The Crucible Thrives in Its Third Year, Pays Out Athletes $522,000
Last weekend, Abu Dhabi hosted the third annual Crucible competition, with winners Roman Khrennikov and Emily de Rooy walking away $50,000 richer after topping the podium.
Although still a relatively new event, it drew an impressive roster of professional athletes. One reason could have been the $522,000 prize purse, and another could have been the low total volume compared to other high-level comps with large payouts.
- For its third iteration, the event was livestreamed and featured an elite roster of broadcast team members, including Mike Halpin, Lauren Smith, Jeremy Austin, and Brian Friend.
Additionally, former Elite 15 HYROX racer and Tia Clair Toomey Orr’s Erg coach, Jane Erbacher; swim expert and UAE local Mike Bourne; and Ed Haynes of The Process in Hong Kong, China (brother of Games athlete Ant Haynes) were all part of the broadcast.
The Details
Conceived by local gym owner Cyrus Rostom, The Crucible took place over two days: day one was “The Qualifiers,” and day two, after cutting the field, was “The Finals,” featuring eight tests.
- “The Crucible is much different than other fitness competitions as it focuses on measured, strict movements in quick succession,” Halpin told Morning Chalk Up.
(Think a ten-rep-max deadlift, a three-minute AMRAP of strict weighted dips on parallel bars, and five-rep-max shoulder press.)
- Another standout component of the weekend was the high standards for judging, which allowed athletes to compete fairly at such a high level.
Halpin shared with us that Rostom and his team hosted multiple training sessions with their judging team to reinforce strict standards, especially for the two weighted gymnastics workouts. These sessions continued on Friday, the rehearsal day, with both the comp team and the broadcast team working together to run through what day one would look like.
After three tests on the first day, the field was cut, making way for the second and final day of competition, which consisted of the final five tests.
Some Highlights
500-Meter Swim: Jess Towl, a former HYROX athlete, won the swim event with a time of 7:02, while Miko Lilleorg, who had called his shot beforehand, finished in 6:25.7, 1:04 faster than second-place Khrennikov. Lilleorg did so with the confidence of a former swimmer and water polo athlete.
- Chandler Smith beat his WFP 500-meter time by five seconds. He swam 8:09 in Abu Dhabi and 8:14 at the World Fitness Project Finals in December.
3-Minute Strict Weighted Pull-Ups: Jaime Simmonds won with 31 reps, and Mark Nangle won the men’s category with 34 reps.
- Jamie Simmonds completed a similar workout last year, when she won the 2025 Crucible Finals with 31 reps. She again did 31 reps, but the weight was doubled from 2025 to 2026.
20-Minute BikeErg FTP Test: Halpin told us that several men were calling their shots and pushing the number to beat higher as the heats went on. Reggie Fasa won with a max average of 368 watts, and Astrid Tind won for the women with a max average of 274 watts.
- “The highlight for most everyone for the day (and for the weekend) was the 20-min max average watts BikeErg workout,” Halpin said.
Immediately after the bike workout, athletes had 15 minutes to establish a 5-rep max strict press.
- “A fun moment on the livestream was the number of times Jeremy Austin called that an athlete was going to get 4.5 but not 5. In this case, unlike the other lifting workouts, athletes could make as many attempts as they wanted but had to hit a minimum of five reps at 40kg to submit a score,” Halpin said.
Who Competed
The men’s podium was led by Roman Khrennikov, the winner, with Miko Lilleorg in second and Chandler Smith in third. For the women, Emily de Rooy won, with Jaime Simmonds in second and Astrid Tind in third.
In addition to those on the podium, other notable athletes who competed included Jelle Hoste, Siria Meha, Elliot Simmonds, Jessi Smith, Phil and Mia Hesketh, Luka Ðukić, Reggie Fasa, Tayla Howe, Kalyan De Souza, Artur Semenova, Lago Guiraldes, Victoria Campos, Dana Paran, Evie Hollis, and Ben Fowler.
Payouts
The total prize purse for the event was a whopping $522,000, with payouts through 30th place for the elites, or the “Main Division,” and the full men’s and women’s podium for the Masters 40+ division.
Main Division
- 1st – $50,000
- 2nd – $40,000
- 3rd – $30,000
- 4th – $20,000
- 5th – $10,000
- 6th – $9,000
- 7th – $8,000
- 8th – $7,000
- 9th – $6,000
- 10th – $5,000
- 11th-15th – $4,000
- 16th-20th – $3,000
- 21st-30th – $2,000
Masters 40+ Division
- 1st – $10,000
- 2nd – $7,000
- 3rd – $4,000
