CrossFit Games

Elbow Injury a Thing of the Past: Brooke Wells Leads MACC after Day One

May 27, 2022 by
Photo Credit: Athlete's Eye Photography
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With two events down at the Mid-Atlantic CrossFit Challenge at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum in Knoxville, TN, Brooke Wells is atop the women’s leaderboard, proving her elbow injury is no longer a concern.

Worth noting: Though first on the leaderboard, Wells is actually tied in points with 2021 CrossFit Games rookie Sydney Michalyshen, but Wells is ahead based on having an event win.

Remind me: Wells suffered a dislocated elbow, torn flexor tendon and torn UCL while snatching 190 pounds at last summer’s CrossFit Games, an injury that required her to have surgery in August, 2021.

  • She spent the following months rehabilitating her elbow, but told the Morning Chalk Up at Wodapalooza in Miami, FL in January that she has “truly enjoyed training this year more than I have ever in my life.”

Wells on Day 1: Wells showed no signs of an elbow injury on Event 1—a barbell complex of three cleans, two front squats and one jerk—where she hit 220 pounds, good enough for seventh place overall. In a post-event interview, Wells said her elbow was the furthest thing from her mind on the competition floor.

  • But where she really shone was on Event 2—featuring 120 GHD sit-ups, handstand walking and progressively heavier overhead squats. She finished with an easy event win, 16 seconds ahead of Danielle Brandon. 
  • “I’m super excited for every single event honestly. It has been a while since I have been on the competition floor, so I’m really just soaking it in making sure it’s like a super special comeback,” Wells said after Event 1.

And, of course, what would make the extra special, Wells admitted, would be a trip back to Madison, WI.

  • “I have worked so hard just to get back here, and I have to appreciate all the work I have done to even just make it back to Semifinals, but to make it back to the Games is the ultimate goal…I just really hope that happens,” she said. 

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