CrossFit Games Day Three Recap, Line-By-Line

The final day of the 2020 CrossFit Games opened at the Morgan Hill Sports Complex. The athletes were set to get wet as the first event on the docket was announced early to take place on the outdoor pool deck. The day would come to a close having witnessed history-making performances on both the men’s and women’s side.

Leaderboard, Final

1. Mathew Fraser – 1150 | Tia-Clair Toomey – 1025
2. Samuel Kwant – 605 | Katrin Davidsdottir – 665
3. Justin Medeiros – 560 | Kari Pearce – 585
4. Noah Ohlsen – 540 | Haley Adams – 560
5. Jeffrey Adler – 505 | Brooke Wells – 525

Event 10: Swim ‘N’ Stuff, Men’s Division

• Four rounds, every 4 minutes on the minute, each for time:
• Air bike calories (15/10)
• 50-meter swim
• 10 GHD sit-ups
• 10 Ball slams (60/40 lb)
• Rounds 2 and 4 are completed in reverse

• The keys to this workout were speed on the bike, managing errors due to wet hands and feet, pushing the pace through the swim, and more than anything else, managing heart rate between intervals. The men took to the pool deck first.
• Noah Ohlsen took the early lead, finishing the first interval in two minutes flat, Kwant was only a half-second behind with Medeiros one second and Fraser three seconds back. Adler brought up the rear at 2:08.74. Notably, Fraser’s hands slipped on a ball slam, costing him precious seconds.
• After two minutes of rest, the second interval kicked off, this time in reverse, starting with the ball slams instead of the Assault Bike. Fraser changed strategies, holding the ball the entire time, tapping the ground instead of dropping it. It paid off as he won the round at 1:29.24, but Samuel Kwant stayed close, less than a second behind. Ohlsen, Medeiros and Adler all dropped back.
• In the third round, Kwant opened up a big lead on the bike, hitting the pool 6 seconds ahead of Fraser, who went back to dropping the ball between reps instead of touch-n-go. Kwant finished in 2:16.64, adding to his cushion against Fraser who finished in 2:23.51. Madeiros, Ohlsen and Adler all fell back a bit more.
• Samuel Kwant took an 11-second lead into the final round. Fraser went back to his touch-n-go strategy on the slam balls and hit the pool first, but Kwant kept it close, not allowing Fraser to open a big lead. Out of the pool and on to the bike, Kwant kept the pressure on, finishing only two seconds behind the four-time champ, securing his first career event win and locking up 100 points in the process.
• With his commanding lead overall, Fraser held the top spot by 435 points heading into event 11, while Kwant overtook Adler and sat in second by 60 points.

Event 10: Swim ‘N’ Stuff, Women’s Division    

• Next up were the women and anytime an event includes swimming, Tia-Clair Toomey is the favorite. Haley Adams also looked to make up some ground as swimming and GHD sit-ups are staples in the CrossFit Mayhem training program.
• In round one, Toomey came off the bike last, but characteristically made up the time in the water and was the first to the GHD. Adams held tight and due to a  no rep Toomey received on the ball slams, Adams took the round at 2:05.42. Davidsdottir was only a half-second behind, and Toomey came in third at 2:08.17.
• In round two, all five athletes took to doing the slam balls touch-n-go style. Adams ripped through her GHDs and hit the pool first, but Toomey quickly closed the gap. Toomey finished the round in first with Adams close behind. Davidsdottir fell back slightly, finishing at 2:07.95 in third.
• The women pushed hard on the bike in round three and Toomey, Davidsdottir and Adams all dove into their swim lanes tied. Toomey opened a big lead in the water and finished the round 8 seconds ahead of both Davidsdottir and Adams who were neck-and-neck at 2:19.33 and 2:19.99 respectively.
• In the final interval, Adams was first in the pool, but as with the first three rounds, Toomey took off in the water. She took the event win, her fifth consecutive and Adams, placing second, moved from fourth into third place on the overall leaderboard, 45 points behind Davidsdottir. Toomey extended her overall lead over second place to 335 points.

Event 11: Sprint Sled Sprint, Women’s Division

• For time:
• 100-yard sprint
• 100-yard sled push
• 100-yard sprint
• Women 80-lb. sled
• Men 105-lb. Sled
• No time cap  

• There was not much strategy to this event — accept that it would hurt and go as hard as possible. The women were up first this time and all five finished the first sprint within a few feet of one another.
• Tia-Clair Toomey and Brooke Wells opened up a lead on the sled push, duking it out for the entire length. Notably, Wells held the sled high, almost lifting the back of the rails off the ground, while Toomey gripped lower and leaned forward.
• Into the final sprint, Toomey opened a lead and held on through the end, finishing in 1:05.23. She took the event win and tied Fraser’s record of six consecutive that was set yesterday. Wells finished in second place, moving her into fourth on the leaderboard and Pearce into fifth. Adams held on to third overall, but only 15 points ahead of Wells.

Event 11: Sprint Sled Sprint, Men’s Division

• At 3-2-1-Go, the men took off at a blistering pace, hitting the sled in 15 seconds, almost all at the same time.
• Fraser and Kwant opened a lead on the sled push, going head-to-head down the field. Notably, Fraser handled the sled well, an implement that caused him a bit of trouble in 2019.
• On the final sprint, Kwant pressured Fraser nearly legging him out at the finish. Fraser, though, extended his leg and chip timer over the line .37 of a second quicker. Fraser logged his 13th event win of stage two and his 17th of the 2020 Games overall. Kwant finished second, first and second in the last three events, putting himself in second overall, 85 points ahead of Medeiros in third.
• After the event ended, Fraser commented on holding Kwant off, “I didn’t even have to look to the side. I saw him from the side of my vision. I almost tripped a couple of times when I first turned around. My legs weren’t moving like I thought they should, and then it was just like muscle failure the last 20, 30 yards. So, that was just all grit, determination, get across.”  

Event 12: Atalanta, Both Divisions

• For time:
• 1-mile run
• 100 handstand push-ups
• 200 single-leg squats
• 300 pull-ups
• 1-mile run
• W 14-lb vest
• M 20-lb vest
• Billed as the hardest CrossFit event in history, the final event of the 2020 Games kicked off with all ten finalists in one heat. With a 3 pm start time, the temperature in Aromas, CA was 68 degrees.
• Kari Pearce, needing to beat Haley Adams by two positions took off quickly on the run as most of the pack settled into a comfortable pace. Adams kicked harder and took a small lead over Pearce about halfway into the first mile. Adams finished the opening mile and kicked up into her handstand push-ups at the 8-minute mark. By 8:30, everyone was in and working their sets of 100.
• Pearce was the first to finish her handstand push-ups in 4 minutes and started her single-leg squats at 12:16. Nine minutes later, she had finished 200 pistols and started to chip away on her 300 pull-ups at 21:05.
• On the men’s side, Fraser settled into a slight lead during the single-leg squats, working in a middle lane next to his training partner, Tia-Clair Toomey. Samuel Kwant had second place on the podium locked mathematically, while Madeiros, Adler, and Ohlsen battled for third, with Ohlsen opening a 35-rep lead on his opponents halfway through the pull-ups.
• In the last 100 pull-ups, Katrin Davidsdottir made a move on Pearce and started to close the gap. Adams tore both of her hands on the pull-up bar and Toomey overtook her.
• Pearce finished the pull-ups at 39:46 and set out for the last mile run. Davidsdottir finished at 40:14 and began to chase Pearce. Meanwhile, Adams was still on the pull-up bar.
• Ohlsen overtook Fraser in the final 20 pull-ups and took off on his run, hoping to secure a first-place finish to jump from fifth to third on the overall leaderboard. Notably, Fraser finished his pull-ups and waited several seconds for Toomey to complete her last set so they could run together.
• Pearce ran hard to stave off Davidsdottir and finished the event at 47:56.68 in one of the gutsiest performances in the history of the CrossFit Games to secure her first event win this year and a spot on the podium, ending a six-year podium drought for American women. Davidsdottir finished at 49:09.96, locking up second place.
• Fraser and Toomey ran the final mile together, passing Ohlsen at about the halfway point ending his podium hopes, and finished in 51:46.66. Together they made history by locking up their fifth and fourth CrossFit Games titles respectively.