Raising The Standard In London
There’s plenty to be excited about this weekend at CrossFit Strength in Depth. Mat Fraser will take the floor for the first time in 2020, CrossFit Mayhem Freedom will try to earn their invitation back to the Games, and individuals will take to the water but hopefully not get wet as real, on-water rowing makes its debut in CrossFit competition.
One of the programming nuances that stats nerds and fans gathering around the water cooler at the box will surely love is the choice to use the event “The Standard” that served as the finale at this past year’s games. Not only do we get to stack the top times from the Games up against a broader field of athletes, but for some of the athletes tackling it a second time, we get a unique comparison now that the workout is programmed early on the first day, rather than closing the weekend.
- Remind me again: The Standard was a Games workout 11-12 years in the making. At a level 1 seminar in the late 2000’s Dave Castro postulated that being able to complete Grace, 30 Ring Muscle-ups, then Isabel for time in under 10 minutes would be a “great standard for a well rounded elite CrossFit athlete.” Over a decade later, it was finally brought to life in Madison.
On the men’s side: The time to beat at the Games was set by Mat Fraser in dramatic fashion to seal his 4th straight CrossFit Games title. For the men (Fraser included), looking to best that time, here were his splits:
- Finished Grace: 2:05
- Halfway through muscle-ups: 3:16
- Finished muscle-ups: 5:24
- Halfway through Isabel: 6:37
- Finish: 8:05.78
Men to watch: Mat Fraser (duh), Will Moorad, Lukas Hogberg, Lefteris Theofanidis.
- Can a relatively fresh Mat Fraser beat his time? How much did the gravity of the moment and his battle with Noah Ohlsen elevate his performance?
- Will Moorad finally gets a legit crack at the workout after a hamstring injury ultimately prevented him from doing so at the Games.
- Lukas Hogberg still needs an invite, so there motivation for him to send it.
- The curious case of Lefteris Theofanidis and his struggles in Dubai contrasted with his Open performance makes this a must watch.
For the women: Tia-Clair Toomey blitzed the field for her fifth event win and in the process made history as the first woman to win 3 CrossFit Games titles. She was the only woman to go sub-9 and this is how it broke down:
- Finished Grace: 2:08
- Halfway through muscle-ups: 3:36
- Finished muscle-ups: 5:31
- Halfway through Isabel: 6:54
- Finish: 8:25.09
Women to watch: Haley Adams, Laura Horvath, Gabriela Migala and Tayla Howe.
- Haley Adams is the one athlete in the field who did this at the Games – she finished in the back of the pack in 8th at 10:40.00.
- Laura Horvath got cut before this event last year and has yet to finish a CrossFit competition in its entirety since making the podium in 2018. She should manhandle the barbell, but how she does on the muscle-ups will have bigger picture implications.
- Gabriela Migala is coming off an impressive performance in Dubai and a strong performance here relative to the top times at the Games would be a great validation of her path towards the top.
- Tayla Howe has a great chance to be the hometown hero in this workout. The U.K. native had her two best finishes in the Open in 20.4. And 20.5 which featured barbell cycling and ring muscle-ups.
Reminder: Action kicks off today in London at 11:30 AM GMT/3:30 AM PT and the workout is the second one on tap for Day 1.
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