The final event of the day was all about inverted proficiency. It started with kipping handstand push-ups, moved to strict handstand push-ups, and ended with freestanding handstand push-ups.
- As expected, Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr entered the event in first, with a 51-point buffer over Gabi Migala, who is hoping to finish on the podium for the first time in four CrossFit Games appearances.
Catch up: Head here for full 2024 CrossFit Games results!
Four-time Games veteran Emily Rolfe, a former gymnast, was in third, with Haley Adams close behind in fourth. Bethany Flores, who has been having the competition of her life, was in fifth.
- Further down the leaderboard but looking to move up with a strong performance were Alex Gazan (10th) and last year’s second-place finisher Emma Lawson (11th), both of whom are considered podium contenders.
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As for the men, second-year competitor James Sprague still had the lead going into Event 7, but he was tied in points with Brent Fikowski, competing in his ninth Games.
- Eighteen points back was Roman Khrennikov in third, while five-time podium finisher Pat Vellner sat in fourth, 26 points behind the top spot.
Also looking to keep building momentum on “Push Pull 2.0” was the two-time champion Justin Medeiros, who was coming off an event win on the “Clean Ladder.” After a slow start to the week, Medeiros had moved into 11th overall.
- And if “Push Pull 2.0” would, in fact, prove to be largely about how well you could get through the 15 freestanding handstand push-ups at the end, then things were looking good for Medeiros.
He was second on the Inverted Medley event at last summer’s CrossFit Games, which also featured freestanding handstand push-ups (Khrennikov was fifth on Inverted Medley, Vellner sixth, and Fikowski and Sprague tied for 23rd).
Individual Event 7: Push Pull 2.0
For time:
- 45 handstand push-ups
- 80-foot sled pull from standing (110/180 pounds)
- 30 strict handstand push-ups
- 80-foot sled pull seated from the platform
- 15 freestanding handstand push-ups
Time cap: 10 minutes
Final Results
| Place | Women | Men |
| 1. | Lexi Neely – 6:03.41 | Saxon Panchik – 06:20.80 |
| 2. | Alexis Raptis –6:31.62 | Brent Fikowski – 07:08.36 |
| 3. | Brooke Wells – 6:47.44 | Jay Crouch – 07:24.83 |
| 4. | Chloe Gauvin-David – 6:49.86 | Ruan Potgieter – 07:35.94 |
| 5. | Danielle Brandon – 6:51.80 | Justin Medeiros – 07:56.36 |
Recap
Women’s Division
Heat one belonged to rookie Lexi Neely, another former gymnast, who became the first athlete to do her 15 freestanding handstand push-ups in just two sets (nine and six), en route to setting the fastest time yet (6:03.41). She was more than three minutes ahead of the next competitor.
Nobody in the next heat even came close to Neely’s time; Chloe Gauvin-David was the closest with a time of 6:49.86. The third heat was filled with women known to be proficient upside down — Alexis Raptis, Brooke Wells, and Danielle Brandon — and they did not disappoint.
- Raptis led much of the way, but Brandon and Wells made a hard charge on the final 15 freestanding handstand push-ups. Raptis, though, was able to hold them off, finishing in 6:31.62, while Wells came in at 6:47.44 and Brandon at 6:51.80.
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Neely’s time from heat one continued to stand.
In the final heat, Toomey-Orr quickly took the lead, followed by Migala and Rolfe.
- Toomey-Orr was able to extend her lead on the 30 strict handstand push-ups, but like every other heat, it would come down to the final 15 freestanding handstand push-ups. Toomey-Orr, though, got there before any other athlete had even started their second rope pull.
Migala was next to the 15 freestanding handstand push-ups, but at that point, Toomey-Orr had already finished six of her reps.
- Toomey-Orr then started to fail some reps, and Migala, Rolfe, and Bethany Flores all started creeping up closer. But none could pass the six-time champ, who held on for the heat win.
Flores finished next, followed by Rolfe and then Migala, but none was able to match Neely’s time from heat one.
- And, in fact, the top six times all belonged to athletes from earlier heats.
The result: Toomey-Orr heads into Sunday with a 65-point buffer over Migala in second. Rolfe sits in third, while Flores quietly moved into fourth, and Adams in fifth.
Men’s Division
South Africa’s Ruan Potgieter set the time to beat in the first heat, completing the event in 7:35.94. Saxon Panchik then went a full minute faster with a time of 6:31.80 in heat two.
All eyes were on Medeiros in heat three. The two-time champ needed a big performance to continue to move up the leaderboard.
- Medeiros was second to finish the first 45 handstand push-ups behind rookie Chris Ibarra, but he was the first athlete to kick back into a handstand to complete his 30 strict handstand push-ups after the first rope pull.
But it was Ibarra who blasted through the 30 handstand push-ups the fastest, and he had finished his second rope pull by the time Medeiros started his.
- Ibarra then had a hard time getting through the 15 freestanding handstand push-ups, giving both Medeiros and Travis Mayer the opportunity to catch up. Still, they were well off the pace set by Panchik in heat two.
Medeiros went on to win the heat in 7:56.36, good enough for fifth in the event, and he goes into Sunday in ninth overall. Cole Greasehaber, who made up a ton of ground on the freestanding handstand push-ups, finished second. Mayer came in third and Ibarra in fourth.
In the final heat, Australia’s Jay Crouch, eighth going into the event, came out to an early lead that he extended through the 30 strict handstand push-ups and second rope pull.
- Fikowski finished the 30 strict handstand push-ups next, just as Crouch was finishing up his rope pull.
But as we saw in other heats, the event really came down to the 15 freestanding handstand push-ups, which came down to a close race between Crouch, Fikowsk, and a hard-charging Khrennikov.
- Fikowski was calm and deliberate, taking the heat in 7:08.36, 16 seconds ahead of Crouch.
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And again, like in the other heats, Jayson Hopper came out of nowhere to finish third, sneaking in just ahead of Khrennikov, who failed multiple times to finish his final set of three handstand push-ups.
Panchik’s time from heat two held up for the event win, while Fikowski finished second overall and Crouch third.
- In a post-event interview, an emotional Fikowski said: “I’m thinking about Lazar. It’s my job to compete, so I’m going to compete…but it’s really hard. He’s on our mind. He was a great friend. He was a great guy. You kind of keep seeing him everywhere…But I made a commitment to finish the competition. That’s what I do, and so I’m going to give it my best, but Lazar is on our minds.”
The result: Fikowski heads into Sunday in the lead, Sprague hangs on to second overall after placing 17th on the event, Khrennikov sits in third, Dallin Pepper (11th on the event) in fourth, and Hopper in fifth. Vellner, sixth before the event, dropped to seventh overall.
- That being said, the competition couldn’t be much closer. Only 30 points separate Ricky Garard in eighth and Khrennikov in third, with a day of competition and 200 points still left to go.
Up Next
Athletes will take on two events on Sunday, but at the time of publication, CrossFit hadn’t yet announced the details of those events.
Credit: Susana Rodriguez, @ideyafilms_ / Instagram
