BREAKING: Sam Briggs Receives Final Backfill Spot at Strength in Depth, Prepares for Last Run at the CrossFit Games
CrossFit Strength in Depth’s women’s field is now full with one final backfill: 2013 Fittest Woman on Earth, two-time worldwide Open winner, and nine-time individual Games athlete, Samantha Briggs.
The “Engine from England” is chasing her tenth individual Games appearance (she also appeared once as a Masters athlete in 2018) and the title of “Fittest Forty-Year-Old in History,” having already announced her retirement after this season, earlier in 2022.
When Briggs received the email this morning, she detailed the emotions she went through in an interview with Morning Chalk Up.
“Is this what I want?” She thought to herself. “But when it finally settled in, I was like, this was the whole plan this season, this is my last big shot at individual competition, so I’ve just got to go all in.”
Remind me: Sam Briggs is a legend of CrossFit, qualifying for the Games first in 2010, when she placed 19th overall. She returned in 2011, taking fourth before sitting out in 2012 due to injury and then becoming the Fittest Woman on Earth in 2013 at the age of 30, the oldest woman to do so.
Briggs has remained a perennial fan favorite and elite competitor. Her accomplishments include five top-five finishes at the Games (including her first-place finish in 2013), she also won the Dubai CrossFit Championship in 2018, the Australian CrossFit Championship in 2019.
At the CrossFit Games in 2019, Briggs won the Spirit of the Games Award as well.
The story this year: Briggs announced her retirement after the 2022 season in February and has dealt with a nagging knee injury that has affected her performance.
She finished 90th in the worldwide–her top finish was 38th in 22.2.
At the Quarterfinals, Briggs ended up tied for 67th in Europe, seven spots out of qualifying for Semifinals.
Once the leaderboard shook out, Briggs earned the final backfill spot at Strength in Depth, which is scheduled to take place in London, June 10-12, 2022.
When she saw her Quarterfinals placement on the leaderboard, Briggs knew that she stood a decent chance of earning a backfill spot, but once the deadline to accept or decline the invitations passed, she began to mentally prepare for the Age Group Quarterfinals (coming up this weekend).
The bottom line: No matter what happens at Strength in Depth, Briggs’ hometown fans in London will get the opportunity to see her throwdown as she makes one final run at the CrossFit Games.
“With seven more weeks of training, as long as my knee stays healthy,” Briggs predicted, “you’ll see a much better version of me than was able to perform in Quarterfinals. So definitely, we’re going to be putting everything into full swing so that you get the best version of me on the competition floor in London.”
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“Before taking Unbroken, I had heard so many things about it and it was like a magic thing that could help you. I thought nothing can ever work that well. Then I tried it and proved myself wrong like so many. I got completely hooked. I feel a huge difference in training and in my recovery this past year.” – Sara Sigmundsdóttir, 6x CrossFit Games Athlete
In case you missed it, Lauren Kalil, the host of The Bottom Line, spoke to Madison McElhaney about her journey from mixed martial arts to CrossFit:
“That’s a really good question. I think I still block out everything from my four-year fighting career, and I kind of can’t believe I did it, I was kind of thrown into it. I used to think fighting was gross when I was a kid.”
Spencer Panchik dancing shirtless, in an apron, making a post-workout shake. What more do you need to know? 🕺🏼
Don’t forget, you’re never too old to start CrossFit, as 84-year-old Abuela shows that life doesn’t have to slow down as you age.
CROSSFIT GAMES
MEMBER EXCLUSIVE
CrossFit Games 2017 Teen Division Creates Stars On Display Five Years Later
The phrase “the future is now” is one that we have heard a lot of during the CrossFit Games, especially the last two seasons. However, looking back at the 2017 Games 16-17 age group division, one can see the future of the sport was on full display prior to the current youth movement within the sport.
One big thing: Looking back at the Games field of both the boys and girls division, 10 of the 40 athletes are registered as individuals in a Semifinal. Of the top-10 finishers of the girls division in 2017, seven will make appearances in the Semis.
1st – Kaela Stephano – Granite Games
2nd – Haley Adams – Syndicate Crown
5th – Taylor Babb – Mid-Atlantic CrossFit Challenge
NOBULL Recreating London Flower Market to Celebrate New Collection
A pillar of The Big Smoke is getting a CrossFit makeover as the NOBULL Floral Shop Experience is coming to London tomorrow.
The details: A three-day event, it will celebrate the launch of the new Floral Shop collection and the new UK website for the CrossFit Games title sponsor.
Fran Calvert, the Europe Marketing manager for NOBULL said “the very different thing about this year’s collection is that you will see subtle hints at the new things the brand is doing. You are going to see new prints, new models like the court trainer, and expansion into new sports.”
The Floral Shop Experience will recreate a traditional London Flower Market inside DISTRICT Battersea, a 6,000 square-foot CrossFit box at Chelsea Bridge.
London Flower Markets began in the 1800s and resemble, in many ways, farmer’s markets in the United States with stalls and vendors offering flowers, plants, shrubs, and other foliage, as well as baked goods and crafts.
It will be open to the public:
April 22, 9 AM-8 PM
April 23, 9 AM-6 PM
April 24, 9 AM-4 PM
The NOBULL Floral Shop Experience at DISTRICT Battersea will feature flower market stalls, a coffee shop, staff dressed in aprons, cakes and pastries, buckets of cut flowers, and a NOBULL pop-up store sitting in the middle of it all.
Why it matters: The new website will benefit customers in the United Kingdom by creating a more seamless and localized experience for them, including reduced rate or free shipping and faster delivery.
In addition, UK customers will now be able to access GMT timezone live chat, customer support and new access to the NOBULL loyalty program, The Chipper.
The new Floral Shop Collection symbolizes the growth of NOBULL as a company, both into new sports and new markets.
“The Floral Shop Campaign is about growth and growth as a business.” Calvert concluded.
CROSSFIT GAMES
VIDEO: Timeline Complications From Quarterfinals to Semifinals
Everything We Know About the 2022 Age Group Quarterfinals and Occupational Games
The final weekend of 2022 CrossFit Quarterfinals begins tomorrow with Teen and Masters Athletes competing for a chance to qualify for the first-ever Age Group Semifinals.
Remind me: This is the first year of the Age Group Quarterfinals and Age Group Semifinals format. Previously, these two were conjoined as the Age Group Online Qualifier that directly qualified athletes to the CrossFit Games.
The Occupational Games are also beginning tomorrow, in which the fittest CrossFit athletes across eight different professions compete to find out who amongst them is 2022’s Fittest Firefighter/Teacher/College Student/etc. on Earth.
Athleteswho qualify, and wish to compete in, both the Age Group Quarterfinal and Occupational Games must register and pay registration fees for each competition, but will only need to film and complete the workouts once, according to the official invitation email from CrossFit.
Scores must be submitted separately for each competition.
Only have five minutes to mobilize? Don't bother. That's from the supple leopard himself Dr. Kelly Starrett. Check out why and see what he recommends doing instead in your precious time.
There isn’t one universal temperature for high quality sleep. Like to sleep cold but not be freezing waking up? The Eight Sleep Pod Pro Cover is the most advanced sleep solution that heats and cools your mattress automatically through the night so you have your best sleep ever.
Check out the first episode of the Underdogs Athletics miniseries, where they journey from the 2022 CrossFit Open to the 2022 CrossFit Games. Meet the Cotlers, learn how Underdogs started, and what brought them all to Las Vegas.
How To Safely And Effectively Coach Pregnant and Postpartum Athletes
"Just listen to your body," "lift at 50%," "do what you've always done." There's a lot of generic advice around for pregnant athletes, but what is the truth? Get the facts from industry experts, and learn how to train expecting athletes on the Pregnancy and Postpartum Athleticism course.
Dread walking into the box and not seeing a barbell? You're not alone. High rep gymnastics performed is one of the most challenging areas to progress in CrossFit. Here are six drills you can add into your accessory work to make it suck a little less next time.
Celebrating a PR, hosting a fundraiser, this, that, or otherwise. Send us a highlight.
🥇 Congratulations Andy Piddington and teammates Dennis and Todd from CrossFit Westchase in Pinellas County, FL on winning the Men’s 45+ age division in the 2022 Wod Wars Fitness Festival.
Congratulations to Chris Sullivan, Eva Rafferty, and Brian Herring from CrossFit Contrivance in Apex, NC on qualifying for the next phase of the CrossFit Games season— Chris to the Occupational Games, and Brian and Eva to Age Group Qualifiers this weekend.
#TBT: Watch Kelsey Kiel build from a 225 pound/102kg clean in 2015 to 282 pounds/128kg now.
😱 Graciano Rubio, owner of CrossFit Valley View in Los Banos, CA, push presses 440 pound/200kg.
CrossFit Games teen athlete Rafael Candeias from Portugal hits a new clean and jerk PR of 265 pounds/120kg.
CrossFit Soul in Miami, FL is seeing positive growth in their Youth Barbell program coached byAndres Aleman.Here, kids in the Miami area learn weightlifting and fitness fundamentals to develop the technique and body control necessary to lift safely.
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