Patrick Vellner & Emma McQuaid Take Wins At Wodapalooza 2022

The Wodapalooza CrossFit Festival marked the first major CrossFit event of 2022, with Patrick Vellner and Emma McQuaid both getting the year off to a winning start.

Two BFA athletes - Aimee Cringle and Martin Johansen - also hit the competition floor in Miami, with Aimee finishing 17th in the Women’s Elite division.

Aimee took a top-10 spot in the last workout of the weekend on a day that saw some dramatic movements in the women’s leaderboard. 

Ellie Turner had been leading the competition by 20 points going into Sunday morning, but she could only manage 32nd and ninth in the last two workouts respectively.

That meant the 23-year-old ended up finishing outside of the top five. McQuaid and Bethany Shadburne had been tied for second place at the start of the final day, but it was the former who took the win by nine points after placing seventh and third in the final two events.

The victory marks a breakthrough moment in McQuaid’s career as she secured her first-ever major win. 

“It was incredible,” said McQuaid, “I enjoyed every single event, and the atmosphere was amazing."

The 32-year-old used to be an international quad bike competitor, but fell in love with CrossFit after discovering the sport in America when there supporting her husband who was going through rehab following a serious crash at a quad track.

“This weekend wouldn’t have been possible without my amazing friend and training partner, and coach for the weekend, Sam Briggs,” McQuaid added. “She made sure everything was perfect from start to finish.”

In the men’s division, Vellner secured the Wodapalooza title for the third year in a row.

The Canadian won two events and came in the top 10 in another seven to take the win with a dominant performance over the weekend. 

The men’s and women’s team categories, meanwhile, were won by The Boys and Team Kriger respectively.

Both had some big names in their squads. The Boys consisted of Noah Ohlsen, Travis Mayer and Chandler Smith, while Team Kriger had Kristin Holte, Lena Richter and Ingrid Hodnemyr.