The 2024 CrossFit Games resumed with heavy hearts on Friday after the tragic passing of Lazar Đukić. The first event inside Dickies Arena was a down-and-back chipper with a 20-minute time cap designed to tax the athletes.
In honor of Đukić, lane five was empty with his name placard for heats two through four of the men’s event.
Some athletes paid tribute to Đukić by taking a one-minute pause at the start of the event, including Victoria Campos, Chloe Gauvin-David, Julia Kato, and Mortiz Fiebig. In the final heat, two lanes remained open, belonging to Karin Freyová and Laura Horvath, both of whom have withdrawn from the competition.
Individual Event 2: Midline Climb
For time:
- 50 deadlifts (225/155 pounds)
- 3 / 5 rope climbs
- 30/50 ski-erg calories
- 3 / 5 rope climbs
- 50 GHD sit-ups
- 3 / 5 rope climbs
- 50 GHD sit-ups
- 3 / 5 rope climbs
- 30/50 ski-erg calories
- 3 / 5 rope climbs
- 50 deadlifts
Final Results
| Place | Women | Men |
| 1. | Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr – 13:15.95 | Patrick Vellner – 14:14.05 |
| 2. | Madeline Sturt – 13:43.21 | Jayson Hopper – 14:16.68 |
| 3. | Haley Adams – 13:56.77 | Dallin Pepper – 14:26.50 |
| 4. | Gabriela Migała – 13:58.38 | Justin Medeiros – 14:27.76 |
| 5. | Emma Tall – 14:09.80 | Kalyan Souza – 14:48.68 |
Recap
Women’s Division
After the first event yesterday, the favorites of the competition are scattered through the heats.
Alex Gazan found herself in unfamiliar territory in heat one. She was joined by rookie Claudia Gluck.
- Gluck and Gazan were within reps of each other through the final set of rope climbs before ultimately moving to the barbell at the same time.
On the final barbell, Gazan took the lead while Gluck tightened her lifting belt. Gluck battled back, though, pulling even with 10 reps left. Gluck went unbroken, giving her the edge and the heat win at 15:12.86.
Emma Lawson, 2023’s Second Fittest Woman, headlined heat two.
- It was another rookie, though, Aimee Cringle, who led at the halfway point and built a sizable cushion on the second set of GHD sit-ups.
While Cringle slowed on the last set of rope climbs, allowing Seher Kaya a chance to close the gap, Cringle emptied the tank on the deadlifts to take the heat win.
The third heat was full-on podium contenders, with Arielle Loewen, Gabriela Migala, and Alexis Raptis all hitting the floor.
- After the first set of GHD sit-ups, Migala held a small lead over Maddie Sturt but went to the wrong rope, effectively eliminating the lead she built in the first half of the event.
Sturt and Migala approached the final barbell at the same time, and it was Sturt who flew through the deadlifts to set the new time to beat at 13:43.21.
The final heat was significant, not just for who was in it but who wasn’t.
- 2023 CrossFit Games champion Laura Horvath did not take the floor, nor did Karin Freyová. Both athletes felt it was best to respect Đukić’s passing by not continuing to compete this weekend.
In the final heat, Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr led from start to finish, taking the heat win and event win in impressive fashion, logging the top time of 13:15.95.
- Behind Toomey-Orr, Haley Adams and Emma Tall battled for second place. While Adams made it to the final rope in second, Tall pulled even for the start of the deadlifts.
Ultimately, it was Adams who finished second in the heat and third in the event behind Sturt.
Men’s Division
As the men’s division kicked off, all eyes were on five-time CrossFit Games podium finisher Patrick Vellner after his 33rd-place finish in the first event.
For Vellner, this was his fourth CrossFit Games with an Event 1 finish worse than 30th.
- Cole Greashaber tried to challenge Vellner in the first half of the competition but couldn’t keep the pace on the way down this pyramid chipper.
Being in the first heat, Vellner couldn’t afford to coast to the finish. He easily won the heat and set the time to beat of 14:14:05.
In heat two, a noticeable absentee from the field was Jeffrey Adler, who also chose to step away from the competition to mourn the events from Thursday.
- Sam Kwant led Kalyan Souza by a couple of reps for the majority of the competition. Souza was able to take the lead after the final rope climb.
The two battled back and forth on the deadlifts before Souza took the final lead on the last 10 deadlifts, earning the heat win at 14:48.68.
Heat three featured podium favorites Justin Medeiros and Dallin Pepper. These two, along with Jayson Hopper, battled up and down the competition floor.
- Hopper was able to pull ahead for the final time on the Ski-erg, winning the heat in 14:16.68.
Dallin Pepper was able to hold off Medeiros on the deadlifts, finishing just 1.26 seconds ahead of the two-time champion.
The final heat included past podium finishers Ricky Garard, Roman Khrennikov, Bjorgvin Karl Gudmundsson, Brent Fikowski, and the current leader Jelle Hoste.
- Fikowski led the way early but couldn’t keep up with Hoste. James Sprague and Roman Knrennikov also tried to challenge Hoste in the second half of the event.
Hoste looked like he was on his way to the heat win, but Sprauge came from over 10 reps back on the deadlifts to take the heat win at 15:05.66.
At the end of the event, Patrick Vellner’s time of 14:14.05 was still the fastest time for the event, earning him a much-needed 100 points.
Next Up
The second event for Friday and the third for the CrossFit Games is “Firestorm.” This event should be a quick lung burner with three rounds of echo bike calories and burpees over a barricade.
Vellner has had strong finishes when burpees are involved, so we’ll see if he can continue his battle back up the leaderboard. With power output being key to Firestorm, it might give Emma Tall a chance to close the 21-point gap between her and Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr.
Featured image: Dallas Hamm
