Patrick Vellner and Sara Sigmundsdottir took the CrossFit Open 2020 crowns following a dramatic final workout in the men’s division.
The task was 40 ring muscle-ups, an 80-calorie row and 120 wall ball shots (20lbs for men and 14lbs for women) for time.
Greek athlete Lefteris Theofanidis had led the competition through every stage up to the final event, despite incurring penalties after the videos of two workouts received criticism, but only managed 76th place on the crucial last weekend.
That left the leaderboard wide open and an average performance from previously second-place Mat Fraser to land 24th in 10:45 meant Vellner was able to storm through and snatch top spot.
The Canadian put in a phenomenal time of 10:09 to pick up second place in the workout, his first top-10 performance of the series. He wrote on Instagram afterwards: “I’m proud of my effort, and it’s a great way to start the year. On to Sanctionals.”
In the women’s division, there was no change at the top of the rankings as Sigmundsdottir showed no weakness with a second-place performance to clinch top spot. The Icelander was in formidable form throughout the whole competition, racking up four top-three finishes in five workouts, and she will be looking to put serious pressure on reigning champion Tia-Clair Toomey in the Games later this season.
Sigmundsdottir’s training partner Annie Thorisdottir clung on to second place overall with a strong closing performance, clocking 12:47 for 10th in the workout.
Ireland’s Emma McQuaid ended up fifth in the world, surpassing her previous best of 12th in 2016, with a solid final time of 13:23. That should give the 29-year-old a major confidence boost going into the first Sanctional of the year in Dublin at the Filthy 150, taking place this weekend.
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