After Event Five, it was clear that Dani Speegle had hurt her ankle. She finished the Husafell sandbag run and then limped off the field in pain. Unfortunately, Speegle has withdrawn due to an ankle injury, a source on the ground in Madison, WI tells BarBend. CrossFit then followed up with an announcement confirming Speegle’s withdrawal and stating that Adrian Mundwiler also withdrew. Neither athlete withdrawal, CrossFit says, was due to COVID-19
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It’s thought that Speegle injured the ankle while descending from the rope. For context, Event Five consisted of four rounds of rope climbs, a 400-meter SkiErg race for the women, and a sandbag carry. Speegle was in 35th place overall and is now the second woman to withdraw during the competition. Kara Saunders withdrew the morning of Friday, July 30, 2021. Kari Pearce and Bethany Shadburne also withdrew due to positive COVID-19 tests before the Games started.
Dani Speegle’s 2021 CrossFit Games Performance
With Saunders and Speegle out of the Games, Dani Speegle is last on the leaderboard with 239 points in 35th place. She didn’t participate in Event Six or Event Seven (which were two variations of the same run-and-clean– workout). At the time this article was written, Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr, Kristin Holte, and Kristi Eramo’ O’Connell are in first, second, and third place overall, respectively.
[Related: See the live CrossFit Games Leaderboard here]
- Event One: 24th, 1:17:37.12
- Event Two: 14th, 11:06.00
- Event Three: 11th, 1:29.13
- Event Four: 15th, 17:16.39
- Event Five: 33rd, CAP+54
Speegle has competed in two CrossFit Games prior to the 2021 season — she finished 13th overall in 2020 and 26th overall in the notoriously competitive 2019 CrossFit Games. Speegle finished 18th out of over 90,000 other women in the 2021 Open. She followed up that performance with a second-place finish in the Quarterfinals and then placed fourth at the West Coast Classic Semifinal to qualify for the 2021 CrossFit Games.
Adrian Mundwiler’s 2021 CrossFit Games Performance
Mundwiler was in 35th place on the men’s leaderboard with 15 points. He did not compete in Event Seven or Event Eight. CrossFit did not say why he dropped out, nor as Mundwiler made a statement.
- Event One: 25th, 1:15:45.30
- Event Two: 20th, 9:31.11
- Event Three: 33rd, 1:23.98
- Event Four: 25th, 20:57.01
- Event Five: 35th, 14:32.38
- Event Six: 30th, CAP+2
The 28-year-old Swiss athlete placed 266th in the 2021 Open. Mundwiler then placed 38th in the Quarterfinals and then scored a second-place finish at the CrossFit Lowlands Semifinal. This is Mundwiler’s fourth CrossFit Games appearance. He also competed in 2016, 2018, and 2019, where he earned his best finish in eighth place.
Other Withdrawals at the CrossFit Games
On July 26, 2021, CrossFit announced that Bethany Shadburne and Dan Bailey would not compete at the Games after testing positive for COVID-19. Then, on July 28, American Kari Pearce, the third-place finisher for the Women at the 2020 CrossFit Games, tested positive for COVID-19 and medically withdrew from the competition. Russian athletes Roman Khrenniko, Stas Solodov, and Svetlana Kubyshkina are not competing due to travel and visa issues. Larissa Cunha violated CrossFit’s Doping Policy (though she’s appealing) and was removed from the competition. In total, there are now seven Individual athletes out of the competition.
Featured Image: @dellespeegle on Instagram/Photo by Renato Macassi