Competition

2023 TYR Wodapalooza Women’s Podium Picks: Individuals and Teams

January 8, 2023 by
Photo Credit: TYR Wodapalooza(@wodapalooza)
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The women’s field at the 2023 TYR Wodapalooza has all the pieces for a dramatic and entertaining weekend of fitness. On the individual side, the stage is set for comeback stories and breakout performances. On the team side, the roster is filled with big names and monster match ups that will leave us all on the edge of our seats as we head into the 2023 CrossFit Games season. Today we’re giving you our women’s podium picks for the individuals and teams, along with others who have a strong chance of fighting for the top spot. 

Individual: Several stories are waiting to be written as we approach the kickoff of the women’s individual competition. The hope to see the once dominant Sara Sigmundsdottir return to the floor in full form. The potential of the highly talented young phenoms, Emma Cary and Paige Powers. These questions will soon be answered, but based on what we currently know, we filtered down our top nine female athletes to predict this year’s podium.  

  • Andrea Nisler: Nisler has won back-to-back CrossFit Games championships in the team division with CrossFit Mayhem and recently took first at the Zelos Games. She brings a skillset that lines up nicely for the programming released up to this point and has all of the physical tools and competitive fire needed to win WZA. 
  • Dani Speegle: Speegle put on a clinic at the CrossFit Games and Rogue Invitational strength events. Her incredible power and strength look effortless next to her peers, but often draws attention away from the other skills she has as an athlete. With a one-rep-max clean and jerk, freestanding handstand hold and heavy couplet of squatting and ring muscle ups on the docket, things are lining up well for Speegle’s strengths. 
  • Emily Rolfe: Rolfe had an impressive showing at the 2022 Dubai Fitness Championship, finishing in third place just four months after having emergency surgery for a blood clot at the 2022 CrossFit Games in August. Rolfe’s incredible consistency has always helped her stay competitive albeit some deficiencies in raw strength/power. With the heavy events already announced, we’re confident that Rolfe will make up enough points in the longer, classic CrossFit events to rise to the podium. 

Other individuals to lookout for:

  • Sara Sigmundsdottir
  • Emma Cary
  • Sydney Michalysen
  • Oihana Moya
  • Paige Powers
  • Hanna Karlsson 

Team: Wodapalooza will be the first chance we have to see Mallory O’Brien and Laura Horvath face off on the same competition floor since the 2022 CrossFit Games. Although they’ll be competing on teams, it will be a fun preview seeing them perform the same workouts following the announcement of Tia Toomey sitting out the 2023 season. 

  • The Dottirs ft. MOB (Katrin Davidsdottir, Annie Thorisdottir, Mallory O’Brien): The combination of chemistry and talent on this team make them our favorite to take home the gold at WZA. Davidsdottir and O’Brien recently became teammates at HWPO this offseason and Thorisdottir has the experience competing at the Games on a team. 
  • Team BPN (Laura Horvath, Jamie Simmonds, Gabriela Migala): Horvath is returning to the competition floor for the first time since dominating the 2022 Rogue Invitational. She is joined by Jamie Simmonds, who recently finished fourth at the Dubai Fitness Championship, along with the young phenom, Gabriela Migala. This team has the talent to win, but the lack of team experience or time spent training together gives The Dottirs ft. MOB the advantage over Team BPN.  
  • All American Girls (Brooke Wells, Amanda Barnhart, Kristi Eramo O’Connell): Finishing off our podium for the teams is the star-studded All American Girls, who have an equally good chance of winning WZA if the events line up well for them. Wells, Barnhart and O’Connell are all seasoned CrossFit Games athletes that bring a balance of strength, skill and endurance that will give the rest of the women’s teams a run for their money. 

Other teams to lookout for:

  • P10 Performance (Taylor Williamson, Andrea Nisler, Sydney Michalyshen)
  • A.K.A. Humble Killers (Alex Gazan, Kari Pearce, Arielle Loewen)
  • GOWOD Girls (Jacqueline Dahlstrom, Sola Sigurdardottir, Emma Mcquaid)
  • The Girls (Alexis Raptis, Feeroozeh Saghafi, Christine Kolenbrander)
  • Spacers Angels (Sara Sigmundsdottir, Emily Rolfe, Katelin Van Zyl)

The bottom line: As we gear up for this year’s final major competition before the season begins and look towards the Open in February, this is the last chance to see big name athletes compete before shifting focus into the various qualification stages for the CrossFit Games. With a handful of events still unreleased at this time, these are our picks based on the current information available heading into Miami this week.

And, don’t forget to check back to our 2023 TYR Wodapalooza competition hub, and on Instagram, for updates as workouts are announced. 

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