Things Are About to Get Filthy in Ireland
In two days the Emerald Isle plays host to the first stop of the Sanctionals world tour, as the CrossFit Filthy 150 kicks off with three days of competition at the Punchestown Racecourse outside of Dublin, Ireland. The engine is still warm from the Open which ended a little more than a week ago. Some of the biggest names in the sport will look to capitalize on a lengthier season by potentially earning a nice payday along with booking their ticket to the 2020 CrossFit Games before December.
The big picture: Besides the obvious play date in Madison next year, this weekend presents a unique opportunity to go head to head with top-level competition and sharpen the axe accordingly for the remainder of the season.
- The roster is pretty stacked. Twelve men, and eight women in the field have previously qualified as individuals for the CrossFit Games, including three past podium finishers, and a former champion in Sam Briggs. There’s also the 2019 Masters Women 40-44 champion Joey Kimdon in the field as well. Not only will this weekend be a good measuring stick against quality competition, there’s also plenty of time to take the information back to the drawing board for the rest of the season.
- For athletes in line to qualify through the Open this year, the heat of live competition this early brings opportunities to take chances with regards to workout strategy and test new competition approaches with things like nutrition.
- For teams this is the real start of their season as Sanctionals are the only path to the Games. For any team in the field, having a Games spot in hand before Christmas, frees up the rest of the season to build cohesiveness as unit and use other events as a testing ground. Plus there’s a new superteam debuting this weekend.
A closer look: Additionally, there are some interesting storylines and athletes to keep your eye on that should make for an exciting opening weekend of Sanctional competition.
- A new movement variant will be introduced this weekend for the first time in CrossFit competition. The unbroken rope climb, will be heavily featured in the individual workout named Galen, as well as being sprinkled into the Team Reek workout, forcing athletes to adapt and it could be the first of many appearances in the future.
- Sam Briggs is coming off an eventful Open campaign that saw an unfortunate combination of penalties and injuries knock her out of contention for a qualifying spot. She’s the biggest name in the field that doesn’t have a spot, and there’s still a question of how healthy she is, but it’s worth noting she qualified for the Games in 2015 by finishing 2nd at the Atlantic Regional with a broken foot.
- Matt Mcleod, Adrian Mundwiler, and Will Moorad all made the final cut at the Games finishing inside the top 10 overall, and all three enter the Filthy 150 without a spot to the Games after failing to secure one through the Open. Moorad (54th) was in the hunt all Open long but never could quite break into the top 30-40 overall. Mcleod (92nd) was in a qualifying spot after two weeks but then faded down the stretch. Mundwiler hit the eject button on the Open halfway through failed to submit a score from week three on. Last season only Mundwilder earned his Games spot through the Open, so it’s possible they’re feeling the effects of wear and tear from a longer season, but this weekend should give us a better indication.
Must-see TV: Team event 5, also known as Heavy Handed has the makings of the marquee event of the weekend. Not only is it always a fan favorite when the heavy barbell comes out, but the added wrinkle of a handstand walk buy-in before each lift, paired with the atmosphere that Saturday night under the lights brings should make for some epic moments. Keep your eyes on the meat castles from team Nation – Paul Tremblay and Craig Kenney – who’ve been known to sling some tin.
- If Briggs is healthy, there should be an awesome battle between her and Kristin Holte in the Trek Run event. Both are excellent runners, and they finished 1st and 2nd respectively in the 2017 Cyclocross event at the Games.
The Morning Chalk Up will be onsite at the Punchestown Racecourse bringing you in-depth coverage from the competition floor all weekend long. You can stay up to date with all our coverage of the Filthy 150 on our event page.
Get the Newsletter
For a daily digest of all things CrossFit. Community, Competitions, Athletes, Tips, Recipes, Deals and more.
"*" indicates required fields
