Team Rest of World Beats Team Europe at FitFest 2024 

While some of the top CrossFit athletes in the world were throwing down at the Dubai Fitness Championship in the UAE over the weekend, 20 others were competing in the Pro Showcase at FitFest 2024 in Birmingham, UK.

• The Pro Showcase, an invite-only, exhibition-style competition, featured two teams of 10: Team Europe and Team Rest World (R.O.W.). And while there was no prize money on the line, athletes were paid to show up and compete. 

After 10 tests of fitness and 11 scored events over the course of two days, it was R.O.W. who took the title.

Emily Rolfe, the 2024 Third Fittest Woman on Earth who was part of Team R.O.W., called the event “epic.” 

• “Tons of excitement from the European crowd. The whole event was chock-full of events so there was always something to watch,” she told the Morning Chalk Up in an interview.

FitFest 2024 Pro Showcase Recap

Team Europe came out hot on the first event of the weekend — “Cooper Run” — where each team fielded three men and three women to run 12 minutes for total distance. Team Europe managed 19,440 meters, outpacing Team R.O.W. by fewer than 200 meters (19,260 meters).

• Team R.O.W. came back strong in the next two events, taking back-to-back wins. Event 2 featured a sprint of handstand walking and double-unders, and Event 3 was a head-to-head clean ladder, where Hopper proved his dominance.

With their backs against the wall, Team Europe stepped up on Event 4 — a worm event — picking up the win and tying the score 2-2 heading into the fifth event.

• The tight battle continued: Event 5 featured pairs doing synchronized muscle-ups and snatches. This event belonged to Team R.O.W., while Event 6, an obstacle course race, went back to Team Europe.
• After that, though, Team R.O.W. pulled ahead. Heading into the 10th and final event — a two-part event with two scored components — Team R.O.W. had already sealed the deal. In the end, Team R.O.W. took the first part of the event, and Team Europe won the second. 

The final score: Seven wins for Team R.O.W. and four for Team Europe.

Further, Sigmundsdottir has not competed at the Games since 2020, leading many to wonder if she’d ever return. 

In an interview after Event 3, Sigmundsdottir admitted to BFriendly Fitness that she is committed to coming back.

• “[Coming back] has been pretty slow progress, to be honest. But it’s good to see where you stand with a little bit of pressure. Training has been going very well, and we’re just slowly progressing…and yeah, I’ll get back,” she said.

The Big Picture

Like the recent TYR Cup at TYR Wodapalooza SoCal in Huntington Beach, CA, the Pro Showcase provided an opportunity for some of the best athletes in the world to compete in a more relaxed, fun environment than a traditional individual CrossFit competition. 

• Also, like the TYR Cup, the head-to-head team format created an entertaining, easy-to-follow race for the fans.

Considering the uncertainty about the direction of the sport in the aftermath of Lazar Đukić’s death, it will be interesting to see if there’s a future in exhibition-style, team head-to-head matchups like we saw at the TYR Cup and FitFest. 

One thing is for sure: The athletes and fans alike are digging it.

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Featured image: @fitfest_uk / Instagram