CrossFit Games

Scenario Sunday and the Sentiment Over Cuts

August 3, 2019 by
Photo Credit: Patrick Clark // Athletes Eye
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Lay of the land: At the press conference last night, Dave Castro announced that tomorrow AM will kick off with a swim event down down on the lake. 

  • Humble brag: We called the Sunday water event more than a week ago when we dug up permit records at the City of Madison’s Legislative Information Center.
  • The details of the event will be revealed tomorrow AM as athletes gather on the shore. 
  • Given the defined event and viewing area and the smaller field of athletes, we think it will be paired with some kind of lift and/or movement.
  • There has never been a barbell paired with a swim in CrossFit Games history.
Photo Credit: Patrick Clark // Athletes Eye

Sunday Preview

  • There will be three events. You can access the schedule in your local time zone here.
  • How events are scored: Every place down the leaderboard is 10 points which could add to some major leaderboard swings. For example, if Noah Ohlsen (649 points) gets 5th on the next event and Fraser (634 points) gets first, Fraser will be ahead by 35 points. 
  • The two races to watch on the men’s side: Ohlsen v. Fraser with only 15 points separating the two, and BKG v. Scott Panchik for third with only 3 points separating them. With three events to go, there’s still enough points for other scenarios to emerge. 
  • Tia is not out of the clear yet but she has a nice cushion. But get this: If Toomey places third or worse over the next three events and Holte sweeps first, then Holte will win. 

Current leaderboard.

  1. Noah Ohlsen (649) | Tia-Clair Toomey (721) | Mayhem Freedom (635)
  2. Mathew Fraser (634) | Kristin Holte (636) | CrossFit Krypton (478)
  3. BK Gudmundsson (568) | Jamie Greene (591) | Central Beasts (437)
  4. Scott Panchik (565) | Kari Pearce (564) | OC3 Black (426)
  5. James Newbury (488) | Katrin Davidsdottir (534) | Don’t Stop (399)
  6. Jacob Heppner (484) | Ann Fragkou (500) | Invictus (397)
  7. Adrian Mundwiler (482) | Amanda Barnhart (476) | Invictus X (396)
  8. Matt Mcleod (461) | Haley Adams (471) | CrossFit Alioth (339)
  9. Saxon Panchik (447) | Thuri Helgadottir (471) | PRO1 (314)
  10. Will Moorad (435) | Bethany Shadburne (459) | Team JST Compete

The developing narrative: We’ve heard nearly universal criticism about the cuts from 20 to 10, that there weren’t enough tests before the cuts. The two arguments athletes are making are 1). The cut never should have been based on a specialized event like a sprint, and 2). That at the 20-athlete stage, there should have been more events before the cuts. 

  • Annie Thorisdottir: “I don’t believe we have had enough tests to be able to make a top 10 cut just yet.”

Near universal opinion was that they should have cut after three events on Saturday:

  • Patrick Vellner: “I think it should be top 20 until the end of today then cut to 10 for the last day…a lot depends on the order of events. If your best event came up just now, you make it into the top 10 and you’re safe for five more events with no cuts.”
  • And it’s not just those who got cut expressing disappointment. 
  • Tia-Clair Toomey on the floor of the coliseum: “They deserve to be here and I hope that they know they can walk away with their heads held high.”

Some moments to rewatch:

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