Another year of the CrossFit Open has come and gone. In the blink of an eye, five weeks went by, and, like any heated sporting event, both expectations, along with some surprises, occurred.

 

On the women’s side of things, we saw a mix up in the top 5 finishers, with final results revealing:

 

1.     Annie Thorisdottir (111)

2.     Kara Webb (129)

3.     Ragnheiður Sara Sigmundsdottir (141)

4.     Emily Bridgers (149)

5.     Camille Leblanc-Bazinet

 

 

Going into Week 5, it looked like the 2014 Games’ ‘champ, Leblanc-Bazinet’ would hold onto her crown in the Open. However, a 92^nd place overall finish on WOD 15.5 would thrust her from first place to 5^th place when all was said and done.

 

Unfortunately, rowing for the 5’2’’ (130 lbs.) former gymnast was not her strong suit, compared to the 5’6’’ (152 lbs) Thorisdottir and 5’6’’ (138 lbs.) Briggs during the ‘head-to-head’ match at the final Open WOD announcement.

 

How will her 5^th place affect her overall?

 

The season is just beginning, and the Open, while telling of an individual’s blood, sweat and tears put into their training, is only a piece of a larger puzzle.

 

Last year, for instance, the 2013 Games champion, Samantha Briggs, crushed the Open—finishing first overall with three first place finishes on three of the workouts—only to place 4^that her European Regional, costing her a trip back to the Games.

 

There is no doubt that Camille’s 5^th place finish in the Open, on the tails of her 1^st place finish at the 2014 Games, has left her hungry to prove herself come her first appearance at the South West Regional. And, after proving to herself (and the world), she had what it takes to redeem herself from her 16^th-overall finish at the 2013 CrossFit Games, into 1^st place in 2014, Camille is one of those athletes who likes to have a ‘rabbit’ to chase, or something to work towards.

 

 

Thorisdottir’s consistency throughout all five weeks, with four top 10 finishes, proved to be where the Open was won. Thorisdottir talked about how 2015 signified redemption and continued strength in her recovery from a severe back injury that left her out of the 2013 Games, and only on the brink of feeling ‘better’ in 2014.

 

“I had numbness on my leg for half a year…didn’t lift weights for a year…people kept telling me, I could do it. And it was really hard to believe that for myself…but I took it one day at a time… what I’ve learned is if you want something enough and you believe in yourself, you can do it,” Thorisdottir said.

 

Kara Webb feels the exact same.

 

 

Last year, during the 2014 Games, Webb suffered a compressed nerve in her left arm that forced her to withdraw from the final day of competition and finish her lowest performance in all three years of her Games’ appearances (31^st). The 25-year-old Australian is a natural athlete, to say the least, and one would never know she had a set-back, based on her three top-5 (worldwide) performances during weeks 2, 3 and 5.

 

“I had a little bit of a rough start to the Open (49^th on WOD 1), with feeling extremely fatigued in the weeks leading up to it—only to find out I have a genetic liver condition that was making me so tired. It’s nothing serious but it was enough to run me down a little and I had to make a few necessary changes (to my diet in particular) just before the Open,” Webb said.

 

While week 4 also was not Webb’s best performance (50^th overall), secondary to her difficulties still with the high-rep pushing motion of handstand pushups (due to her former injury), she made up for it in week five, going out with a bang (4^th place worldwide on 15.5).

 

 

Ragnheiður Sara Sigmundsdottir of CrossFit Sudrnee in Iceland is a completely new name and face to the top of the worldwide leaderboard. The 22-year old, who placed 12^th overall in the 2014 European Regional, apparently has been hard at work this past year. While she had no athletic background, prior to starting CrossFit in 2012, she, like Webb, is a natural (“I didn’t do any sport until I was 17 years old when I started a boot camp course and taking spinning classes. My best memory from the boot camp course was when I was the only girl who could do a push up on my toes and I was so happy that I could do 5 in a row!”). In fact, she’s been a regular Regional competitor since 2012, and hopes, this year, is her year to qualify for the 2015 Games. According to Sigmundsdottir, gymnastics was once her weakness, but now seems to be her strength, with a 3^rd place worldwide finish on 15.3 (muscle-ups) and 4th place worldwide finish on WOD 15.4 (handstand pushups).

 

 

Emily Bridgers’ on the other hand, has always been known for her gymnastics, as a former collegiate gymnast at the University of Georgia, who unfortunately, was forced to retire due to a severe back injury. Nonetheless, CrossFit has allowed her to re-strengthen her back since 2010, and she was able to hold her own worldwide, with her 2^nd place overall finish on WOD 1 (snatch, deadlift, toes to bar AMRAP) and 5^th place overall on WOD 2 (overhead squats and chest to bar pull-ups). While it seemed like finishing the Open with a 30^th and 42^nd overall finish on WODs 4 and 5 would knock her out of the top leaderboard running, she managed to hold on, and is hopeful to make 2015 her year-two back at the Games.

 

So, with these results, what does this mean going forward?

 

Three things were apparent during this year’s Open:

 
1.     An athlete either ‘has it’ or does not when it comes to advancing to Regionals. As our sport continues to grow more competitive, and the barrier to entry tighter, being ‘Games ready’ is an expectation much earlier on in the season (i.e. the Open) than later (by Regionals).

2.     CrossFit remains a sport of the unknown and unknowable. While some old veterans and familiar faces made their way back to the Leaderboard, so did a fair share of athletes who have been ‘at it’ for several years—but not on top…until now. 

3.     The next stage: Regionals, and ultimately the Games, are still anyone’s for the taking (i.e. there are no guarantees).

Related Articles:
The Hunt For The World's Fittest Teen Has Begun
What's In Store: Thorisdottir Three-Peat?
The 2015 Open Is In The Books