With COVID-19 restrictions beginning to ease in many parts of the world, CrossFit has opted to hold five of its 10 Semifinals in-person leading up to the 2021 Games. The Torian Pro was held over the weekend in Brisbane, Australia, featuring some of the most impressive athletes in Oceania and a stadium packed full of enthusiastic fans.
Below is a rundown of the events and a final leaderboard that will likely influence who makes it to Madison this coming July.
Overall Leaderboard
Stellar performances in the Individual events have earned each of the top three overall finishers a bid for the 2021 CrossFit Games. Among the women, Kara Saunders proved yet again to be a force of nature, leading second-place finisher Laura Clifton by almost a hundred points.
Powerhouses Royce Dunne and Jay Crouch ranked neck-and-neck at the conclusion of the Pro, with Dunne clinching the top of the podium by a single point. Since they had been separated by eight ranks in the regional Quarterfinals back in April, Crouch will likely keep this upset in mind as they both continue towards Madison.
Note: The top three men, women, and teams qualify for the 2021 CrossFit Games. The Games qualifiers below are noted in bold.
Men
1. Royce Dunne (549pts)
2. Jay Crouch (548pts)
3. Bayden Brown (538pts)
4. James Newbury (520pts)
5. Luke Fiso (500pts)
6. Khan Porter (446pts)
7. Luke De Jonge (428pts)
8. Bayley Martin (410pts)
9. Matt Gilpin (407pts)
10. William Kearney (401pts)
Women
1. Kara Saunders (660pts)
2. Laura Clifton (564pts)
3. Ellie Turner (532pts)
4. Alethea Boon (487pts)
5. Madeline Sturt (479pts)
6. Justine Beath (471pts)
7. Bailey Rogers (455pts)
8. Simone Arthur (455pts)
9. Christee Bishop (443pts)
10. Laken Watt (441pts)
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Individual Event Results
The seven individual events at the Torian Pro were designed to test the limits of strength, endurance, and coordination, as well as honoring the recently-deceased Hannah Clarke, a Torian veteran who lost her life in a domestic violence incident in 2020.
Royce Dunne, 30, of CrossFit Torian emerged as the Mens’ frontrunner, placing in the top three in four out of the seven Individual events, while crowd favorite Kara Saunders dominated the Womens’ division, finishing highly in five out of seven events. Below, we’ve listed the top three finishers in each event.
Related: Five CrossFit Men Who Have a Shot at Winning the 2021 Games
Reverse Triathlon
For time: 5K run, 7K bike, 2K row. 48min time cap.
Men
Bayden Brown (38:17.02)
Luke McMahon (39:04.41)
Matt Gilpin (39:41.69)
Women
Jessica Coughlan (43:41.82)
Ellie Turner (44:13.97)
Caitlin Danyi (44:23.57)
Amanda ‘21
For time: 21 muscle-ups, 21 squat snatches (65/45kg). 6min time cap.
Men
Zeke Grove (02:49.13)
Royce Dunne (03:09.99)
Jay Crouch (03:10.43)
Women
Kara Saunders (03:04.54)
Alethea Boon (03:26.85)
Laura Clifton (03:55.37)
Hann
For time: 100ft handstand walk, 6 rope climbs (15ft), 100ft double KB lunge (24/16kg), 100ft handstand walk, 4 rope climbs (15ft), 100ft double KB lunge (24/16kg), 100ft handstand walk, 3 rope climbs (15ft), 100ft double KB lunge (24/16kg). 12min time cap.
Men
Royce Dunne (07:02.24)
Luke De Jonge (07:17.68)
James Newbury (07:29.96)
Women
Courtney Haley (08:42.09)
Alethea Boon (09:10.08)
Simone Arthur (09:25.45)
Double Trouble
2 rounds for time: 30/25 cal echo bike, 100 drag rope double-unders, 50 DB hang snatches (22/15kg). 12min time cap.
Men
Luke De Jonge (09:28.76)
Khan Porter (09:41.72)
Bayden Brown (09:46.34)
Women
Kara Saunders (09:23.92)
Laura Clifton (09:24.68)
Ellie Turner (09:55.67)
C&J Ladder
Men (kg): 106-111-115-120-125-129-134-138-143-147-152-154-156-159-161
Women (kg): 70-75-79-84-88-90-93-95-97-100-102-104-106-109-111
Athlete score is the heaviest lift completed.
Men
Jake Standen (161kg)
Brandon Swan (161kg)
Evan Morris (161kg)
Women
Bailey Rogers (111kg)
Kara Saunders (111kg)
Annika Roberts (111kg)
Move It Or Lose It
In 3 minutes: 30/20 cal ski, 15 box burpees (30/24in), max distance sled pull in remaining time. Rest 1min, repeat until sled has been pulled 90ft in total. 15min time cap.
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Men
Bayden Brown (06:37.04)
Royce Dunne (06:37.27)
James Newbury (06:45.41)
Women
Laura Clifton (06:26.86)
Kara Saunders (06:30.74)
Bailey Rogers (06:52.26)
Related: 6 Benefits of Sled Pulls
Final
For time: 30-24-18 chest to bar pull-ups, 15-12-9 thrusters (70/47kg). 7min time cap.
Men
Bayden Brown (03:54.12)
Jay Crouch (03:55.29)
Royce Dunne (04:02.74)
Women
Kara Saunders (03:54.22)
Alethea Boon (04:17.35)
Ellie Turner (04:25.07)
Team Results
64Army Gold and Urban battled it out for glory in the Team events, ultimately ending up tied on points after a nail-biting series of heats. Urban slipped somewhat in the grueling Hann event, placing 9th to 64Army Gold’s 2nd, but redeemed themselves in the Worm Burpee, where the rankings were essentially reversed.
The two teams finished far ahead of third place team Awaside, who performed well in their own right, winning three events (Amanda ‘21, Hann, & Worm Burpee) but ultimately left too much on the table to make a run for the top of the podium.
All three of the top finishers in the Team standings will make their first trips together to the Games this year, bringing in some welcome new blood to the Games and proving that there is always untapped talent waiting to challenge the veterans for the title of Fittest on Earth.Overall Leaders
Team
1. 64Army Gold (630pts)
2. Urban (630pts)
3. Awaside (565pts)
Looking Forward
The conclusion of the Torian Pro marks the beginning of the final hurdle for those aiming at competing in the 2021 NOBULL CrossFit Games. Over the next month, additional Semifinals will be held all over the world, beginning with the Granite Games in Minnesota, the Fittest in Capetown in South Africa, and the Brazil CrossFit Championship in Sao Paulo.
With six individual athletes and three teams from Oceania having punched their ticket this weekend, the competitive climate in Madison is beginning to take shape. However, a clear picture of the landscape is yet to be painted. Forty men and forty women will ultimately be selected, but who exactly will occupy those slots remains the question of the day.