Three Key Takeaways from Wodapalooza Day 1
After a year hiatus due to the global pandemic, Wodapalooza is back and in a big way. More than 2,300 competitors are set to compete in Miami, FL this weekend at the historic Bayfront Park, while the elite men, women and teams kicked things off on Thursday.
1. Ellie Turner: A Surprise Leader
2021 CrossFit Games rookie, Ellie Turner, won both events on Day 1 and is the surprise leader heading into Friday. Not only did she win both events, but she looked utterly unfazed at the end of the Echo on Fran event, which she finished a full 15 seconds ahead of second place finisher Bethany Shadburne.
Though a surprise, maybe it shouldn’t be. Turner proved just how committed she is about being one of the best in the sport when she moved from Australia to Montreal, Canada last month to train in-person with her coach Michele Letendre, who calls Turner “the future of Australia.”
- “Ellie has got some crazy potential…I think she’s going to be there for a long time and I really think she’s going to make her mark,” Letendre told the Morning Chalk Up shortly after last summer’s CrossFit Games.
Hindsight being 20/20, Letendre was clearly seeing straight.
2. Sara Sigmundsdottir: Comeback on Point
After suffering an ACL rupture that caused her to sit out the 2021 CrossFit Games season, Sara Sigmundsdottir looks like she’s very much back on track in Miami.
After placing seventh overall at the Dubai CrossFit Championships in December 2021 in her post-injury competition debut, Sigmundsdottir looked even stronger on Thursday in Miami. She finished with two top 10 finishes (5th and 7th), heading into day 2 in fifth overall and looks very capable of climbing even higher.
Her manager Snorri Baron agrees, saying he thinks she’s on an upward trajectory this weekend.
3. Dallin Pepper: Teen Sensation Showing he’s Ready
Three-time CrossFit Games champion as a teenager, Dallin Pepper, showed in the first two events on Thursday that he now has the man strength to compete with some of the best in the world.
In fairness, Pepper came close to qualifying to the Games in 2021 — he placed sixth at the CrossFit West Coast Classic and 11th at the Last Chance Qualifier — but he looked even stronger in the first two events in Miami and heads into day 2 just three points behind the leader Patrick Vellner.
Day 1 Leaderboard
- Ellie Turner (200) | Patrick Vellner (188)
- Bethany Shadburne (185) | Dallin Pepper (185)
- Dani Speegle (182) | Phil Toon (182)
- Feerozeh Saghafi (173) | Alexandre Caron (173)
- Sara Sigmundsdottir (170) | Jayson Hopper (170)
- Emma Mcquaid (158) | Cole Sager (167)
- Arielle Loewen (155) | Samuel Cournoyer (146)
- Emily Rolfe (152) | Colten Mertens (137)
- Lucy Campbell (141) | Alex Vigneault (134)
- Freya Moosbrugger (140) | Tim Paulson (134)
Womens/Men Teams
- Team Kriger – 200 | The Boys – 197
- MayFem – 194 | Thunder From Down Under – 191
- Team GOWOD – 191 | Invictus – 179
- Born Primitive Underdogs – 182 | Two and a Half Man – 167
- 3 Blind Mice – 149 | 2 and a Half Men – 167
- Omnia – 146 | Smith Bros – 161
- Team Fleo Fuego – 146 | Mayhem in Paradise – 152
- The Comeback Team – 140 | Team Herculus – 152
- Now or Never – 137 | Training Culture – 146
- Invictus – 137 | Samsarellamann – 140
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