The 2020 Power Rankings: How The Stats Say The Top 10 Will Play Out
Photo Credit: Patrick Clark // Athlete’s Eye Photography
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Forget leaderboarding, we’ve crunched the numbers to scrap the guessing game and reveal the Power Rankings for the 2020 CrossFit Games Season.
- How we got here: You can read our methodology here. But basically, we’ve reviewed athletes past performances (not just 2019) to map out an educated and evidence-based power rankings for the 2019-2020 Games season.
2020 Top Ten Men
- Matt Fraser
- Björgvin Karl Guðmundsson
- Patrick Vellner
- Noah Ohlsen
- Brent Fikowski
- Travis Mayer
- Cole Sager
- Will Moorad
- James Newbury
- Willy Georges
- No surprise an unbeaten record secures Matt Fraser top spot on the power rankings list. It also paid off for the champion to cherry pick and take out the most highly contested (and highly paid) sanctioned events in 2019.
- The big events like Dubai, Wodapalooza and Rogue were a power play and money fueled it. Last season, they proved the sanctioned events to be at – in particular Rogue – with the top male athletes peaking toward the Games. It explains why the 2nd Fittest Man on Earth Noah Ohlsen (8th at Rogue) slipped to 4th in the rankings and the likes of Cole Sager (3rd at Rogue, but failed to make the top 10 at the Games) remains with the “Ones to Watch.”
- Cuts don’t count you out. Despite failing to make the top ten at the 2019 CrossFit Games, consistency has been key for Patrick Vellner and Brent Fikowski. The new format allowed workout order to have a major influence on where they finished at the 2019 Games, so you can’t discredit their stability and experience at the top, since 2017.
- An absent Scott Panchik allows Willy George to creep into the Top 10. Panchik’s move to Team Mayhem should also benefit those on the rise like James Newbury and Will Moorad, who both had an impressive 2019 CrossFit Games.
- Why Jacob Heppner didn’t make the list. Despite finishing 6th at the Games, 2nd in the Open and 2nd at the Australian CrossFit Championship, Heppner has far less data points than other athletes having missed the last several Regionals and Games. Going into the 2019 Games, he was ranked 43rd and his 6th place performance jumped him to 27th overall. When the Open and Sanctionals season data starts coming in, we expect that to rise.
Photo Credit: Patrick Clark // Athlete’s Eye Photography
2020 Top Ten Women
- Tia-Clair Toomey
- Katrin Davidsdottir
- Jaimie Greene
- Kristin Holte
- Sara Sigmundsdottir
- Kari Pearce
- Annie Thorisdottir
- Amanda Barnhardt
- Sam Briggs
- Kara Saunders
- We don’t need science or stats to confirm the dominance of three-peat champion Tia-Clair Toomey. You also can’t discredit a woman like Katrin Davidsdotti who’s claimed the title twice (and come close to the podium in 2018 and 2019)
- Sara Sigmundsdottir’s reputation is on the line in 2020. She’s still riding high on the leaderboard thanks to her performances at sanctioned events and the 2017 Games. An injury in 2018 and falling well short in Madison 2019 means we need to see more from Sara to maintain her stature at the top.
- Baby, she’s back. Logging an impressive 8:58 for 20.1 four and half months postpartum Kara Saunders has clearly announced her comeback. ‘She Bear’ means business and could be the first mother to make the podium since 2013.
Clearly, what’s valued here is multiple and consistent top finishes at in-person competitions. So while the 2020 Open is underway, it’s unlikely to shake-up the standings too much before sanctioned events get started in November.
2019 cuts were a shock to the system but according to our Power Rankings it shouldn’t hurt the CrossFit stalwarts moving forward.
The leaderboard will update after the 2020 Open then be finalized throughout the season. You can stay up to date here.
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