Editor’s Note: This is the second part of our two-part analysis of the TYR Cup competition. Read part one here.
The TYR Cup is coming to WZA SoCal, and with it comes a unique competition experience for elite athletes.
Team World and Team North America each consist of four men and four women, who will compete in 11 events over the weekend.
The events will differ in style, and with six different competition formats, strategy will play a key role in the weekend. Here are the formats that athletes will have to contend with:
- Individual: All athletes will compete in the event, and the team with the best combined score will win.
- All Hands: All eight athletes work together to complete the event as a team.
- Spotlight: One woman and one man from each team will compete in an event specializing in weightlifting, gymnastics, or monostructural elements.
- Miami Team: Following the format of Wodapalooza, Team World and Team North America will field a trio of men and women who will each complete the event.
- CFG Teams: Two men and two women will represent each team in these events.
- Captains: The captains from Team World and Team North America will go head to head on the competition floor.
With the rosters set and most of the events announced, it seems like a good time to predict some winners.
Event 6
Style: CrossFit Games Team
For time:
FF pair performs:
- 72 DBall over the yoke (150/100 pounds)
- 72 weighted GHD sit-ups
- 72 Ping Pong wall balls
- 72 cal ski (36 each)
Right into…
MM pair performs:
- 72 cal ski (36 each)
- 72 Ping Pong wall balls
- 72 weighted GHD sit-ups
- 72 DBall over the yoke (150/100 pounds)
Winner: Team World
Analysis: Team World will take the win in Event 6, thanks in part to the lead Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr and Emma Tall build in the first half of the workout. Both Toomey-Orr (first) and Tall (fifth) finished in the top five of the “Midline Climb” at this year’s Games, which featured GHD sit-ups and the SkiErg. They also have the strength to move that DBall with ease.
Once the Team World women finish on the SkiErg, they’ll pass it off to Brent Fikowski and Aniol Ekai. Both of these men surpass the six-foot threshold, giving them an advantage on the SkiErg and the wall balls.
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Event 7
Style: All Hands
For time, head-to-head:
Bar Muscle-Up / Clean Ladder
Woman 1 vs. Woman 1:
- 21 bar muscle-ups
- 1 clean at each weight, 155-165-170-175-180 pounds
Man 1 vs. Man 1:
- 21 bar muscle-ups
- 1 clean at each weight, 245-255-265-275-285 pounds
Woman 2 vs. Woman 2:
- 15 bar muscle-ups
- 1 clean at each weight, 175-180-185-190-195 pounds
Man 2 vs. Man 2:
- 15 bar muscle-ups
- 1 clean at each weight, 265-275-285-295-305 pounds
Woman 3 vs. Woman 3:
- 9 bar muscle-ups
- 1 clean at each weight, 190-195-200-205-210 pounds
Man 3 vs. Man 3:
- 9 bar muscle-ups
- 1 clean at each weight, 285-295-305-315-325 pounds
Winner: Team North America
Analysis: If it was a pure clean ladder, this would be a win for Team World. However, the bar muscle-ups as a buy-in give Team North America the edge. The weights are lighter in this event than in each stage of the Games’ clean ladder, which puts more emphasis on the muscle-ups.
For the North American men, Dallin Pepper takes the first heat, Justin Medeiros in heat two, and Jeffrey Adler in heat three. Pepper and Medeiros, who finished sixth and first, respectively, in the Games Clean ladder, will win their heats, while Adler just barely loses to Gui Malheiros in heat three.
On the women’s side, the muscle-ups give Danielle Brandon enough of a buffer to stay ahead of Grace Walton in heat one. Alexis Raptis takes heat two over Emma Tall, and Arielle Loewen has the unfortunate job of lining up against Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr.
Ultimately, we believe Team North America takes four out of six heats.
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Event 9
Style: Spotlight
One man and one woman, each for time:
- Test 1: 50/40 cal Echo bike
- Test 2: 50 bar-facing burpees
- Test 3: 500-meter Assault run
* 5:00 rest between tests
Winner: Team North America
Analysis: With three independent tests and five minutes to rest between each, this will be a flat-out sprint.
Patrick Vellner will take the court for team North America. Vellner is one of the best there is at burpees over objects and finished second in the sprint portion of the Track and Field event at this year’s Games. He also won 2023 Semifinal Event 5, which also had an eight snatch buy-in followed by an Assault run.
For the women, it’s Emily Rolfe’s time to shine. Rolfe also won 2023 Semifinal Event 3 last year and finished fifth in “Firestorm” at this year’s Games.
Assuming athletes can only do one Spotlight, Team World likely puts Grace Walton and Aniol Ekai on the floor. Grace Walton won “Firestorm” at the Games this year, so we’d expect her to take the bike portion while Rolfe takes tests two and three. For the men, Ekai may edge Vellner in the bike, but the Canadian takes the next two.
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Event 10
Style: Individual
For time:
- 9-15-21
- wall-facing strict handstand push-ups
- burpee box jump-overs, 30/24 inches
- shoulder-to-overhead, 155/105 pounds
- barbell back rack lunge, meters
* 2:00 minute rest
21-15-9
- toes-to-bar
- box jump-overs, 30/24 inches
- alternating single-arm DB snatch, 80/55 pounds
- single-arm DB overhead lunge, meters
Winner: Team North America
Analysis: Each team will field three men and three women, and each athlete will complete the workout individually. The winner will be determined by the total time for all six athletes for their team. Thanks to the depth of their roster, we expect Team North America to take it.
Fielding a team of Alexis Raptis, Emily Rolfe, Danielle Brandon, Jeffrey Adler, Dallin Pepper, and Justin Medeiros take the overall win in this one.
Overall Winner
With the eight announced events, we have a 5-3 lead for Team North America. Team World can still take the overall title if they can sweep the three unannounced events.
One of the three remaining events is the Captains’ event, so Team World likely has the edge simply because Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr is one of the two athletes they field.
With the events announced and the different styles of the events from a fan’s perspective, it’ll be entertaining to watch, regardless of who comes out on top.
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Featured image: @wodapalooza, @chadmueller / Instagram
