany Flores getting to the Cyr dumbbell first, followed by Dani Speegle. Speegle made even faster work of the dumbbell and was the first to get to the Killer Cage and traverse it with smooth hand-over-hand transitions.
In the second round, Speegle was once again first to the dumbbell, unphased by a no-rep and maintaining her lead ahead of Flores. Karin Freyova followed Flores, becoming the third woman to start her second round on the Cage.
Heading into the final round of the heat, it was once again Speegle and Flores way out in front, with Freyova holding a steady third place. Even under fatigue, Speegle made hoisting her dumbbell look easy, taking a slow walk back to the Killer Cage as Flores finished her own dumbbell work. Speegle took home the heat win, followed in consistency by Flores and Freyova.
Women’s Division, Heat Two
The heat two athletes jogged onto the field to a whole lot of anticipation and applause. Horvath’s performance in this event was much anticipated, given her climbing history (her status as the reigning CrossFit Games champ and tremendous strength didn’t hurt, either).
Sure enough, she blazed through her first set of shoulders-to-overhead, running to the Killer Cage and traversing with ease, using the same hand-over-hand approach favored by Speegle.
[Read More: 2023 Rogue Invitational CrossFit Event 2 “Seat at the Bar” Results]
During the second round, the rain started up again, making grip much more difficult to maintain throughout the event’s duration. Toomey-Orr started her second round on the ski erg in seventh place in the heat overall, possibly having been impacted by the suddenly slicker conditions.
The winningest Individual athlete in CrossFit Games history ultimately fought her way back for a second-place finish in the heat and the event overall. She made a tremendous charge to beat out Emma Cary, who had held a steady second place in the heat until Toomey-Orr passed her in the final round. Cary ultimately finished third in this heat.
Horvath crossed the finish line with a smile on her face, pumping her arms toward the crowd.
Come Back Tomorrow
The action in Round Rock will continue throughout the weekend, with three CrossFit events scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 28, including a max deadlift event that promises to be a show. Friday evening’s final strongman event was postponed until Saturday due to inclement weather.
Follow along with the action by watching the Rogue Invitational livestream on YouTube. BarBend‘s coverage will give you up-to-date results for each and every event, including both strongman and CrossFit.
Featured Image: @rogueinvitational on Instagram