Caja Magica to Host Another Edition of Madrid Championship

The second week of September kicks off the largest throwdown in Europe, the Madrid Championship, which for another year will be held at La Caja Magica in Madrid, Spain. 

Remind me: In 2022, Emma Tall topped the women’s podium in first place, with Emma McQuaid in second, and Manon Angonese in third. Lazar Djukic took the win for the men, with Aniol Ekai finishing in second, and David Shorunke taking third. 

Emma Tall shared her excitement after her gold medal last year on an Instagram post.

• “The first time I stepped into Caja Mágica was at 2017 Regionals as a spectator. That time I left with a dream to stand on that competition floor. This time I leave with a gold medal, a big ol’ check and my first ever podium finish in a CrossFit competition. That’s been 5 years of hard work. Thank you Madrid Championship for letting me show it off,” said Tall. 

The details: The multi-day event, running from September 7-10, features a full vendor village with sponsors such as Picsil, GOWOD and Assault Fitness offering spectators a full-on spectator experience including “The Mad Challenge,” which will be held on September 9, in the midst of the Championship. 

Another way to engage spectators and build community, the Mad Challenge is a partner competition, encouraging people of all levels to register and participate to enjoy and be part of the “Mad Experience.” Organizers are hoping to register over 200 participants for this hour-long community event.

With the most categories to compete, compared to any other European CrossFit competition, the Madrid Championship hosts individuals in elite, RX, teens, and many masters divisions beginning at 35 years old. Additionally, there are multiple team divisions such as elite, RX, scaled, and intermediate. 

Competitors filled spots by way of an online qualifier, invitation from the organization and open registration for the non-elite categories. 

The workouts: At this point, we know there will be seven workouts for individuals as well as teams, six of which have been released in detail. Strict handstand deficit push ups are programmed, sandbag squats, as well as a 5K run. The seventh, final workout, has yet to be announced at the time of this publication.

New implement: Another exciting component added to the programming this year is the introduction of the Jump Bar, or Mono Rope. This implement has been used in adaptive division competitions in the past, but is the first time we’ve seen it in individual divisions. Included in both individual and team Test 3, the jump bar will be used to complete sets of 50 double-unders.

The bottom line: Boasting the largest prize purse of any European competition and one of the largest for any off-season CrossFit competition at 170,000 Euros, the Madrid Championship has drawn in some large sponsors and very large names, set to compete in just days. We can expect to see spectacular performances as men, women, teens and teams compete for lucrative prizes and a spot on the podium.