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Lazar Djukic Dominates Europe Semifinal from Start to Finish; BKG Headed to 10th Straight CrossFit Games

June 4, 2023 by Joey Adduci

Photo Credit: Ava Kitzi

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The final day of competition at the Europe Semifinal would determine the 11 men earning their ticket to the 2023 NOBULL CrossFit Games. Heading into Sunday, it was becoming clear that Lazar Djukic was in a league of his own, while only 47 points separated fifth from 11th place on the leaderboard. Bubble athletes came into the final two tests with a chance to make a comeback, with just 51 points separating 11th from 18th at the start of Sunday.

Test 6: The gymnastics roadblocks continued to be a wildcard, with half of the top 11 men placing outside the top 15 in Test 6. Antoine Dumaine started the day in 10th overall, but got stuck on the handstand pirouettes and slipped into 12th place after a 43rd place finish. Moritz Fiebig started his Sunday only 24 points back of the overall lead, but would drop outside of a podium position following a 36th in Test 6.

Victor Hoffer’s Test 6 win bumped him up 10 places on the leaderboard. He started the day in 27th and moved into 17th place overall and 49 points out of a qualifying position headed into the final test of the competition.

Jonne Koski moved into podium position after his second place finish in Test 6. Koski started the day in sixth place overall, but went into the final test of the day with a one point lead over Moritz Fiebig.

Bjorgvin Karl Gudmundsson jumped from ninth to sixth overall following his third place finish in Test 6. This was BKG’s second third place finish of the weekend, putting him in a strong position to qualify for his 10th consecutive CrossFit Games.

Lazar Djukic extended his overall lead after a fourth place finish in Test 6. He started the day 24 points ahead of second place, but would increase that cushion to 60 points heading into the final test. This was Djukic’s fifth finish in the top five.

Fabian Beneito’s third place finish in Test 6 moved him from 16th to 11th overall, setting himself up with a good chance to qualify for his first CrossFit Games.

Test 7: The last test of the weekend was built for drama, with a four minute sprint deciding the final tally for the overall leaderboard. This would be the last opportunity for bubble athletes to leave it all on the floor in attempts to earn a qualifying spot for the CrossFit Games.

Jelle Hoste’s Test 7 win was one of three victories in his first Semifinal appearance, helping him qualify for his first-ever CrossFit Games.

Henrik Haapalainen only had one finish outside the top 10, taking third in Test 7 to complete an impressive weekend of competition.

Moritz Fiebig bounced back after finishing 36th in Test 6, ending his weekend with a fourth place finish in Test 7, which helped to seal his place on the podium and ticket to Madison.

Uldis Upenieks was lights out in the final three tests of the weekend, finishing fifth in Test 5, sixth in Test 6 and fifth in Test 7 to lock up sixth overall on the leaderboard.

Who’s heading to the CrossFit Games from Europe?

1st – Lazar Djukic (607 points)
2nd – Henrik Haapalainen (565 points)
3rd – Moritz Fiebig (531 points)
4th – Jelle Hoste (524 points)
5th – Jonne Koski (520 points)
6h – Uldis Upenieks (483 points)
7th – David Shorunke (481 points)
8th – Bjorgvin Karl Gudmundsson (481 points)
9th – Bronislaw Olenkowicz (449 points)
10th – Michal Wesolowski (426 points)
11th – Fabian Beneito (420 points)

The bottom line: The final week of Semifinals is a wrap and the roster for the 2023 NOBULL CrossFit Games has been finalized. Europe will represent 11 of the 40 male competitors at the Games, with four of the qualifiers being over the age of 30.

Three men will join these vets for their rookie debut (Jelle Hoste, Michal Wesolowski and Fabian Beneito). This will also be the first year in history that two men at the Games will be representing Poland (Bronislaw Olenkowicz and Michal Wesolowski).

There is less than two months until kickoff in Madison, so the week three qualifiers will be playing a bit of catchup on the other regions to prepare for the final stage in finding the fittest on earth.