After finishing off Day 1 with heavy back squats, the athletes returned to P&J Live in Aberdeen, Scotland, ready to attack some movements unique to Rogue.
- With the log bar muscle-ups and Strongman implements, like the Cyr Bell, on the menu, it was moving day in Aberdeen.
Big Takeaways: Been There, Done That
We saw the importance of experience on Saturday, with Rogue veterans taking advantage of their wisdom to attack workouts most efficiently.
- This was illustrated in Event 4: “Hunting Haggis,” where the athletes took on log bar muscle-ups.
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Athletes who have used the implement before excelled — we saw Justin Medieros, Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr, and others do singles on the log out of the gate and add the maximum height rise pads, therefore minimizing their transition time in between reps by reducing the distance to jump into the log.
It was a veteran move.
It Ain’t Over ‘Till It’s Over
With exciting finishes and tight races all day — in events that required precision — we saw the importance of staying focused through the finish line on Saturday, a skill of seasoned competitors.
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Sprinting to the finish in Event 4, Adler almost caught Dallin Pepper, who strolled toward the buzzer, unaware of how close he was being chased.
- And spectators saw Justin Medeiros with a baseball slide, of which Shohei Ohtani would be envious.
Injuries Cause Event Changes
Unfortunately, one of the biggest stories coming out of Saturday in Scotland was injuries.
In the fourth iteration of “The Duel” series, a fan-favorite event at the Invitational, Gabriela Migała looked to injure her left leg coming down on her fourth jump over the hay bale during the third round.
The event was a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it sprint, taking around 35-40 seconds for the top women and 30-35 for the top men.
- Migała did not finish the event and was seen on the live stream with her hands on her head, not putting much weight on her left foot as medical staff came to her aid.
The women finished their portion of the event, and the men took the floor. Everything looked great until it was deja vu all over again, as Henrik Haapalainen injured himself on the first jump over the hay bale during the second round.
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- After the jump, he looked down at his right foot but could not complete the event. The medical staff helped him off the floor.
After the completion of the second round, due to the injuries, the organizers tweaked the event in the interest of athlete safety. The five jumps over the hay bale turned into five burpee up-and-overs to take the rebounding stress off athletes’ Achilles tendons.
Unfortunately, the damage was done with the loss of Migała, who was in second place overall going into the event, and Haapalainen, who was holding his own in the middle of the leaderboard.
- Haapalainen posted a photo of his right lower leg on Instagram shortly after the end of the event with the caption, “Thank you for the messages! Seems like it is [an] Achilles tendon rupture.”
There has been no update on social media from Migała.
More CrossFit Coverage
- Our 2024 Rogue Invitational Women’s Podium Picks and Dark Horses
- Our 2024 Rogue Invitational Men’s Podium Picks and Dark Horses
- Celebrating the 2024 Rogue Invitational Legends Roster
Featured image: Seb Vallejo, @vallejo_media_ / Instagram
