The Reebok CrossFit® Open is in full swing as workout 17.1 – the first workout of the Open – was released last Thursday. This workout was a grueling ascending ladder couplet that paired dumbbell snatches with box jump overs.
CrossFit has extended the deadline for the 17.1 workout, which is great news for a lot of athletes. The CrossFit Games website was having technical issues in regards to athletes submitting scores, so they extended 17.1’s deadline until Tuesday, February 28th at 5 p.m. PT. If you’re an affiliate seeking validation, then you have an even longer extension until March 2nd at 5 p.m. PT.
This extension may be good news for some athletes, but not for Jacob Heppner, 26, who’s having to withdraw from this year’s Open workouts. In a recent Instagram post shared on Heppner’s page, he stated that he’s withdrawing due to bursitis in his knee.
Heppner is no stranger to the Reebok CrossFit Games; he’s a three-time Games competitor and has continually bumped up his placing every year. He finished 17th in 2014, 10th in 2015, and 7th last year, so this news comes with great sadness as he has to withdraw.
In addition to consistently improving at a national level, Heppner is a dominant force in the Midwest region sealing first in the Open for his home state in 2015 and 2016. At a regional level Heppner is also consistent finising 2nd in 2014, 2015, and 2016.
There wasn’t a whole lot of mention about the severity of Heppner’s bursitis issue on his page, so this news may come as a shock to some.
It’s never easy for an athlete to step down from their passion following an issue out of their control. Hopefully Heppner has a speedy recovery and this issue isn’t too much a backtrack in his lifting career.
Feature image taken by @kelliheppner from @jheppner66 Instagram page.
