Consistency Pays Off for CrossFit Games Finals Qualifier Jeffrey Adler

Considering he was fifth overall in the 2020 CrossFit Games Open, it shouldn’t come as a total shock that Jeffrey Adler found himself in the top five last weekend. But for Adler, qualifying for the CrossFit Games Finals to be held October 19-25 in Aromas, CA, was admittedly a huge surprise.

• “My personal goal was top 15. I wanted to be in the top half, but after the first four workouts that maybe changed to top 10. But then I knew the handstand hold event might make it hard for me to stay there,” said 26-year-old Adler, who had his lowest placing of the competition on the Max Handstand Hold — 27th.

Adler finished his Games stage one weekend with an event he knew would be a good one for him — Awful Annie — and although he felt good about his performance, he did not think it would land him in the top five.

• “Alex Caron, Sam Cournoyer and I exchanged our scores the whole weekend, so I knew at that point that Sam had beaten me on the last workout by like 30 seconds. And when I heard that, I lost all faith of being in the top five. Then I was hoping I’d stay in the top 10,” Adler said.

The stars were aligned: A lot needed to happen on Awful Annie for the chips to fall in Adler’s favor.

• “I had to beat both (Jonne) Koski and Chandler (Smith) on the last event,” said Adler, who finished just two points ahead of Smith.

He also needed another competitor to squeeze in between himself and Smith, and this is exactly what happened.

• “I have to thank BKG (Bjorgvin Karl Gudmundsson) for being right between me and Chandler,” Adler said. “Without that, Chandler would have qualified.”

One big thing: Adler didn’t have one single top five finish on any event all weekend. His highest placing was sixth on Friendly Fran. However, he did have four top 10 and one 11th place finish, proving that consistency pay off.

Adler’s moment: When Adler qualified for the Games last year, it was anticlimactic, he said.

• “I made it through the Open and the moment wasn’t that special. And then I went to the Games and got cut after four events,” said Adler, who was 33rd at the 2019 Games as a rookie.

This year was a much different experience. After finishing Awful Annie, Adler and some close friends from his gym went to a nearby brewery for a couple of drinks, and they put the CrossFit Games Update Show on the big screen.

• “When the final leaderboard came up with me in fifth, everyone started cheering. I think what I felt yesterday was what it was like back in 2018 at Regionals when they announced the top five guys who qualified. It was an incredible moment,” he said.

Staying humble: When asked if his goal for the Finals is to finish on the podium, Adler was hesitant to commit.

• “Everyone keeps asking me that, and I’m not ready to answer that question,” he said. “I’ll tell you what I’m not excited about. I’m not excited about competing against (Mat) Fraser. I won’t have anywhere to hide. We’re just going to be five guys in the middle of the desert, and Fraser is going to be there beating us by minutes,” he said, laughing.
• Adler added: “But I have never been to the Ranch, so that in and of itself is exciting. I’m just excited to live the whole Games experience.”

Go deeper:

• Back in March and April the Morning Chalk Up released a four-part mini-series called “Proving Grounds: Jeffrey Adler in Dubai” that followed the Canadian national champion as he competed at the Dubai CrossFit Championship. See the trailer and check the full playlist of all four parts at the Morning Chalk Up YouTube page.