CrossFit Games

Laura Horvath and Lazar Dukic Dominate Towards Lowlands Throwdown Titles as CrossFit Reykjavik Stays Perfect

May 22, 2022 by
Photo Credit: Patrick Clark | Athlete's Eye Photography
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The final day in Amsterdam saw more dominance from Games podium hopefuls, some dreams come true, some heartbreak, and an incredible come from behind performance that had eerie similarities to Regionals past. 

There were two standout performances from start to finish from Laura Horvath and Lazar Dukic that made them CrossFit Lowlands Throwdown Semifinal champions in 2022. Horvath will be looking to make a third run at the podium and is one of the few athletes with a chance to threaten Tia-Clair Toomey in Madison. For Lazar a performance like this solidifies him as one of the top men on earth this year and makes the possibility of him improving on a 9th place finish last year seem that much more real. 

Dreams Come True for several Games qualifiers:

  • Although Karin Freyova has made the Games before, she narrowly missed in both Semifinals and the LCQ last season. Taking second at a European semifinal is extremely impressive. She will be a top ten threat in Madison. 
  • Matilde Garnes and Lucy Campbell entered the last day in a qualifying spot, but with Games veteran Sara Sigmundsdottir lurking behind them on the leaderboard, and especially after Sigmundsdottir won event 5 and narrowed the gap, the performances under pressure in the final were crowning achievements on Games worthy performances this weekend for both of them.
  • Relatively unknown Italian Enrico Zenoni had scratched and clawed his way into fourth place to start the last day. There was nothing but hard work to be done Sunday to stay there, and he did just that. Outside of 2019, he’s the second Italian male to qualify for the Games, but the first in live competition (the other was Stefano Migliorini). 
  • Finally, Germany’s Mortiz Fiebig went full send on the last workout to take the event win and move all the way up into fourth place and earned himself a trip to Madison this summer.

Joining these athletes for the men are:

  • Second place, and making his 9th consecutive trip to the Games, Bjorgvin Karl Gudmundsson. Gudmundsson has two podium finishes at the Games and is always a threat to be near the top.
  • Third place, Uldis Upenieks, who is making his third trip to the Games, will be looking to improve on a 25th place finish last year. In a text with Morning Chalk Up, Upenieks shared he feels “relief… now just eyes on the Games.”

And for the women: 

  • Finishing in third place and making her fourth consecutive trip to the CrossFit Games, Gabriela Migala. She placed sixth last year and will be eager to fight for a podium spot in August. 

Teams

It was all CrossFit Reykjavik this weekend in terms of event wins, but four other teams will be joining them in Madison after battling through a tough teams division.

The top seed coming in, CrossFit Zarautz Training Culture, impressed with five top four finishes and will be making a debut at the Games this year after coming second.

CrossFit Portti will be returning to the Games with the same team they took last year and will be striving for a top ten this time around, 

Tied on points with 460 were CrossFit Oslo Purple (who took fourth on the tiebreaker) and CrossFit 2150 Team Norce BL to round out the field of Games teams who qualified from Amsterdam.

Bottom Line: Half of the qualifiers from Europe are now set and it’s a great representation of the depth of athletes in all three divisions across the continent. Three weeks from now the other half of the Europeans will take their turn in London at Strength in Depth. 

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