Competition

Brent Fikowski, Antonia Falt-Kottulinsky Win ELFIT CrossFit Championship

November 12, 2022 by
Photo courtesy of ELFIT CrossFit Championship (@elfit_egypt)
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The final day of competition in New Capital Sports City, Egypt has come to a close. Seven-time CrossFit Games veteran Brent Fikowski and two-time Games team athlete Antonia Falt-Kottulinsky took the top spots after three days of competition. 

The tenth anniversary of the ELFIT CrossFit Championship concludes as one of their most successful events to date with packed crowds and early 1,000 athletes across all divisions and sports. 

The Grand Finale: “Unbroken”

Event 8: “Unbreakable”

  • For Time:
    21 unbroken chest-to-bar pull-ups
    9 overheads squats (80/55kg)
    15 unbroken chest-to-bar pull-ups
    6 overheads squats (90/60kg)
    9 unbroken chest-to-bar pull-ups
    3 overheads squats (100/65kg)

The unbroken chest-to-bar pull-ups were more substantial in reality than on paper as athletes’ forearms were very sore after the pegboards earlier in the day. 

“My forearms were wrecked,” said Phil Hesketh, who took 3rd overall. 

Several athletes, especially on the female side, got to 13 or 14 reps in the set of 15 unbroken chest-to-bars and failed to complete the set, a mistake that proved very costly. 

One such athlete, Emma Morgan, went from 2nd overall to 4th after a slip on the bar caused her to fail multiple sets at the 13th rep. The slip-up allowed Shahad Budebs and Gilmari Reyneke to move into 2nd and 3rd, respectively. 

Despite the hard charge on the final day, Falt-Kottulinsky’s Games experience and overall athleticism was too much to overcome.

“I’m used to being at a big competition, just knowing from experience when to warm-up, when to go out for my heat, et cetra,” Falt-Kottulinsky said. “I don’t feel really nervous. I’m confident.”

Falt-Kottulinsky easily squat snatched all three barbells to finish sub-3:00 and 18-seconds faster than second place.

And during the earlier event, she was the only athlete able to complete a single rep on the pegboards.

Women’s Final Leaderboard

  1. Antonia Falt-Kottulinsky – 835
  2. Shahad Budebs – 747
  3. Gilmari Reyneke – 740
  4. Emma Morgan – 737
  5. Megan Faul – 713

On the men’s side, South African semifinal athlete Ruan Potgieter came out hot, challenging Fikowski from start to finish, unwilling to let the Games veteran walk away with an unchallenged win. Potgieter came 4th at the Fittest in Cape Town last year, and showed a willingness to challenge the veteran all day Saturday and even won the first event of the day. 

“When do you as a local South African get to compete against a Games athlete so I was like ‘oh my goodness, give it a show, give it a try and see how it goes,” Potgieter said. 

Fikowski’s weightlifting strength proved too dominant for Potgeiter to keep pace, and Fikowski cruised to his seventh event win of the competition. 

Fikowski will stay in the region, primarily in Cyprus, before heading to the U.A.E. for the Dubai Fitness Championship. 

Men’s Final Leaderboard

  1. Brent Fikowski – 827
  2. Ruan Potgieter – 733
  3. Phil Hesketh – 660
  4. Assem Effat – 657
  5. Ruan Conradie – 602

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