Toomey Joins Stacked Field at MACC

May 6   |   POWERED BY

Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up.

In today’s edition:

• CrossFit announces Semifinal reseeding.
• Masters Men to Watch in 2021.
• Dan Bailey takes mindful approach to AGOQ.
• Larissa Cunha looks to fulfill childhood dream.
• Hot off the press! Commemorate the 2020 CrossFit Games season with a Morning Chalk Up limited edition print newspaper. On sale now.

We love seeing your story tips, quotes and PRs roll in. Keep sending them to [email protected].

“If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.” - J.R.R. Tolkien

CrossFit Announces Semifinals Reseeding; Toomey Competing at MACC

CrossFit announced changes to the 2021 NOBULL CrossFit Games Semifinals in an Instagram post on Tuesday evening. In the post, they announced that several athletes who could not compete in their respective Semifinals due to travel restrictions have been extended invitations to compete in Semis closer to where they live, this included two live, in-person competitions in the United States and one in Australia.

One big thing: Six athletes were reseeded and given invitations into different Semifinals than their original one with four-time reigning and defending “Fittest Woman on Earth” Tia-Clair Toomey headlining that group. Toomey will now compete at the Mid-Atlantic CrossFit Challenge on May 28-30 in Lexington, Kentucky. Along with Toomey, Emma Chapman, Carla Henriet and Christina Livaditakis have been extended invites to compete at a live competition. The remaining two athletes, Lee Keyrouz and Tafadzwa Muchandu, have been extended invites to compete at a different online Semifinal.

The details: The reseeding occurred due to athletes who qualified for their respective Semifinals not accepting their invitations, leaving open spots to fill at the discretion of CrossFit.

• In the case of Toomey, who was originally set to compete at the Torian Pro Semifinal in her native Australia but was later moved to the online Atlas Games due to travel restrictions a week ago, spots became available after Andrea Nisler (Mayhem Freedom) and Carrie Beamer (CrossFit i1uvit) elected to compete on their respective teams at Semifinals than as individuals at the MACC.

The Nutrition Program Backed by Mat Fraser

Speaking to Hybrid Performance Method, the five-time CrossFit Games winner put his nutrition down to three core principles:

• Simple is best.
• Small changes at a time.
• Sustainability is key.

You see, nutrition needs to take the human side of you into account if it’s going to be effective.

Hybrid Nutrition partners you with a personal nutrition coach to help you make smart food choices and maintain control whatever life throws at you.

Whether you’re eating to look fit or eating to be fit, find out how a Hybrid Nutrition Coach will help you.

• MUST READ: “CrossFit: Female Athletes Face Constant Abuse and Sexual harassment on Instagram“. The South China Morning Post released a follow-up article to our stories on the harassment female CrossFit athletes face on Instagram by Patrick Blennerhassett:
  • Blennerhassett: ” A recent expose piece on CrossFit blog Morning Chalk Up reiterated what we all know: women face constant sexual harassment on social media platforms such as Instagram.”
• PushPress is hiring a Demand Generation Specialist and a UI/UX Specialist.
• The Teens and Masters division for the Fittest in Cape Town is postponed. The Fittest in Cape Town management has made the decision to move the Teens and Masters Division to take place over the same weekend as the Community Series. 
  • The Community Series is planned to take place in August with the exact date still to be confirmed. Due to current COVID Regulations and restrictions, they will be unable to host the total number of athletes inside the competition arena as needed to run these extra divisions simultaneously as the CrossFit Games Semifinals divisions.
• The Scaled Nation Classic Week Four leaders are Jason Campos, Jessica Post and Marie-Claude Meloche. The final event is May 15. Here is the updated leaderboard.
• The Ten Thousand is releasing a new series called “Tested and Vetted” to provide honest and unbiased third party reviews of training gear and accessories.

Masters Men to Watch in 2021

Perhaps one of the most unique aspects of CrossFit is the prominence of the masters division. Unlike many sports, where athletes fade into obscurity following the end of their careers, CrossFit presents athletes with the opportunity to continue cultivating their competitive edge into their golden years through the masters divisions that run concurrently with the individuals during the CrossFit Games each year.

One big thing: As the sport has continued to age, so have the original big names that once topped the leaderboards in the individual division. The following men, once in the limelight of competition under the individual spotlight, now move to continue their careers in the masters divisions:

Dan Bailey: Age 37 (35-39 Division)

• Open Finish: 4th
• 5 Individual Games Appearances
  • 2011: 6th
  • 2012: 6th
  • 2013: 8th
  • 2014: 10th
  • 2015: 4th

Five-Time Games Competitor Dan Bailey Takes Mindful Approach to AG Online Qualifier

CrossFit Games veteran Dan Bailey put on a show during the 2021 Open, finishing fourth in the 35-39 age group. He is now preparing for the Age Group Online Qualifiers, which would send him to the Games once again.

Remind me: A five-time CrossFit Games competitor, Bailey made his first appearance in 2011. He won Regionals by 18 points and then took sixth place at the Games. He returned to Carson in 2012, taking sixth once again. Bailey was a mainstay in the individual competition, posting a career-best finish of fourth in 2015 and winning Spirit of the Games. Though pec and knee injuries caused problems in the 2017 and 2018 seasons, respectively.

Larissa Cunha Looking Fulfill Childhood Dream by Making it to Madison

Larissa Cunha grew up dreaming about competing at the Olympics in gymnastics. For 12 years, she pursued the sport and became a national level gymnast, but didn’t quite reach her Olympic goal of representing Brazil on the biggest stage of her sport.

• Today, the CrossFit Games dream has replaced Cunha’s Olympics goal, and after “100 percent” devoting herself to her sport in recent years, the 30-year-old, who placed first in South America in the Quarterfinals, feels like it might finally be her year.
• “The Olympics were a personal dream of mine and I couldn’t do it. So I think this was always in my subconscious when I started developing in CrossFit,” Cunha said.

Cunha’s competitive history: Cunha’s first big competition was the Latin American regional competition in 2018, where she placed 10th overall. She has been on the rise since then.

• In 2019, she missed qualifying to the Games by becoming her country’s national champion in the Open by one spot. She won four events, but placed 26th in Brazil on 19.1 — a couplet of wall balls and rowing — which dropped her to second overall.

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Chalk Up Highlights is our section dedicated to celebrating our community’s wins in the gym. Follow @ChalkUpHighlights and submit your highlight to [email protected] to be featured.

• Happy Birthday to Matt Shaver, National Sales Manager at NOOMA.
• Ellia Miller snatches 195 pounds/89kg for a PR.
• Ben Smith pause front squats 407 pounds/185kg.
• Dallin Pepper split jerks 375 pounds/170kg for a PR.
• Anderon Primo front squats 410 pounds/186kg for 4.
• Annmarie Battaglia deadlifts 205 pounds/93kg for 8 for a PR.
• Ernest Reyna power cleans 280 pounds/127kg.
• Jordan Wissinger back squats 485 pounds/220kg for a PR.

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