After Becoming a Mom in 2020, Annie Thorisdottir Wins Bronze at 2021 CrossFit Games
Two-time Fittest Woman on Earth® Annie Thorisdottir made a statement at the 2021 CrossFit Games by placing third overall in dramatic fashion. Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr won the 2021 CrossFit Games, and Laura Horváth placed second.
This is Thorisdottir’s sixth podium finish at a CrossFit Games and her 11th time competing in a CrossFit Games. Her career as a Games competitor spans three decades. This is also Thorisdottir’s return to the Games since taking the 2020 season off to become a mom.
[Related: 2021 NOBULL CrossFit Games Results and Leaderboard]
Annie Thorisdottir’s 2021 Games Performance
Thorisdottir, who is 31 years old, showed up to the 2021 Games and was consistent throughout the four days of competition. She ranked within the top 10 of 10 events and logged five straight top-five finished in Events Nine through 15. In total, she accumulated 1,099 points. Going into Event 15, Thorisdottir and Kristin Holte were tied for third overall. Thorisdottir put her foot on the gas in the final event with a third-place finish and earned her spot on the 2021 Games podium.
- Event One: 18th, 1:16:15.89
- Event Two: 7th, 10:27.35
- Event Three: 23rd, 1:31.36
- Event Four: 9th, 16:15.15
- Event Five: 7th, 12:20.28
- Event Six: 11th, 6:25.74
- Event Seven: 14th, 6:24.45
- Event Eight: 10th, 3:26.97
- Event Nine: 2nd, 4:07.26
- Event 10: 16th, 24:15.41
- Event 11: 9th, 192 reps
- Event 12: 2nd, 200 pounds (lost tie-breaker to Toomey-Orr)
- Event 13: 4th, 4:53.69
- Event 14: 1st, 5:22.12
- Event 15: 3rd, 7:10.58
Event Nine — which challenged athletes to rotate through increasingly heavier snatches in a brutal one-rep max lift event — ended with Toomey-Orr and Thorisdottir in a showdown for first. With the bar loaded with 200 pounds, Thorisdottir stepped up, threw the weight overhead, and missed the first attempt. After taking a quick breather, the Icelandic native stepped back up to the barbell and gave it one more shot.
Thorisdottir dropped her hips, pulled the bar up, and sank into a squat. As the bar stabilized overhead, Thorisdottir looked stunned. Her face stayed frozen in awe as she stood up with the weight — the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, WI, erupted. Toomey-Orr, still laser-focused, offered up a fist bump, and then Thorisdottir was greeted with overwhelming joy from the other athletes on the floor. It was the start of a comeback that saw the elite CrossFitter climb back up the leader to third place (tied with Kristin Holte).
Thorisdottir blitzed through a strenuous row, 90 chest-to-bar kipping pull-ups, and 108-feet worth of walking lunges to lock in a podium finish. The energy in Madison was electric.
Annie Thorisdottir’s 2021 CrossFit Career
2020 was the second year that Thorisdottier missed the Games since she made her debut in 2009. After coming in 11th place in 2009, she jumped up nine spots to get second. Then, she won in 2011 and 2012, becoming the first woman to win the CrossFit Games twice. Thorisdottir also ranked first in two worldwide CrossFit Opens — 2010 and 2015.
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Other notable wins for Thorisdottir include the Dubai Fitness Competition in 2013 and 2017. Fun fact: Thorisdottir competed in the Group D of the 2015 International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Championships. In the 69-kilogram weight class, she lifted an 88-kilograms snatch, a 108-kilogram clean & jerk, and a total of 196 kilograms to rank 35th at a bodyweight of 68.05-kilograms.
Here are all of Thorisdottir’s Games finishes:
- 2009: 11th
- 2010: 2nd
- 2011: 1st
- 2012: 1st
- 2014: 2nd
- 2015: 38th (withdrew)
- 2016: 13th
- 2017: 3rd
- 2018: 5th
- 2019: 12th
- 2021: 3rd
“I wasn’t even planning on being here,” Thorisdottir says, with tears in her eyes, during her post-Games interview. “I didn’t think I could compete. I had one of the hardest years of my life, but also one of the best years of my life…I owed it to myself to compete, and I didn’t want to look back and tell [my daughter] that I couldn’t go because of her. We owe it to ourselves to do our best every single time.”
Featured Image Courtesy of CrossFit