Emily Rolfe Withdraws From the 2022 CrossFit Games After Event One — Four Masters Athletes Also Withdraw
The 2022 CrossFit Games kicked off on Aug. 3, 2022, and the first event, “Bike to Work,” is in the books for the Individual divisions. Haley Adams picked up her first Games event win of her career, with reigning Fittest Woman on Earth®, Tia-Clair Toomey, finishing as the runner-up, and rookie Emma Lawson rounding out the top three.
Emily Rolfe finished in 15th place with a time of 40:27.40. However, about an hour afterward, it was announced that Rolfe withdrew from the competition. Through an Instagram post published in the afternoon of Aug. 4, Rolfe revealed that she had suffered severe blood clotting in her left arm.
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“It is legitimately quite possible I could have lost my left arm,” the athlete wrote on social media, where she also thanked the medical staff at the Games and expressed remorse over her withdrawal. “I was without a doubt the fittest and strongest I have ever been in my CrossFit career.”
Tom Muhlbeier in the Men’s 65+ Age Group division also withdrew from the Games on Day One.
On Thursday, Aug. 4, the following Masters athletes withdrew as well:
- Sam Dancer (35-39)
- Darius Boockholdt (50-54)
- Andrew Livingston (50-54)
On Friday, Aug. 5, the following athletes also withdrew:
- Kealan Henry (Individual)
- Dave Rempel (50-54)
The reasons for their withdrawals were not announced.
Check In: [2022 NOBULL CrossFit Games Results and Leaderboard]
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According to CrossFit HQ, this was Rolfe’s third Games appearance (though the bio on her Instagram page says she’s a four-time Games athlete). She finished 18th overall in 2019 and 15th in 2021. She won Event 10 of the 2021 CrossFit Games, a workout that consisted of 90 total toes-to-bar interlaced with three 1.5-mile runs.
Event One caused more stumbles to the Elite division competition than just Rolfe’s withdrawal. There was confusion about the Individual Men’s final standings after several athletes appeared to skip a lap in the final bike ride in Event One. The Individual Women’s heat ran without any hiccups.
Scheduling complications from weather delays led to a switch-up in the schedule for Individuals and Teams, who were supposed to have a rest day on Thursday, Aug. 4. Instead, Individuals will be doing Event Two and Teams will be wading through Events Two and Three on the afternoon of the 4th.
Individual athletes will compete in 13 workouts throughout the five-day competition. There will be a cut of 10 athletes in each Individual division before the final day of competition.
BarBend will update this article regarding the reasons for Rolfe and the Masters’ athletes withdrawals as soon as more details are made available.
Featured image: @emily_rolfe19 on Instagram