2022 CrossFit Games Event Four “Elizabeth Elevated” Results — Loewen and Vellner Victorious
The 2022 CrossFit Games in Madison, Wisconsin are off to a strong (and surprising) start. The “Skill-Speed Medley” event wrapped with Danielle Brandon and Nick Mathew claiming event wins. The third event on Day One of the 2022 CrossFit Games was titled “Elizabeth Elevated” and consisted of squat cleans and dips. The Individual results are below:
[2022 NOBULL CrossFit Games Results and Leaderboard]
Individual Women
- Arielle Loewen — 10:17.06
- Kara Saunders — 10:31.72
- Mal O’Brien — 10:33.77
- Kristi Eramo O’Connell — 10:37.31
- Emma McQuaid — 10:42.96
- Danielle Brandon — 10:48.71
- Dani Speegle — 11:03.74
- Baylee Rayl — 11:14.72
- Tia-Clair Toomey — 11:22.64
- Christine Kolenbrander — 11:37.19
Individual Men
- Pat Vellner — 8:42.16
- Björgvin Karl Gudmundsson — 9:20.11
- Colten Mertens — 9:24.49
- Noah Ohlsen — 9:39.12
- Uldis Upenieks — 9:46.81
- Cole Greashaber — 9:48.01
- Ricky Garard — 9:49.82
- Lazar Đukić — 9:57.34
- Nick Mathew — 9:58.84
- Enrico Zenoni — Cap + two
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Event Four Workout
21-15-9-9-9 reps for time of:
- Squat Cleans
- Dips with Parallel Bar Traverses
Time cap: Women — 12 minutes, Men — 10 minutes
Women: 95-pound cleans | Men: 135-pound cleans
“Elizabeth Elevated” Recap
The opening heat for the women got underway as barbells moved up and down like pistons. Athletes advanced the barbell forward after every seven reps. Caroline Spencer took an early lead with Michalyshen within a rep’s reach.
Michalyshen took over the lead and extended it by several reps until Kolenbrander’s pace on the parallel bars closed the gap. Kolenbrander and Gazen were the first two to make it back to the barbells and get to work on the round of 15. By this point, only Kolenbrander was knocking out multiple reps at a time. Everyone else dropped their bars between single reps.
Kolenbrander charged way ahead in the heat, hitting a double-digit rep lead moving into the first round of nine. Gazan attempted to close the gap as quickly as possible with Choi and Moosebrugger hot on her heels.
The 21-15-9-9-9 really feels like a 21-15-27.
The 12-minute time cap started to close in on the athletes. Kolenbrander was six reps away from the finish line with a minute to go. Her breathing was heavy, but she knew it was her heat to win. She closed the door at 11:37.19 — the only athlete to finish within the time cap in heat one.
Women’s Heat Two
Ellie Turner and Dani Speegle put their prowess with a barbell on display early in heat two. The duo went rep-for-rep through the round of 21 and jogged to the parallel bars. Kaya wasn’t far behind them, and the gymnastics were underway.
All the athletes appeared to employ the same kipping strategy for the dips, hitching their heels to their glutes as if boosting them upward through the concentric portion of each rep. Speegle was the first to the barbell for the round of 15, with Turner and McQuaid on her tail. Overall, athletes in this heat had a faster pace than those in the first heat.
Speegle walked to the parallel bars for the set of 15, recognizing that the workout was more taxing than meets the eye. Rayl’s consistent pace was leveraged into the first round of nine as she made her way to a one-rep deficit behind Speegle.
McQuaid and Speegle tackled their respective parallel bars as a pair, but McQuaid appeared to have more gas in the tank. McQuaid took a narrow lead as Turner fell further behind.
Touch-and-go was the strategy for Speegle, while McQuaid opted for individual reps on the second-to-last set of squat cleans. Fast hands from McQuaid expanded the biggest lead up to this point, and it appeared she could sense a heat win in his future.
Speegle stayed the course with the touch-and-go with the barbell. McQuaid didn’t let up, though, and took the heat win at a time of 10:42.96. Speegle finished second in the heat at 11:03.74 — faster than anyone in heat one.
Women’s Heat Three
Brooke Wells sought to improve her standing following a challenging time on the pegboards in Event Three. She stayed within two reps of Migała and Saunders, who traded the lead back and forth.
Saunders sped through the first round of parallel bars, seemingly not interested in matching the measured pace of athletes in previous heats. Migala had a lot of leg-swing during the dips, despite a steady rhythm that compelled the commentary team to discuss how a lack of efficiency in movement can cause fatigue early in the event.
Saunders’s lead extended by a handful of reps by the round of 15 squat cleans. She was alone on the parallel bars until Fuliano joined her — with nearly a dozen reps between them.
Saunders maintained a strategy of unbroken reps on squat cleans in the first round of nine. She seemed in a league of her own, pushing the pace and finishing the second round of nine squat cleans within eight minutes. She reached her final set of dips with over a minute to spare against McQuaid’s top time. Saunders won the heat in a time of 10:31.72
Women’s Heat Four
Lawson was the overall leader entering the event. Toomey, also in this heat, sat in ninth overall due to her slip with the jump rope in Event Three. The reigning champ turned up the pace and attacked the barbell for an early lead in the opening round of squat cleans.
Toomey hustled to the parallel bars as the rest of the field moved in a wave toward their own bars. O’Brien’s fast pace on the bars moved her into the lead. The 2021 Rookie of the Year and the reigning Games champ traded reps in the round of 15 squat cleans.
It was apparent that Toomey had the edge with a barbell, but O’Brien displayed more speed on the parallel bars. Loewen entered the discussion for the overall lead in the heat, getting within a rep of Toomey.
The first round of nine squat cleans saw Loewen in place of O’Brien against Toomey for the lead. By the time they reached the parallel bars, Loewen took the lead, thanks to a tighter movement pattern across the bars.
Entering the second round of nine, it was Loewen’s event to lose as O’Brien was in second position by six reps. Loewen seemed to step on the gas as Toomey gassed out to fifth place in the heat.
If you see Superman bleed — that’s blood in the water for the sharks.
Loewen had three reps left at the 10-minute mark. Beating Saunders’ time would mean Loewen’s first Games event win of her career — she got it in a time of 10:17.06. O’Brien came in second at a time of 10:33.77. Toomey finished fifth in the heat and ninth overall.
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Men’s Heat One
Houdet, Brown, and Magda were synchronized through the first round of squat cleans and dips. Richelme joined them by the time the four men reached the 42-rep checkpoint. Tim Paulson got into the mix shortly after, falling just one rep shy of joining the leaders.
A half-rep lead allowed Houdet to make it to the parallel bars for the round of 15 first. The pace was high as the time cap for the men was two minutes shorter than it was for the women. Once the first round of nine approached, Greashaber upped his pace to overtake the lead from Houdet, who was narrowly ahead of Paulson.
Greashaber walked back to the parallel bars for the second set of nine at the 7:30 mark. It was the first time in the heat that a discernable lead was larger than five reps. Greashaber had one minute to complete the final nine reps in the workout, but it was his heat to win. With 30 seconds and three reps to go, Greashaber crossed the finish line at a time of 9:48.01 — he was the lone man to finish within the time cap in heat one.
Men’s Heat Two
Heat two was a tight race out the gate. The top half of the field were all within a rep of each other until the final few reps in the round of 21. Jay Crouch emerged as the first man to the parallel bars and turned on the jets to put some space between him and Fikowski on the dips.
Fikowski implemented a huge swing in the dips, leveraging the backswing momentum to make the lockouts easier. The programming on day one was not friendly for taller athletes, and Fikowski stands at 6’2″. While the swinging technique helped him score clean reps, it took a lot of time and dropped him outside the top five.
Crouch maintained his lead through to the first round of nine. Mertens, jackrabbitting through the dips, was only a handful of reps behind him. The 5’4″ tall Mertens steadily closed the gap between him and Crouch thanks to Mertens’ capacity for fast barbell cycles.
Mertens took over the lead as he jogged back to the barbell for the second round of nine. While other athletes started to slow, Mertens remained a piston on the parallel bars. The once-close heat transformed into a showcase in which Mertens set the pace for the following two heats to come. He crossed the finish line at a time of 9:24.49 and was the lone athlete in the heat to finish within the time cap.
Men’s Heat Three
Athletes in heat three were aware that only two of the previous 20 men have finished within the time cap. That didn’t seem to alter anyone’s pace early on, though, as Kwant and Ohlsen traded the lead, giving the crowd flashbacks to the 2020 Games.
Ohlsen’s speed on the parallel bars kept Kwant at a single rep’s length behind him despite an unfortunate no-rep call for not fully locking out. Ohlsen suffered a second no-rep for failure to lock out — expending additional energy could be a threat to his closing speed.
Gudmundsson joined Ohlsen and Kwant in the lead, eventually claiming it as Ohlsen took an extra few seconds to catch his breath. Mathew and Upenieks moved into the mix for the lead as five athletes reached the 72-rep checkpoint within seconds of each other.
Mathew continues to impress.
Gudmundsson changed his strategy to move the barbell in the front rack position rather than rolling it across the floor between sections. It appeared to save him time as he achieved the largest (albeit still narrow) lead in the heat at the conclusion of the second round of nine.
With about a minute and a half to finish the last round of nine, Gudmundsson was eyeballing a time that could catapult him into the overall event lead. He was the first in the heat to cross the finish line at a time of 9:20.11. Ohlsen got in second at 9:39.12 and Upenieks in third at 9:46.81. A no-rep cost Mathew valuable time, but he still finished a few seconds before the time cap.
Men’s Heat Four
Garard and Medeiros entered the event as overall leaders at 188 points. Garard still wore the leader jersey thanks to his win in Event one.
Barbells bounced up and down as the athletes jockeyed for position before the parallel bars. Khrennikov broke away from the pack first and sped through the first round of dips. Vellner was the only athlete to stay within arm’s reach of the lead.
Vellner and Khrennikov touched the parallel bars for the round of 15 at the same time. Vellner’s experience as a gymnast was evident as he moved sharply and decisively across the bars.
By the first round of nine, Vellner had the lead and knew it was his heat to win if he could maintain his pace. He was alone on the parallel bars and returned to the barbell with a five-rep lead. At the conclusion of the second round of nine, Garard and Khrennikov were battling for second place, eight reps behind Vellner.
Vellner reached the final round of dips with a minute and a half to spare before matching Gudmundsson’s time. He hyped up the crowd, seemingly aware that he was about to claim his first event win of the 2022 Games. He did just that, crossing the finish line at a time of 8:42.16.
To the Rest Day…er…Event Two!
Event Two consists of two Individual workouts, each of which will be worth an entire event’s worth of points. Titled the “Shuttle to Overhead,” it combines running and jerk. It was initially scheduled to start at 1:00 p.m. CDT on Day One, but weather-related delays pushed the event to Aug. 4, 2022, which was an initially scheduled rest day.
Featured Image: William Johnson (@barbellstories on Instagram)