Why the TYR Cup Is One of CrossFit’s Best “Off-Season” Showcases
For the second year in a row, the TYR Cup at TYR Wodapalooza showcased intense head-to-head showdowns and friendly trash talk that highlighted the unique atmosphere of the sport.
But the TYR Cup did more than just entertain us — it reminded us why we love these events in the first place. Here are three takeaways from an action-packed weekend in Huntington Beach, CA.
The TYR Cup Is the Ultimate Crowd Pleaser
As an exhibition-style showcase, the TYR Cup delivered one of the most entertaining throwdowns of the year.
- Unlike watching most CrossFit competitions through the live feed, where it can be hard to tell exactly where each athlete is on the floor, the TYR Cup nailed “Sports Broadcasting 101.” The races were easy to follow, and you always knew who was in the lead, thanks to both the competition’s format and the broadcast team’s clear delivery.
While head-to-head matchups of the TYR Cup might not be feasible at the CrossFit Games or the World Fitness Project (WFP), the format once again delivered one of the most, if not the most, spectator-friendly and exciting competitions of the season.
Workouts That Crushed
Every CrossFit enthusiast knows that “oh-no” moment when we see the workout of the day and immediately realize it’s going to push us deep into the pain cave, crush our central nervous system, and make it hard to recover.
The TYR Cup generated “oh, hell no,” reactions all weekend, starting with the first event of the weekend: “Echo Fran.”
Echo Fran
For Time: 21-15-9
- Thrusters (135, 95LB)
- Chest-to-bar pull-ups
- Echo Bike calories
Emma Tall took the women’s event, while Dallin Pepper had the fastest men’s time in the event, which visibly took a physical toll on all the athletes.
- At the end of the event, Alexis Raptis had to be assisted off the floor by two members of the medical team. She later noted that she was “puking her guts out after that workout.”
The workout was so tough that some athletes were rumored to consider sandbagging “Echo Fran” to perform better later in the weekend. Ultimately, they chose not to take that route.
- “We just didn’t have it in our hearts to do that to you guys out here,” Pepper told the crowd in a post-event interview. “That would be pretty lame [not to give it your all], although it is pretty disheartening that a workout like that is only worth one point, and it’s the start of the weekend, so that’s brutal.”
A second soul-crushing workout from last weekend was a repeat from the 2024 TYR Cup:
Repeat in Reverse
Every five minutes on the five-minute mark:
- 500-meter Assault Run
- 50 bar-facing burpees
- 50 Echo Bike calories
Brent Fikowski, who went head-to-head and lost the event to Pepper last year, called it “one of the hardest workouts I have ever done,” adding that it was a challenging workout to recover from.
This year’s event again belonged to Pepper for the men, and to Emma Lawson for the women, with both laying it all out there as if they were fighting for a CrossFit Games title.
Unmatched Efforts
If there is an off-season in CrossFit, this might be it. Given that and the fact that the TYR Cup is just an exhibition, we might have expected the athletes to hold back a little.
But this couldn’t have been further from the truth.
- From Raptis on “Echo Fran” to the heroics during “Repeat in Reverse” and the way Danielle Brandon and Pat Vellner attacked the final event to clinch the win for North America, the efforts and performances at the TYR Cup looked like anything but an exhibition.
The Bottom Line
Thanks to its engaging format and the athletes’ relentless efforts, even in the face of brutal workouts, this year’s TYR Cup raised the bar for what an off-season showcase can be.
It’s truly a show worth watching.
Featured image: Nicky Freymond
