The 2021 CrossFit Open Is Over — Here’s Who Sits On Top of the Leaderboard
The 2021 CrossFit Open was a fast and furious three weeks, consisting of four workouts — 21.1, 21.2, and a combo deal of 21.3 and 21.4. The top 10 percent of athletes in each of the six regions (North America, South America, Africa, Asia, Oceania, and Europe) will go on to the Quarterfinals. A select few will then proceed to the Semifinals, where they can earn an invite to the 2021 NOBULL CrossFit Games in Madison, WI, from July 27 through August 1.
Of the top 25 men and women, many of the names will look familiar. Canada’s Jeffrey Adler — who finished in fifth place at the 2020 CrossFit Games — leads the men. Reigning four-time Fittest Woman on Earth® Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr has accrued just 26 points (in the Open, the lower the score, the better). Other big names include brothers Scott and Saxon Panchik, Noah Ohlsen, Patrick Vellner, Rich Froning Jr., and Brent Fikowski. For the women, Haley Adams, Kara Saunders, Kristi Eramo O’Connell, Kari Pearce, Katrin Davídsdóttir, and Amanda Barnhart are all in the top 25.
The 2021 Games qualification system is different this year compared to the years past. More on that below, but the three-phase process will culminate with 38 men, 38 women, and 38 teams qualifying for the Games via the Semifinal events. Two additional men and two additional women will qualify via the Last-Chance Qualifier, which will follow the Semifinals.
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2021 CrossFit Open Results
Here are the top 25 men, women, and teams after the final week of the 2021 CrossFit Open. During the Open, points for each event are equal to each athlete’s respective rank — first place scores one point, 10th place scores 10 points, 800th place is 800 points, and so on. The lower the point total an athlete has, the higher up on the leaderboard they are.
Disclaimer: These scores are subject to change until CrossFit finalizes the leaderboard.
Men’s Division — Top 25
- Jeffrey Adler, Canada — 102 points
- Scott Panchik, USA — 142 points
- Travis Mead, USA — 166 points
- Saxon Panchik, USA — 218 points
- Richard Froning Jr., USA — 255 points
- Noah Ohlsen, USA — 274 points
- Samuel Cournoyer, Canada — 277 points
- Cole Greashaber, USA — 405 points
- Agustin Richelme, Argentina — 420 points
- Oleg Lascenko, Great Britain — 429 points
- Cedric Lapointe, Canada — 457 points
- Stas Solodov, Russia — 511 points (T-12)
- Giorgos Karavis, Greece — 511 points (T-12th)
- Jonne Koski, Finland — 566 points
- Elliot Simmonds, Great Britain — 584 points
- Logan Collins, USA — 591 points
- Jay Crouch, Great Britain — 613 points
- Colten Mertens, USA — 624 points
- Jayson Hopper, USA — 630 points
- Patrick Vellner, Canada — 640 points
- Alex Kotoulas, Greece — 644 points
- Brent Fikowski, Canada — 646 points
- Fabian Beneito, Spain — 670 points
- Hunter Holifield, USA — 702 points
- Cody Anderson, USA — 710 points (T-25th)
- Mitch Wagner, USA — 710 points (T-25th)
Women’s Division — Top 25
- Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr, Australia — 26 points
- Emma Cary, USA — 66 points
- Kara Saunders, Australia — 111 points
- Kristin Eramo O’Connell, USA — 189 points
- Mallory ‘Brien, USA — 211 points
- Emma McQuaid, Ireland — 232 points
- Dani Speegle, USA — 238 points
- Elena Carratala Sanahuja, Spain — 241 points
- Brooke Wells, USA — 243 points
- Haley Adams, USA — 307 points
- Matilde Garnes, Norway —320 points
- Gabriela Migala, Poland — 330 points
- Danielle Brandon, USA — 363 points
- Katrin Davíðsdóttir, Iceland — 376 points
- Emma Lawson, Canada — 382 points
- Kari Pearce, USA — 398 points
- Kristin Holte, Norway — 414 points
- Amanda Fusuma, Brazil — 458 points
- Andrea Nisler, USA — 460 points
- Bethany Shadburne, USA — 464 points (T-20)
- Amanda Barnhart, USA — 464 (T-20)
- Chloe Gauvin-David, Canada — 479 points
- Larissa Cunha, Brazil — 498 points
- Amy Morton, Canada — 522 points
- Sasha Nievas, Argentina — 528 points
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Teams Division — Top 25
- CrossFit Mayhem Freedom — 11 points
- Invictus — 26 points
- Kolesnikov Team — 34 points
- Reebok CrossFit Frankston — 54 points
- Team Butchers Lab — 57 points
- PSC Invasion — 63 points
- Invictus Unconquerable — 80 points (T-8th)
- Training Think Tank — 80 points (T-8th)
- PRO1 Montreal — 83 points
- Team CFR 1 — 85 points
- I1UVIT — 100 points
- 64 ARmy Gold — 102 points
- CrossFit Hype — 103 points
- CrossFit Zurriola Training Culture — 115 points (T-14th)
- CrossFit Borgen — 115 points (T-14th)
- Three Kings — 131 points
- 1855 — 138 points
- On Track — 172 points
- Team Dubai — 182 points
- C2X CrossFit — 184 points
- Omnia — 186 points
- CrossFit Oslo Wolfpack — 208 points
- Team Koda — 209 points (T-23th)
- CrossFit Grandview — 209 points (T-23th)
- CrossFit Resurrection — 213 points
- CrossFit Nordic — 214 points
Adaptive Division Winners
In total, there are 16 Adaptive Divisions — eight for the men and eight for the women. Below are the leaders of each.
- Men Upper Extremity: Casey Acree, USA — 11 points
- Women Upper Extremity: Sabrina Daniela Lopez, Switzerland — 20 points
- Men Lower Extremity: Ole Kristian Antonsen, Norway — 20 points
- Women Lower Extremity: Natalie Bieule, USA — 28 points
- Men Neuromuscular: Brett Horchar, USA — 7 points
- Women Neuromuscular: Letchen Du Plessis, South Africa — 9 points
- Men Vision: Marc Gil Manzanares, Spain — 13 points
- Women Vision: Kimberley Dekeyrel, USA — 16 points
- Men Short Stature: Michal Lagosz, Poland — 11 points
- Women Short Stature: Creusa Castro, Brazil —9 points
- Men Seated (W /Hip): Tom Miazga, USA — 10 points
- Women Seated (W/ Hip): Cindy Ouellet, Canada — 10 points
- Men Seated (W/O Hip): Simon Farre, France — 9 points
- Women Seated (W/O Hip): Andrea Wilson, USA — 8 points
- Men Intellectual: Loic Jacobowsky, France — 7 points
- Women Intellectual: Julia Lane, Canada — 8 points
Stand Out Performances
As is the case during any Open, a handful of athletes are going to stand out from the rest of the pack. Here’s who looked spectacular during the first three weeks of the 2021 CrossFit season.
Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr
Who’s shocked to see Toomey-Orr on this list? Probably no one. Just because domination is expected doesn’t mean it’s still not worthy of praise. Toomey has created a 40-point gap between her and her closest competitor, Emma Cary. Overall, she has the lowest score between the men and the women. She placed first in 21.3 and has remained in the top 10 for 21.1 and 21.4 (which she admits could’ve been a better event for her if it wasn’t for one mistake). Her only sub-tenth-place finish was during 21.2, which consisted of dumbbell snatches and burpee box-jump-overs.
Surprisingly, Toomey-Orr has never won an Open. Her best Open performance was in 2020. She got fourth place. Factor in her move with husband and coach Shane Orr, her training with the Australian women’s bobsled team in South Korea (which also meant a weeks-long quarantine), and potential travel issues for the Semifinals — and it’s all the more impressive that she’s sitting atop the leaderboard.
Emma Cary
Hot on the tail of the most dominant CrossFit woman of all time is 17-year old Emma Cary. That’s right. Cary has won the Girls (14-15) Open in 2019 and placed second in the Girls (16-17) Open the year after. She’s also won a CrossFit Games in 2019 for the Girls (14-15) division. At 17, she’s competing as a teen, but it’s impressive that this young gun can close a tight gap between Toomey-Orr. That’s something to put on the resume.
Jeffrey Adler
Again, this isn’t a huge shock, but it could be a glimpse into the future. Now that five-time Games winner Mat Fraser is retired, somebody has to replace him. During the 2020 Games, Adler upset Fraser during the CrossFit Total event and gave his run for his money during the Bike Repeater event — two of the more exciting moments during an otherwise predictable Games.
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Like Toomey-Orr, Adler has 40 fewer points than Scott Panchik. His best performance came during the conditioning-heavy 21.2 event. Known for his incredible strength, Adler placed 46th in 21.4, with a max complex of 317 pounds. For 21.1 and 21.3, he placed 20th and 28th, respectively.
Scott Panchik
The oldest of the three Panchik brothers, Scott (33 years old), is sitting in second place behind Adler. To date, this is his most impressive Open performance. Previously, his best Open finish was fourth in 2013 and 2016. Scott is also a Games veteran, having competed in eight CrossFit Games, with his best finishes coming in 2012 and 213 (fourth). If the Open leaderboard is any indication of what’s to come, then Scott may be looking at his best year ever.
He finished sixth in 21.3, 33rd in 21.1, 47th in 21.2, and 56th in 21.4.
The Top 10 Percent
Now that CrossFit is adhering to a continent-based system, the top 10 percent of athletes and top 25 percent of teams will move on to the Quarterfinals. Here is the breakdown of how many athletes per region that translates to:
Women’s Division
- North America — 5,359 athletes
- Europe — 1,904 athletes
- Oceania — 779 athletes
- South America — 388 athletes
- Asia — 359 athletes
- Africa — 278 athletes
Men’s Division
- North America — 7,327 athletes
- Europe — 3,402 athletes
- Oceania — 990 athletes
- Asia — 812 athletes
- South America — 703 athletes
- Africa — 421 athletes
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Qualifying for the 2021 CrossFit Games
The structure of this year’s CrossFit season incorporates a three-step qualification process that divides athletes by continent — North America, Europe, Oceania, Asia, South America, Africa. The Open, the Quarterfinals, the Semifinals, and a Last-Chance Qualifier comprise the qualification process.
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Following the workout 21.3 & 21.4 final results, the top 10 percent of athletes on each continent (25 percent of teams and 10 percent worldwide for age-group competitors) will earn the chance to compete in the Quarterfinals. The highest-placing athletes from each continent’s Quarterfinals earn a spot in that region’s Semifinals, and the top finishers from those Semifinals qualify for the 2021 NOBULL CrossFit Games. Additionally, athletes who finish within three spots of a Games qualifying spot in their respective Semifinal will get to compete in a Last-Chance Qualifier to book a ticket to the Games.
Featured image: @tiaclair1 on Instagram/Photo by Victoria Costello