3 Up-and-Comers to Watch at the Men’s CrossFit Semifinals
As the 2024 CrossFit season moves into its penultimate stage, many in the community are shifting their attention to the CrossFit Games veterans who have over or underperformed in the online portion of the competition.
While longtime Games athletes will always be a topic of conversation, there are plenty of up-and-coming athletes who may have flown under the radar. Each year, a new group of athletes breaks through, upsetting the current rankings and sending a buzz through the community.
Below, we highlight three athletes you should keep an eye on as we head into the men’s Semifinals.
Victor Hoffer (France)
Victor Hoffer has been on the precipice of a breakthrough for a few years now. Though he’s never qualified for the CrossFit Games as a competitor, he was only 19 points away from doing so last year at the European Semifinal. While the top 11 qualified for Madison, Hoffer narrowly missed out by finishing 13th.
He also was on the 2023 CrossFit Games Demo Team and has a reputation for being among the best male athletes when it comes to gymnastics.
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Things are looking good in 2024, though, as the 21-year-old started off strong:
- 2024 Open: 21st worldwide, eighth Europe, first France
- 2024 Quarterfinals: third worldwide, second Europe
Throughout the Quarterfinals, Hoffer displayed few weaknesses, much like last year when he finished 10th in the world during Quarterfinals.
At last year’s Europe Semifinal, though, he finished in 53rd place in Workout 1, which involved running and sled work. This ultimately led to his failure to qualify.
If he can improve in those areas, we could be in the mix to make his first-ever CrossFit Games appearance.
Austin Hatfield (United States)
Austin Hatfield finished in the top 15 for the second straight year in the worldwide Open and followed it up with his best performance ever at Quarterfinals, where he finished fifth overall.
When it comes to Semifinals, Hatfield’s story is almost a replica of Hoffer’s.
Hatfield also finished in 13th place at last year’s Semis (North America East) and missed out on qualifying for the Games by just 26 total points. He finished behind Spencer Panchik, who took 12th place and the final qualifying spot for the men.
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Instead of a single bad event finish keeping him out of the Games, Hatfield was consistent throughout the Semifinal weekend. Still, his four finishes outside of the top 20 ultimately caused him to fall short at the end.
He looked great throughout this year’s Quarterfinals, and his placing on the worldwide leaderboard reflects that: He finished 14th in the world in the Open, fifth worldwide, and third in his region in Quarterfinals.
As he continues to improve, he could very well be the next male rookie to emerge from the extremely competitive North America East region.
Aniol Ekai (Spain)
For the past five years, Aniol Ekai has been one of the top three fittest men in Spain during the Open, including two years as number one.
This year, he gained some momentum as he broke into the top 10 worldwide at Quarterfinals, where he finished ninth globally for his best finish ever.
Last year, he finished 23rd but couldn’t carry the success over to the Semifinals, where he ended up finishing 22nd in Europe.
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However, based on his recent performances, it appears that Ekai could make a big jump up the leaderboard this year as he hopes to join fellow Spaniard Fabian Beneito at the CrossFit Games.
Ekai has great strength, including a listed snatch of over 290 pounds, but it was his running capacity last year that hindered his chances at qualifying.
Different programming this year, paired with endurance improvements he made over the off-season, should give him a great chance to crack the CrossFit Games in 2024.
Featured image: @juliangrochowiczzz / Instagram