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Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up. Today’s edition was chalked up while drinking a FOCUSAID. These time zones and middle of the night Meridian Regionals action is killing us, but it’s just too exciting to stop.
Today’s edition is fueled by FITAID, and because they’re so awesome, they’re giving you $15 off your order of any case of LIFEAID products with code “MORNINGCHALK.”
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“A lion doesn’t care for the opinion of sheep.” — Tywin Lannister
REGIONALS IN 2 MINUTES
Overheard while watching the men’s Event 4 at the Atlantic Regional...“grabs the chalk, makes the walk.”
Playing on the jumbo screen at Meridian Regionals: A training montage of Sara Sigmundsdottir, speaking in Icelandic, “I’m always afraid of failing, but not enough to stop trying.”
Heading to the CrossFit Games from the Meridian Region:
- Bjorgvin Gudmundsson | Kristin Holte | CrossFit JST
- Jonne Koski | Samantha Briggs | CrossFit Fabriken
- Jason Smith | Annie Thorisdottir | CFXY
- Lukas Esslinger | Jamie Greene | Maxpuls Spartans
- Frederik Aegidius | Thuri Helgadottir | CrossFit Reykjavik
BLEACHER REPORT
- Annie Thorisdottir racked up her 19th event win on Day 3 and set a new record on Event 3 with a time of 11:42.97.
- Kristin Holte set the Event 4 record with a time of 6:14.72.
- With a time of 10:25.44, Brent Fikowski smashed the event 3 record previously held by Mathew Fraser by nearly a minute.
- Photo of the day: Emily Bridgers and Cassidy Lance racing to the finish. Bridgers racked up her 14th career Regionals event win.
- Currently 1st overall, if CrossFit Fort Vancouver qualifies it will be their 9th trip to the CrossFit Games.
- Anna Tunicliffe got married. Her last name is now Tobias and she’s in 3rd place overall in the Atlantic.
- Andrey Ganin becomes the only athlete to set an event record (Event 6, 2:54.39) who didn’t qualify for the CrossFit Games.
BEN SMITH
The Scenario. Ben Smith finished Day 1 in 19th place, with 100 total points. So far, every athlete that has qualified for the 2017 Games has accumulated an average of 478.44 points. With only four events remaining, Smith had e to average 2nd place or better to tie that average.
What Happened? Ben Smith got struck by lightening. With a 1st and 5th place finish, he accumulated 180 points, which is an average of 3rd between those two events.
Can He Still Make It? Definitely. Smith currently sits 7th overall and only 11 points outside of 5th. If he maintains a 90 point average over the next two events, he should qualify.
CHALK UP IN 2 MINUTES
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE YOU HIT THE BOX
Chris Spealler decided to accept his invitation to compete in the Master’s 35-39 at the CrossFit Games. Alyssa Ritchey’s BF used her Rogue Voodoo band as a tourniquet to save a woman’s life who had crashed her motorcycle. Meet Constance Stamatiou, a professional dancer who left her dance company to give birth to two children, suffered health complications, then used CrossFit to get back into performance shape to return to the big circuit. Whoever gets closest to guessing Alex Anderson’s time on the triangle of death WOD gets a free bag of Xwerks.
REGIONALS REFLECTIONS
Sheila Barden on failing to qualify last week…“It’s easy to get caught up in the coulda, woulda, shoulda – especially when things didn’t end the way you wanted. It’s easy to get lost on the journey, taking a wrong turn, stumbling, falling, crying. Feeling momentarily sorry for yourself. But ultimately, the destination is constantly shifting, even though the goal remains the same. And soon the overwhelming feeling of defeat, starts to shift to an engulfing, all consuming fire that burns deeper and brighter in your soul than any before.”
THINGS TO…
WATCH: I Peed My Pants Yesterday
Well if the title didn’t explain everything you need to know, Brooke Ence starts driving a car again (after surgery), goes bikini shopping, works out with friends and things get interesting.
IT MAKES ENCE.
IT MAKES ENCE.
HEAR: The Mindset of a Competitive Athlete
The mastermind coach behind CrossFit Invictus’ repeat team and athlete success at the CrossFit Games joins Barbell Shrugged to talk about how he trains his competitive athletes and sticking to the training plan.
TUNE IN.
TUNE IN.
EAT: Strawberry Peach Lemonade
Well hello Summer Sunday! The sun is out, it’s the final weekend of Regionals and what better way to refresh your afternoon and use up all the strawberries you bought at the grocery store.
DRINK UP.
DRINK UP.
CHALK UP READS
“Cultural Shift” by Andréa Maria Cecil, CrossFit Games
In 2015, Phil Hesketh became the first man to represent the United Arab Emirates at the CrossFit Games.
Today, the Middle Eastern country is home to three other athletes who also have competed at the Games as individuals: Rasmus Wisbech Andersen, Jonne Koski and Adrian Mundwiler. The four men are among 16 individual athletes at the Meridian Regional who are representing the Africa Region but are not natives of the area.
“The whole African Leaderboard is all Europeans aside from Jason Smith,” Alex Younger, another Meridian Regional athlete who relocated from Europe to the Middle East, said minutes after finishing Event 1 on Friday.
Hesketh moved to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in early 2014 without knowing much of anything about the country.