Who’s Over and Under as We Head Into the Final Day of the 2023 NOBULL CrossFit Games?
Three days of competition and two rounds of cuts later, the remaining athletes have made it to the final day of competition at the 2023 NOBULL CrossFit Games in Madison, WI.
We’ve seen veteran athletes cut far earlier than some might’ve expected and seen rookies hold on until almost the very end. As we head into the final day of competition we’ve got a run down of athletes and teams who are over heading into Sunday and who are under.
Over
Roman Khrennikov only sits 13 points ahead of Jeffrey Adler going into the final day of competition. But it hasn’t been easy, after making a crucial mistake during Test 8: Intervals, which gave him his lowest finish thus far of 17th place. That said, the athlete has been dominating throughout the competition, so we’ll see if he continues to hold onto that leader’s jersey on Sunday.
Jelle Hoste is a Games rookie on a mission. The European athlete sits in tenth place after nine events, but Dallin Pepper is on his heels with only 1 point separating the two. Hoste took a test win in the cross-country 5K and his other best finish thus far was Test 5: Ski-Bag where he took fourth place. Otherwise, he’s been all over the leaderboard in other tests. If he wants to continue to live in the top ten space he’ll need a bit more consistency across the events on the final day.
Alexis Raptis wore the infamous leaders jersey early on in competition, but had some tough workouts that have brought her down to fourth place— just outside of a podium spot. 24-year-old Raptis was a rookie at the Games last year and clearly she’s been putting in the hard work. She got tenth place in 2022, but if she wants to stand on that podium on Sunday she’s going to need to push it hard.
Katrin Davidsdottir, a veteran Games athlete and fan favorite, comfortably sits above the cutline from Saturday, but is teetering in the top ten as she sits in the tenth place spot. Davidsdottir came to play this year, after missing out on the Games during the Last Chance Qualifier and joining the HWPO training camp. She could still finish high on the leaderboard if she has a good day on Sunday.
CrossFit Move Fast Lift Heavy 247 is on the outside looking in sitting in fourth place heading into Sunday, a spot they found themselves in at the end of the Games last year. The team, led by Christian Harris, has been fighting for three days to stay within a podium spot. They had a solid day on Saturday with a fifth and fourth place finish in the final two events of the day. If the team can maintain a high placement on this final day, they could see themselves on top of the leaderboard and not in the same spot as last year.
Under
Justin Medeiros has found himself in uncharted territory in 14th place going into day four. The two-time Fittest Man on Earth is not having the Games he had hoped for, but is still fighting his way through the competition. It began with a low finish in the very first test of the week, “Ride,” where he had some incidents with his bike that left him with a 29th place finish. Since then, however, he’s fought hard to make up for it, notably finishing in second place in Test 3: Inverted Medley. The former champ is still in this fight and we’ll see if he’s ready to keep it going with three events left.
Samuel Kwant, a Games veteran, is sitting on the edge of the top 20 athletes in 19th place. Which is a far cry from his fourth place finish in the Games last year. Kwant, who notably switched from CompTrain to HWPO, is likely not having the Games appearance he’s hoped for, but the fight is definitely not over for him. Kwant’s best event so far was Test 5: Ski-Bag where he got second place.
Danielle Brandon is in 15th place after nine events, many spots away from where she was when she finished just outside of the podium last year, in fourth place. Brandon had a show stopping night on day one with Test 3: Inverted Medley, but has since found herself in tenth place or worse in subsequent tests. She still has one more day to creep back up the leaderboard and make substantial moves.
CrossFit Krypton, led by brother duo Ben Smith and Alec Smith, have had some hurdles to overcome since day two when Ben injured his knee during Test 3: Olympic Total. However, the team has been able to hold on and survive two rounds of cuts. Ben is an “OG” Games athlete, while Alec is also a Games veteran appearing as an individual in 2017 and 2018. The team is still in the competition and could very well make moves on Sunday.
Even
Olivia Kerstetter, who is a Games rookie this year, sits on the lower end of the top 20 women going into Sunday. The 17-year-old has fought through the weekend and made a valiant effort to stick with the elite women. Her notable tests thus far include her third place finish in Test 5: Ski-Bag and her sixth place finish in Test 9: Olympic Total. While her placement is on the lower end going into Sunday it’s still highly impressive what this teenager has accomplished.
The bottom line: The leaderboard is by no means set as we enter competition on Sunday. Athletes are resilient and can come back when we least expect it. Another important note, these are only a select few of the top 20 women and men and teams fighting for those podium positions and will likely not go out without a fight.
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