Team GOWOD Secures Victory, Earns Back-to-Back Years on the Podium
After another full day of heavy rain and multiple workout changes down in Miami, the teams finished up their second and final day of competition with Team GOWOD taking home the gold.
GOWOD–made up of Justin Medeiros, Jay Crouch, and Willy Georges–were in control throughout the entire weekend as they had all six event finishes in fourth place or better for an average finish of 2.3.
For the other two teams chasing them for the silver, however, things were constantly changing.
Final Leaderboard:
- Team GOWOD: 568
- Team Picsil: 560
- Ombré Hombres: 548
“Elite Team Event 4: The Sandbag Send”
At the end of Day 1, Ombré Hombres took an event win and followed it up with another one to start Day 2.
The raw strength of Ohlsen, Smith, and Morakinyo allowed them to move the sandbags with just enough speed to avoid getting caught by Team GOWOD, who finished only two seconds behind them.
This allowed Ombré Hombres to leapfrog team Picsil (Roman Khrennikov, Saxon Panchik, and Jorge Fernandez) and put themselves into second place overall, only 12 points behind GOWOD. Picsil has their worst event of the weekend so far with a sixth-place finish.
Leaderboard after Event 4:
- Team GOWOD: 384
- Ombré Hombres: 372
- Team Picsil: 364
“Elite Team Event 5: Waterfall on the Bay”
At this point, the skies opened up again and the rain began coming down hard. Yet another event had to be changed due to unsafe conditions.
Originally, the workout was designed as the following:
- 3 Rounds in Waterfall Style:
24 Cal Echo Bike
8 KB Box Step-overs
12 Double KB Hang Snatches
The box step-overs were changed to reverse KB lunges and the hang snatches changed to dual shoulder-to-overhead.
Things once again flip-flopped between Ombré Hombres and Team Picsil as Picsil came back strong with a second-place finish in the event and Ombré Hombres took fifth.
Team GOWOD had their worst finish of the weekend with a fourth in the event, but stayed in first only 12 points ahead of Picsil.
The battle for second was as intense as ever at this point, as only four points separate second and third heading into the final event.
Leaderboard after Event 5:
- GOWOD: 472
- Picsil: 460
- Ombré Hombres: 456
“Elite Team Event 6: Worm Fran”
The rain continued to pour and forced the organizers to shift all the pull-ups, chest-to-bar, and bar muscle-ups to strict pull-ups once again.
Fun Fact: Male athletes who competed in the individual and team divisions had to complete 111 strict pull-ups over the past four days due to programming changes.
As the teams took the floor, GOWOD could secure their title by finishing fourth or better while Ombré Hombres and Picsil had to do whatever they could to finish ahead of each other.
Picsil did just that and won the final event as Ombré Hombres finished in third, allowing Picsil to stay ahead of Ombré Hombres and solidify their second-place position.
GOWOD finished second in the event and became the 2024 TYR Wodapalooza men’s team champion.
This makes back-to-back podiums for Jay Crouch and Willy Georges on team GOWOD. Last year, they did it with Roman Khrennikov in second place and now they take the gold with Justin Medeiros.
They held on by just eight points.
Final Leaderboard:
- GOWOD: 568
- Picsil: 560
- Ombré Hombres: 548
Some Final Thoughts
With so many programming changes, weather conditions, new team members, and fatigue from the individual division, it was hard to predict who would come out on top.
Although we’re surprised Tres Leches (Vellner, Gudmundsson, Mayer) didn’t make the podium, it wasn’t a shock to see GOWOD do well once again. The Wodapalooza team division apparently must go through Jay Crouch and Willy Georges.
For a quick reminder of all the athletes who have competed in both the individual division and team division, take a look:
- Patrick Vellner
- Roman Khrennikov
- Ricky Garard
- James Sprague
- Jack Farlow
Now we set our sights on next month’s Open.