Through two days and four events, we’ve seen plenty of new regarding the 2022 Rogue Invitational’s programming: an offsite trail run, a thicker wooden bar for bar muscle-ups, and heavy back squats from a squat rack for reps in a metcon. The Friday night finale, however, took CrossFit fans back to the old, but with a little twist.
READ: BarBend’s Recap of CrossFit Event 4 — DT With a Spin
The hero workout “DT” is a legendary CrossFit WOD (workout of the day); It’s been around since at least 2009 and has been featured in different variations on more than one occasion at the CrossFit Games (Heavy DT in 2015, and Double DT in 2016). At this competition, Rogue introduces “DT with a Spin”, incorporating the Echo Bike into the equation with a 15-calorie buy-in before each round of traditional DT, which consists of 12 deadlifts, nine hang power cleans, and six shoulder-to-overheads. Here’s the full workout:
Five rounds for time of:
- Echo Bike — 15 calories
- 12 Deadlifts — Men: 155 pounds | Women: 105 pounds
- Nine Hang Power Cleans — Men: 155 pounds | Women: 105 pounds
- Six Push Jerks — Men: 155 pounds | Women: 105 pounds
Since Rogue released most of its workouts all at once, the natural tendency is to be drawn to the novel events, making it easy to gloss over yet another variation on DT. But, watching this event unfold was a much-needed reminder that sometimes staying true to the sports’ roots produces the best product on the field of play.
DT With a Spin Recap
The athletes all know what DT feels like, and they all considerably understand their capacity on the bike. But put them in a competitive setting, and some of that know-how goes out the window. How will they respond when someone pulls ahead early? Who has the discipline to wait to make their move? And when the time comes, who can execute effectively?
Men’s Heat 1
The first men’s heat set the tone for the rest of this workout. Jonne Koski set the early pace leading the way after round one with a split time of 1:30. Throughout the remainder of his heat, several athletes attempted to make a move. Jorge Fernandez tried to do so in rounds two and three; Chandler Smith and Cole Sager attempted to close in on Koski during round four; Tim Paulson sent the bike in the final round in a last-ditch effort to catch Koski. None could catch Koski, and the Finnish athlete took the heat win in 8:04.
Men’s Heat 2
Men’s heat 2 was almost a carbon copy of the first. This time, the very powerful Roman Khrennikov established the lead early. He was even more aggressive than Koski, finishing the first round in 1:19.
The defending Rogue Invitational champion Justin Medeiros was hot on his heels after the second round. Pat Vellner and Sam Kwant appeared to catch up to Khrennikov between rounds three and four. In the end, Khrennikov, like Koski, proved uncatchable after taking an early lead.
Women’s Heat 1
Turning to the Women, Annie Thorisdottir was seeded into heat one for the first day of competition at Dell Diamond as a special invite for this competition (the 10 highest finishers from the 2022 CrossFit Games were in heat two). It wasn’t surprising to see her pull ahead early; she earned fourth during heavy DT in 2015, seventh during double DT in 2016, and second in event nine (which featured the echo bike and barbell cycling) at the 2021 Games making her competition resume pretty strong for this kind of event.
As with the men’s heats, several women attempted to keep pace. Matilde Garnes, Dani Speegle, and Olivia Kerstetter were among them early on. Eventually, each fell back from Thorisdottir. However, the young Australian, Ellie Turner, played it a little more coyly and waited until round four (when Thorisdottir took one break on the hang power cleans) to make her play.
During round five, Thorisdottir left the bike first. Still, another break on the hang power cleans opened the door for Turner to go unbroken through the barbell cycling and take the heat win- upending the trend of being unable to catch the early leader.
Women’s Heat 2
Women’s heat two was all Laura Horvath, the least threatened of all the early heat leaders. She appeared to cruise to both the heat and event win. It is worth noting that Alexis Raptis finished only two seconds behind her, but at no point did she ever catch or pass Horvath, she was behind the entire way, and in the end, only Turner in women’s heat one was able to make a move for a heat win late in the workout.
The Heat Leaders’ Split Times
This workout was enjoyable to watch because it forced a game of cat and mouse — not just for the leaders but throughout the field in each heat.
On the women’s side, the top 10 athletes finished within 30 seconds of each other on a nine to 10-minute workout. For the men, Khrennikov and second-place-event-finisher Samuel Kwant finished under eight minutes. But the difference between Koski in third at 8:04 to Ohlsen in 15th at 8:33 was again about 30 seconds.
Heat Leaders Split Times by Round | ||||||
HEAT | ATHLETE | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 (Finish) |
Men’s Heat 1 | Jonne Koski | 1:30 | 3:05 | 4:40 | 6:25 | 8:04 |
Men’s Heat 2 | Roman Khrennikov | 1:19 | 2:50 | 4:33 | 6:19 | 7:50 |
Women’s Heat 1 | Annie Thorisdottir | 1:25 | 3:05 | 4:50 | 6:53 | 8:55 (Ellie Turner) |
Women’s Heat 2 | Laura Horvath | 1:35 | 3:16 | 4:56 | 6:48 | 8:44 |
DT With a Spin is the type of workout that highlights the proficiency of the top athletes and the small margins that make a big difference at the very top of this sport. If you’re good, and trying to be great, this is a workout worth watching over and over. Study each athlete and see how different athletes paced their way to good finishes.
There were examples of tremendous consistency across all five rounds (Björgvin Karl Guðmundsson and Gabriela Migała); there were also examples of athletes making methodical increases to their pace throughout the workout (Danielle Brandon and Jayson Hopper).
Wrapping Up
DT with a Spin was a highlight-worthy event aptly placed under the Friday Night Lights.
Saturday at the 2022 Rogue Invitational features three more events, including what should be another epic nightcap with the one-rep max log lift appropriately titled “Texas Oak”.
Check out all the action and the results on BarBend as they roll in throughout the weekend.
Check out BarBend’s live leaderboard for complete coverage of the 2022 Rogue Invitational.