2024 CrossFit Games Europe Semifinals Day 2 Men’s Recap: Lazar Dukic and Jelle Hoste Are on Top

Just like that, we are already two days and 300 points into the Europe Semifinal weekend for individuals. 

“Moving day” caused plenty of shake-ups on the leaderboard, which we get into below, but it’s worth taking a moment to consider what has and hasn’t been tested so far.

• With running, legless rope climbs, toes-to-bar, and box jumps in the rearview, the gymnasts and monostructural specialists have been very happy with the programming. But the heavy hitters will get a crack at some big barbells in Event 5 tomorrow. 

Let’s now break down what happened on Saturday.

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At the Top

Lazar Ðukić:  After finishing the first day just off the lead, the Games vet remained consistent with seventh- and fifth-place finishes in Events 2 and 3. Heading into the final day, he secured a spot at the top of the leaderboard, tied with Jelle Hoste.

• This is unsurprising as Ðukić has exceptional conditioning and gymnastics and always performs well in running events. 

Since he is a better gymnast and stronger than Hoste, we firmly expect him to control the lead tomorrow after Events 4 and 5.

Jelle Hoste: Speaking of Hoste, he’s had no finishes outside the top seven in his sophomore effort and snagged his first event win of the weekend in Event 3.

• As a taller athlete who prefers conditioning to strength, this is not all that surprising given the programming so far. 

We expect him to fall a few places tomorrow but remain in the top five overall and finish strong in Event 7 due to his abilities on the Echo bike.

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Uldis Upenieks: After winning Event 1 yesterday, Uldis Upenieks followed it up with a second straight victory this morning, giving him a great start to the day. 

• Unfortunately, the Latvian finished 25th in Event 3 due to struggles on his legless rope climbs, bringing his current average finish to ninth.

He now sits in sixth overall, 37 points outside first place but comfortably in a Games qualifying spot at the halfway point.

Potential Games Rookies

If the competition ended now, there would be four CrossFit Games rookies to come out of this year’s Europe Semifinal in the men’s division. Colin Bosshard (fourth), Harry Lightfoot (fifth), Aniol Ekai (seventh), and Luka Vunjak (eighth) are all currently sitting in qualifying positions.

We’ve had our eyes on all four of them, as they’ve shored up weaknesses and gained strength and capacity in the off-season and through the Open and Quarterfinals.

Veterans on the Brink

Although there are still 300 points up for grabs, multiple Games veterans are sitting outside of qualifying positions, including:

• Moritz Fiebig: Currently in 12th place (183 points) – two points outside the cutline
• Bjorgvin Karl Gudmundsson: Currently in 13th (174 points) – 11 points outside the cutline
• Jonne Koski: Currently in 24th (110 points) – 75 points outside the cutline
• Bronisław Olenkowicz: Currently in 39th (38 points) – 147 points outside the cutline

While Fiebig and Gudmundsson still have a great shot at making it, Koski is in serious trouble, and Olenkowicz needs a miracle to make the Games again.

Koski likely needs several top-10 finishes tomorrow, while Olenkowicz needs to do damage control on Event 4 (gymnastics-intensive) and try to win Event 5, the heavy snatch ladder, to survive.

We’ll check back in tomorrow to see how everything turned out.

2024 CrossFit Games Europe Semifinals Leaderboard – Day 2

Below, you’ll find the men’s leaderboard at the end of day two of the 2024 CrossFit Games Europe Semifinals.

Featured image: Dave Shenton / @daveshenton / Instagram