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Sigmundsdottir, Fraser Leading

Good morning from Madison, WI and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up. This is Day 3 of competition and today’s edition is brought to you by RockTape, helping athletes of every level go stronger, longer. NEW from RockTape: Win your warm-up with RockFloss, our new mobility tool. Unglue sticky and stiff muscles and joints.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Training is like moving a pile of dirt – some days you get a shovel, and other days you get a spoon but as long as you get to move a little dirt every day, you are moving towards your goal.” — John Welbourn

CHALK UP IN 2 MINUTES

DAY 2 RECAP

Day two started much like the previous — 55 degrees, drizzling and windy. The wood on the obstacle course was visibly wet and slippery as teams struggled through.

“I didn’t notice much except on the logs and the monkey bars were more slippery than the run through,” Invictus athlete Sarah Loogman said. “I kinda liked the added level of challenge, personally. It was still a level playing field for everyone.”

The O-Course remained uncompleted until Heat 5 when Big CrossFit Reccoleta crossed the finish line under the time cap. All told only eight teams were able complete the O-Course. One of those teams, CrossFit Milford, benefited from training with American Ninja Warrior James McGrath before heading to Madison.

FUN FACT: CrossFit Queens is made up entirely of rookies. Not a single athlete has ever been to the CrossFit Games or Regionals until this year.

The weather didn’t improve much for individual athletes.

“There’s nothing to do. Just be cold,” Bjorgvin Gudmundsson was overheard saying.

Tennil Reed-Beuerlein racked up her first career event win by remaining consistent through each portion of the O-Course.

“You can’t think, you just go,” Tennil said. “You think and you mess up.”

FUN FACT: Annie Thorisdottir placed third in the O-Course. She also placed third in the 2012 O-Course race.

SNATCH

The weights were going up in the Alliant Energy Center. Max lift events have traditionally been some of the most exciting to watch and this year was no exception. Dave Castro introduced a new format for the snatch. Athletes with the top 10 heaviest lifts would advance to a second heat for their final two attempts.

In a surprise to fans, Mathew Fraser finished fifth with a 291 pound snatch. Garret Fisher would take the event with an impressive 305 pound snatch. He now lays claim to having lifted the heaviest snatch ever at the CrossFit Games.

While Sara Sigmundsdottir’s 200 pound snatch showed how she’s improved her lifts, it was Kara Webb’s 203 pound lift that would take the event.

FUN FACT: Cassidy Lance PRed her snatch three times yesterday, finishing with 200 pounds.

FUN FACT: Lindsey Valenzuela won the 1RM Snatch event in 2011 with a lift of 165 pounds, good enough for a tie of 31st in 2017. On the men’s side, both Spencer Hendel and Aja Barto tied for first in 2011 with a 265 pound snatch, or 28th place today.

FRIDAY NIGHT FINALE

Friday nights in the Tennis Stadium were always some of the most memorable events in Carson, as the leaderboard is still tight and shakeups are common. This is exactly what happened on the women’s side. Jamie Greene fell from 2nd to 8th in just one event and Sara Sigmundsdottir crept into 1st place overall. Only 20 points separate first from fifth going into Day 3.

The question on everyone’s mind today is, will Mat Fraser run away with it again? He’s only won one event this week but he’s already 68 points ahead of second place.

CHELSEY HUGHES TIME TRIAL CRASH

During Tuesday’s cyclocross time trial, Chelsey Hughes took a nasty stumble coming over the logs. She muscled her way through Thursday’s first and second event but when it came to muscle-ups, Hughes’ body wasn’t responding and she was forced to withdraw.

“Stiff and sore, I mustered my way through Thursday morning’s events, facing my fears of another three laps on the bike. When Amanda .45 was announced I was STOKED – a beautiful combination of movements and volume I love – until I attempted to do a muscle up and the pain in my neck and chest was too excruciating to bear, much less cycle through 45, or even 24 reps, for the minimum work requirement.”

MOMENTS YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS

  • Seventeen-year-old Guilherme Malheiros of Brazil snatching 291 pounds on Thursday.
  • Justin King approached a 295 pound (scrub to 30 min mark) barbell just seconds before the horn was to blow. He landed the snatch but didn’t complete the rep until after the time cap. He ended with 290 pounds.
  • Sarah Sigmundsdottir snatching 200 pounds to tie for fourth in the 1RM Snatch event.

GAMES BY THE NUMBERS

39: The age of Val Voboril. She celebrated her birthday yesterday. She is the oldest athlete competing as an individual at the CrossFit Games.


55 Degrees: The low temperature of the day at the Alliant Energy Center yesterday.


10: The number of career CrossFit Games event wins by Sam Briggs. She now joins Rich Froning and Annie Thorisdottir as the only athletes with double digit event wins.  


27 Seconds: The amount of time it took George Sanchez to bike 40 calories. He went on to win Event 6.


46,668 Pounds: The combined total of heaviest weight snatched by all athletes across all divisions. The average masters 35-39 athlete snatches only three pounds less than athletes in the individual division.

AROUND THE GAMES

Here’s our full event list.

Don’t bother trying to buy a hoddie, they’re all sold out. Come stop by the 2Pood booth in Vendor Village from 11 – 2:30 today and hangout with Mattie Rogers. Ben Bergeron is going to be signing copies of his book “Chasing Excellence” at the Red Line booth this weekend. Brooke Ence will be going a meet and greet at Paleoethics from 3 – 4 PM. The first 250 customers each day at LiveSore will get a free gift bag + everyone’s getting 25% off online with code “GAMES17.” Jackie Perez and Kenny Santucci are doing a WOD today at CrossFit Sanctify. There going to be beer pong at the Kill Cliff booth all day today. Caffeine & Kilos is hosting a snatch clinic at FITAID.

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