2024 CrossFit Games North America East Semifinal Day 2 Men’s Recap: Khrennikov on Top, Adler Stays Close

Day two of the 2024 CrossFit Games North America Semifinal by Syndicate Crown is in the books. We are officially halfway done, with three workouts down and three to go on Sunday. 

After just one event on Friday, Saturday stacked two exciting events that changed the leaderboard and reseeded the top 10 going into the all-important final day. 

Reigning Fittest on Earth, Jeffrey Adler, won the first event in a race with Roman Khrennikov, edging him out by 10 seconds. 

The two men then battled throughout Saturday, with Khrennikov finishing the day on top by six points. 

Only 40 points separated Alexandre Caron in ninth (210) and Taylor Self in 14th (170) as the sun went down. Heading into the final day,  Benoît Boulanger is the gatekeeper of the final Games ticket in 11th place (193).    

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The race between Adler and Khrennikov heated up in Event 2 as the two men jostled back and forth. 

But while they battled in the center lanes, Austin Hatfield consistently led the way and walked across the finish line for the victory.

While he may not yet be a household name, Hatfield was one of our “Young Guns to Watch” at Semifinals this year.

• In 2023, Hatfield just missed qualifying for Madison out of North America East. He placed 13th, just one place (and 26 points) shy of a Games spot.
• This season, the youngster finished 14th in the world in the Open; fifth in the world, and third in North America East in Quarterfinals 
• Fun fact: Hatfield breeds rabbits, and during his event win performance, the voice of the CrossFit Games, Sean Woodland, took to referring to him as “The Rascally Rabbit Farmer.” 

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Khrennikov edged out Adler for second place, leaving them tied in points going into Event 3. Will Carter put up an impressive time in heat two, carding a fourth-place finish and moving up the leaderboard from 24th to 11th. 

• Worth noting: With athletes across all seven Semifinals having now completed this event, Colten Mertens’s time of 10:45 from last week’s North America West Semifinal stands as the world record. 

Will Moorad was on a quest to become the first athlete to qualify for both the Individual and Masters CrossFit Games. His quest came to an end after event two, however, as he withdrew from the competition for an unknown reason. 

Event 2 results:

1. Austin Hatfield — 11:06 
2. Roman Khrennikov — 11:12 
3. Jeffrey Adler — 11:15 
4. Will Carter — 11:37 
5. Dre Strohm — 11:41

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Event 3 was a race to remember. 

Dallin Pepper led through round six until two costly no-reps for touching the box early allowed Roman Khrennikov and Jayson Hopper to catch up. 

Pepper got off the bike first, completed his last rope climb, and hustled to the box. Hopper was a half-beat behind but received a costly no-rep on his final legless rope climb. 

Khrennikov stayed close off the rope and was faster on the box jumps to close the gap with Pepper. The two men sprinted to the finish line. 

• Seven rounds came down to seven-hundredths of a second. 

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Both men took a few good-natured shots at each other in the post-event interview, with Pepper saying that he made a mistake, giving Roman the win. 

Through his translator, Khrennikov told Pepper that he won because he didn’t make any mistakes. 

The two athletes laughed and fist-bumped. 

• “We have one more Echo Bike workout, Roman,” Pepper responded.  

Worth noting: With athletes across all seven Semifinals having now completed this event, James Sprague’s time of 8:24 from last week’s North America West Semifinal stands as the world record. 

Event 3 results:

• 1. Roman Khrennikov — 8:45
• 2. Dallin Pepper — 8:46
• 3. Jeffrey Adler — 8:52
• 4. Jayson Hopper — 9:02
• 5. Samuel Cournoyer — 9:16

Here are the men in qualifying spots at the end of day two:

• 1. Roman Khrennikov — 294 points
• 2. Jeffrey Adler — 288 points
• 3. Saxon Panchik — 264
• 4. Dallin Pepper — 252
• 5. Jayson Hopper — 246
• 6. Samuel Cournoyer — 225
• 7. Austin Hatfield — 222
• 8. Travis Mayer — 219
• 9. Alexander Caron — 210
• 10. Tyler Christophel — 210
• 11. Benoît Boulanger — 193

Athletes will continue to fight for their chance to compete in Fort Worth as the events get shorter and leave less room for error. 

There are 300 points still left on the table, with handstand walking, heavy snatches, and a full-send to finish. 

As we’ve seen the past two weeks, anything can happen on Sunday. 

Featured image: Carlos Fleury