Will One of These 3 Veteran Women Finally Get to the CrossFit Games Podium This Summer?
There are three CrossFit Games veterans in the women’s division who have 10 combined top-10 finishes and 18 total Games appearances, yet have never reached the podium.
- They are Brooke Wells, Danielle Brandon, and Gabriela Migala.
OK, so between six-time Fittest Woman on Earth Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr and last year’s champion Laura Horvath, there’s a very good chance two of this summer’s podium spots are already kind of accounted for, but that still leaves one spot on the podium.
Brooke Wells, Danielle Brandon, Gabriela Migala: Who Has the Best Chance to Podium?
Wells’ first individual appearance at the Games was back in 2015. Since then, she has managed to return every single year until last season when she failed to qualify out of the North America East Semifinals.
- Wells’ best finish has been fifth, which she has accomplished twice. The first time came in 2020 during the second in-person stage of the “Pandemic Games” at the Ranch in Aromas, CA. She did it again in 2022 when she was coming off a flexor tendon and UCL rupture and a dislocated elbow the year before.
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On the one hand, we expect Wells, 29, to show up to Fort Worth, TX, hungrier, and possibly more grateful than ever to be there after missing the Games for the first time last season.
- On the other hand, it’s not that common for an athlete to compete at eight CrossFit Games before breaking through to the podium. In fact, it has never been done before.
In her five years at the Games, Danielle Brandon has never finished lower than 15th, with a fourth-place spot in 2022 being her best so far.
- At this year’s Semifinals, the 28-year-old looked calm and poised as she quietly cruised her way to a fourth-place finish in North America East.
- “Boring isn’t bad. With no highs or lows made for a pretty smooooove weekend,” she posted on Instagram about her Semifinals weekend.
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To us, it looked like she felt confident and fit enough to qualify for the Games but maybe hadn’t yet peaked this season. So we’re expecting to see a fitter-than-ever Brandon in Fort Worth with even more in the tank.
- Worth noting: Three other Games veterans — Kara Saunders, Kari Pearce, and Kristen Holte — all broke through to the podium in their sixth year at the Games: Saunders in 2017, Holte in 2019, and Pearce in 2020.
Gabi Migala actually has earned a podium spot at the Games before, but it was when she was a teenager in 2016.
Migala returned to the Games in 2019 and 2020 and then broke into the top 10 in the last three seasons: sixth, eighth, and fourth, respectively.
- Migala is still only 25, and it seems as though she has been on the rise for the last five years. Last year, she even beat Horvath and won the Europe Semifinals, and she hung close to Horvath this year again, finishing second overall.
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With all that being said, we predict Migala as the most likely of these three veterans to snag a podium finish this summer.
Their Biggest Competition?
Of course, it’s far from guaranteed that any of one of these three will record a top-three finish this summer.
Apart from Toomey-Orr and Horvath, four others we expect to make it difficult for them include:
Emma Lawson: Still a teenager, the 19-year-old Canadian was second behind Horvath last year in her sophomore Games appearance (and sixth the year before as a rookie). For Wells, Brandon, or Migala to have a chance, Lawson may need to falter big time.
Arielle Loewen: The reigning Fittest Mom on Earth, Loewen is rarely flashy but always consistent. Last year, her consistency led her to to a third-place finish in her third Games appearance.
Alex Gazan: Competing in her third Games this summer, Gazan is still young (22) and undeniably on a quick rise in the sport. Fifth last season (and awarded Most Improved), Gazan is another real podium threat.
Alexis Raptis: Second to Toomey-Orr at this season’s Semifinals, and sixth at the Games last season, the 25-year-old Raptis is also competing in her third Games as an individual next month and cannot be left off this list.
- Like Gazan, Raptis could find herself stealing the last podium spot (and like Migala, she tasted the podium as a teenager when she was second in 2016).
The Big Picture
Though it might feel a bit like been there, done that when it comes to watching Toomey-Orr dominate the women’s field at the Games, there’s much to look forward to next month, as the women’s field is deep with at least nine women who have a real shot to finish in the top three.
Will it be a repeat from last year with either Lawson or Loewen on the podium? Will a newbie like Gazan or Raptis finish in the top three? Or will it finally be Wells, Brandon, or Migala’s year?
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Featured image: @j_tega_, @josephsomakian, @alextrobough / Instagram