Rookie Kristine Best Surprising the Field on Day One

After Day 1, nobody is surprised to see Tia Clair-Toomey dominating the women’s field at the CrossFit Games, nor is it shocking to see athletes like Brooke Wells or Kara Saunders sitting comfortably in the top five. But there is one female athlete in the top 10 after Day 1 that most wouldn’t have predicted: rookie Kristine Best.

Best’s coach Sam Smith, however, isn’t shocked to see his athlete where she is.

• “I’m surprised but also not surprised. I know she’s capable of bumping shoulders with any of those girls,” Smith said at the end of the day on Friday. “Amazing Day 1 for her.”

The Highlight: After placing fourth on Friendly Fran, Best turned around and hit a 10 pound PR front squat, lifting a whopping lift of 283 pounds.

• “We thought about 275 to 280 pounds as a goal, so seeing that was awesome,” Smith said.

Day 2 prediction: Smith said he is expecting Best to continue the way she’s going tomorrow, especially in the first event of the day—Nasty Nancy—because “she’s a great runner,” he said.

Noteworthy: Best, who has been trying to qualify for the CrossFit Games since 2014 before finally breaking through this year, admitted one of the biggest reasons she wasn’t able to break through in the Regionals format is because she was never able to handle that third day of competition.

• “My body just wouldn’t be able to withstand three days of competition. I would just kind of be done,” Best said.

Considering these online Games are only a two-day competition, this could bode well for Best’s quest to be in the top five.

Confidence matters: The world might be surprised to see where Best is after four events, but prior to the Games, she had her sights on top five.

• “I’m not counting anything out,” she said. “You know, anyone can have a day or a weekend, so it could be me.”

With one day to go, Best is just one spot and three events away from it being her.