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CrossFit Members Rush to Car Accident to Help

 
Morning Chalk Up

September 27   |   POWERED BY

TYR

Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up.

In today’s edition:

  • CrossFit members rush to scene of car accident in daring rescue
  • Brent Fikowski and Patrick Vellner: a CrossFit Games deep dive
  • Steph Chung shoots supplement spot with NBA superstar LeBron James: “It was cool to see his personality come out”
 
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“The past always looks better than it was. It's only pleasant because it isn't here.” - Finley Peter Dunne

 
GOOD
  CrossFit Coppertop Crew Lifts Car Off Accident Victim in Daring Rescue  

CrossFit Coppertop Crew Lifts Car Off Accident Victim in Daring Rescue

It was a normal Friday morning at CrossFit Coppertop in Amherst, OH on September 16. The sleepy 5 AM crew filtered into the gym, grabbed foam rollers and were working out some kinks on their bodies. Some of them used the rollers as pillows for a few more moments of rest before the clang and bang of the impending workout.

“I had nine people in that morning,” said Sam Lambert, who co-owns Coppertop with his wife Carolyn. “One of the women was running late, so we hadn’t started the warm-up yet,” he continued. “It wasn’t such a full class that I had to worry about sticking to a strict timeline and the 5 AM group is a very tight-knit group, they don’t mind waiting for one of their crew.”

Lambert said they were just about to get moving, when the power went out.

“Folks were tying their shoes and getting up off their butts, and everything went black,” Lambert said. “At 5 AM, if the lights go out, it’s just pitch black.”

What Lambert and his athletes didn’t know yet was that a car had just careened into a telephone pole knocking out power for the whole block, just down the street on Route 58.

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SPEED READS

In case you missed it: Lauren Kalil, the host of The Bottom Line, spoke to Brian Friend and Chase Ingraham about whether or not the judging standards are up to snuff for the sport.

Testing update: CrossFit delivered the following statement on its website:

  • Tommy Tillman, the 5th-place athlete in the Men 65+ division at the 2022 NOBULL CrossFit Games, submitted a sample containing clomiphene.
  • Tillman has received a 4-year ban from CrossFit competition starting Aug. 6, 2022.

Backing the cause: Fee Saghafi on the recent protests in Iran 🇮🇷:

  • “Iranian women and ALL women, deserve to live how they’d like without seeking permission. Express themselves without fear. Laugh, cry, learn, play, dance, and educate without the need of a man’s or government’s validation.”

Street credSports Illustrated has a piece on the best CrossFit equipment you need to have in your at-home gym.

WZA update: As of last night at publication, here are the top 10 athletes in the online qualifier as of last night. Wodapalooza extended the submission deadline until 11:59 PM ET and some names and numbers may have shifted. Here is the full leaderboard:

  1. Fabian Beneito Selles – 88 | Katelin Van Zyl – 60
  2. John Wood – 103 | Olivia Sulek – 92
  3. Travon Benton – 151 | Sydney Wells – 126
  4. Luke Parker – 196 | Gracie Strachan – 127
  5. Fernando Llaneza – 199 | Valentina Magalotti – 130
  6. Benjamin Gutierrez – 211 | Brittany Weiss – 132
  7. Cam Crockett – 216 | Ella Kanona Wunger  – 132
  8. Kaique Cerveny – 216 | Lexi Neely – 133
  9. Casper Gammelmark – 218 |  Lexi Neely – 139
  10. Damian Martinez Satorres – 225 | Hanna Karlsson – 142
 
CROSSFIT GAMES
  Brent Fikowski and Patrick Vellner: 2022 CrossFit Games Athlete Studies  

MEMBER EXCLUSIVE

Brent Fikowski and Patrick Vellner: 2022 CrossFit Games Athlete Studies

This is the fifth part of the Athlete Studies series from the 2022 NOBULL CrossFit Games, and you can find the other four articles here (Haley Adams and Gabi MigalaRoman Khrennikov and Ricky GarardMal O’Brien and Laura Horvath and Jeffrey Adler and Lazar Djukic).

The focus today is on the two most recognizable Canadians in recent history. Both Patrick Vellner and Brent Fikowski broke onto the scene back in 2016 when they finished third and fourth respectively. They have both been inside the top four at every Games (other than the irrelevant to these sorts of conversations 2019 and 2020 iterations) since then, and until this season.

Last year (2021) Vellner and Fikowski occupied two of the three podium spots. Most everyone predicted something similar this year.

Of course, that is not how 2022 played out. Vellner finished 6th, not a terrible regression, but certainly not what we have come to expect from him. And Fikowksi took 16th, by far his worst appearance in any relevant Games season.

The question we’re after today is very simple: why?

Continue Reading...
 
PROFILE
  Steph Chung on Shooting Commercial with LeBron James: “It was cool to see his personality come out”  

Steph Chung on Shooting Commercial with LeBron James: “It was cool to see his personality come out”

In July of this year, former CrossFit Games athlete Steph Chung headed to a warehouse in Akron, OH to shoot a commercial with NBA superstar LeBron James. Chung, who came 35th at the 2018 CrossFit Games, said the experience was just as surreal as one might think, however James – who is seen as a larger than life figure – turned out to be super down to earth.

“I’ve never been part of a commercial shoot of that size before,” said Chung, who was shooting a spot for LADDER supplements (who she signed with in May) with the NBA megastar, “and I learned a lot by observing and interacting with LeBron on set.”

Chung had recently been signed by the brand, and got the call to head to the warehouse for the day. James, who is about to head into another season with the Los Angeles Lakers, is one of the most recognizable and famous athletes in the world, worth an estimated $1 billion according to Forbes. The 37-year-old stands 6-foot-9 and has multiple million dollar endorsement deals, however Chung said he was totally relaxed and approachable during their shoot together.

“He was very nice and introduced himself right away, and he was really funny when we were improvising some of the scenes,” she added. “I was obviously very flattered at the opportunity (to shoot the video with him) and it was just a really unique and cool opportunity that came up.”

CrossFit has started to flirt with the outskirts of the mainstream sporting realm and news media landscape. Mat Fraser, who was on the biggest podcast in the world, the Joe Rogan Experience, was also recently interviewed for a piece in USA Today. Big name brands are also starting to court CrossFit athletes including Monster and TYR, along with CrossFit early adopters Nike and Reebok.

The video  – which ends with Chung and James high-fiving after a workout and some playful banter – showcases the growing appeal of working out as part of a fitness lifestyle. LADDER, which was founded by James, also has a number of other high profile athletes signed to it including Los Angeles Dodgers player Trea Turner and Cameroonian pro wrestler Khan.

“He’s very cool, he’s a really nice person,” said Chung about the whole experience, “and I felt like I learned a lot about acting from him and I thought it was really cool to see him have a lot of personality on set. He’s obviously a really great athlete but it’s cool to see people who are great athletes also have cool personalities. And the director and the producer were asking us to kind of play off each other and for a lack of a better word, improvise in some scenes and it was cool to see his personality come out.”

Chung added she thinks the video shows that CrossFit athletes can hang with the best of the best of them during a workout.

“I hope that this partnership shows that professional CrossFit athletes are starting to gain recognition and consideration for partnerships in the same way as athletes in mainstream professional sports, such as basketball and football.”

 
THINGS TO...
 

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HIGHLIGHTS

Celebrating a PR, hosting a fundraiser, this, that, or otherwise. Send us a tip.

This Saturday, October 1st, BeachSide CrossFit in Ventura, CA is hosting their 8th annual Beach Hero WOD “Big Nate” at Marina Park Beach in honor of USAF Pararescue Nate Schmidt. The WOD will start at 8:30AM; anyone is welcome to join.

 
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10/13 - 10/15: Midwest Championship (Rochester, MN)
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10/14: Triple Threat Terror 2023 (Forney, TX)
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10/14: 8th Annual Kilo CrushFest Competition (Hampton, VA)
10/14 - 10/15: 059 Classic (Modena, Italy)
10/14: Strength and Speed (Feasterville, PA)
10/14 - 10/15: The Vanguard (Lakeland, FL)
10/14: Girls Gone Rx Mesa (Mesa, AZ)
10/14: Girls Gone Rx DC (Alexandria, VA)
10/14: Girls Gone Rx Sedalia (Sedalia, MO)
10/14: Best Babes Massachusetts (Beverly, MA)
10/15: Kares CrossFit October Showdown (Georgetown, Guyana)
10/20 - 10/21: AAYMCA CrossFit Throwdown (Anderson, SC)
10/20 - 10/21: AAYMCA CrossFit Throwdown (Anderson, SC)
10/21: Festivus Games – Pairs (Savannah, GA)
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10/21: 401 Fall Throwdown (Smithfield, RI)
10/27 - 10/29: Oslo Throwdown (Oslo, Norway)
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10/28: Wodtoberfest (Owosso, MI)
10/29 - 11/19: CHLKDUP BOX LEAGUE – NASH (Nashville, TN)
10/29 - 11/19: CHLKDUP BOX LEAGUE – BHAM (Birmingham, AL)
11/3 - 11/4: Florida Grid League Championship (Orlando, FL)
11/4 - 11/5: Costa Barcelona Fitness Challenge (Vilanova i la Geltrú, Barcelona, Spain)
11/4 - 11/5: Hold Fast Competition Individual (Gerenzano, Italy)
11/4: Sunshine SmackDown (Bedford Hills, NY)
11/4: Witch City Throwdown (Salem, MA)
11/4: Barbell Babes Lorton (Lorton, VA)
11/11: Freakin’ Gauntlet (Pembroke Pines, FL)
11/11: The Meadowlands Classic (Carlstadt, NJ)
11/11: Barbell Massacre 8 (Dahlonega, GA)
11/11: War of the Masters (Elkton, MD)
11/11: War of the Masters (Elkton, MD)
11/18: Best Babes Dallas (Dallas, TX)
11/18: Best Babes Philly (Philadelphia, PA)
11/18: Best Babes Iowa (Mason City, IA)
11/18: Girls Gone Rx Salt Lake City (West Haven, UT)
11/18: Teams Of The Midway: 2 Person Teams (Cary, IL)
11/18: Friendsgiving (Ambler, PA)
11/18: Turkey Bash (Chatham, IL)

See all upcoming events

 
 
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