What a week it has been. We have been glued to our computer and TV screens watching the excitement unfold. There is no denying that this year’s CrossFit Games were the most challenging yet for the athletes and it was a fight right up until the end for those top spots!

 

2015 seemed to be the year of the ‘rookie’ with many guys and girls making their debut Games appearances. From Australia and New Zealand in particular, we had five fresh faces make their mark on the competition and dominate the leader board. In fact, 2015 was the first year that a female from America has NOT made the top three!!!

 

 

We’d like to make two VERY special mentions to two Australian athletes competing at the CrossFit Games for the very first time – Tia-Clair Toomey and Ben Gerard.   Both athletes went into the competition under the shadow of bigger Aussie names such as Kara Webb, Rob Forte, Denae Brown and Chad Mackay. However, these two amazing athletes shone through, held their own and represented Australia so well. We are incredibly proud!

 

What was also incredible to see were the athletes, from every region, who make it back to the Games year after year. They proved yet again that they really are some of the fittest individuals in the sport and have continued to improve and grow exponentially as the sport itself does.

 

Now the dust has had time to settle, it is time to reflect on our favourite moments from this year’s Games. We have tried to be unbiased and keep all athletes in mind but it’s hard for us to ignore just how incredible the performances were by all of the Aussies (and Kiwis!) – individual and team!

 

 

Top 7 stand out moments from this year’s CrossFit Games, as picked by CrossFit Victoria

 

 1) Chad Mackay and his head to heads!

 

It was heart-breaking to see Chad ‘The Unit’ Mackay having to pull out of the competition due to a fractured rib, and we really hope he recovers well! We had Chad picked to win and he was sitting comfortably in the top 5 from early on.

 

Chad certainly put on a show in the events he competed in and gave a couple of athletes a run for their money, chasing them down in the last few seconds. As he completed the final swim of Event 1, Chad was hot on the heals of Noah Ohlsen and as they both exited the water it was a sprint to the finish line, with Ohlsen just pipping him to the post at the last second.

 

At the end of Murph, Chad charged down Nathan Bramblet on the last few hundred metres. Bramblet couldn’t keep up and Chad beat him to the finish line by fractions of a second to place 18^th in that event.  It’s this commitment to excellence that makes Chad one of our favourite athletes ever!

 

[Ok, so technically we cheated because we mentioned TWO favourites here – but it’s hard to choose between them!]

 

 

2) Watching the Aussies smash the swim events

 

The swimming events are a really great opener to the games and really test athletes’ overall fitness. Us Aussies seem to have a fantastic affinity for water. In it, on it, under it – wherever! Being surrounded by the stuff as a country seems to have its benefits when it comes to the swim events at The CrossFit Games. And this year was no exception, with Australia securing an impressive NINE top ten finishes at the beach events.

 

1^st (W) Kara Webb

1^st (T) CrossFit Athletic

2^nd (M) Khan Porter

4^th (W) Tia-Clair Toomey

4^th (M) Chad Mackay

5^th (M) Ben Garard

6^th (W) Sammy Wood

7^th (T) Schwartz’s CrossFit Melbourne

9^th (W) Denae Brown

 

 

3) Seven podium places for the Aussie Masters and Teens

 

1^st Isabella Vallejo (Girls, 16-17)

1^st Matt Swift (Male, 45-50)

1^st Kylie Massi (Women, 45-50)

2^nd Lynne Knapman (Women, 55-59)

3^rd Rees Machell (Boys, 16-17)

3^rd Francine Pehi (Women, 45-50)

3^rd Amanda Allen (Women, 40-44)

 

The masters divisions were as inspiring as ever! Over the course of three days, athletes ranging in age from 40 to 60 and beyond showed us that age really is just a number. We just hope that one day we can be half as fit as these men and women throwing down and dispelling the myth that life ends at 50!

 2015 was the first year in which we saw boys and girls aged 14-17 compete in the Teen divisions. What was so inspiring is that these young machines are the incredible future of our sport! It’s exciting to think that in a couple of years time we will be seeing these guys and girls competing in the Individual completion.

 

It will be interesting to see just how far the sport will go in the next couple of years. If athletes, who have maybe only been doing CrossFit for 2 or 3 years, are already annihilating the competition at the games, just how powerful will these athletes be who have started specifically training CrossFit from a young age?! We can’t wait to follow their journey

 

 

4) The amazing leader board battle of 2015

 

In both the male and female individuals, there was no stand out leader throughout the whole Games. Whether it was between The Dottirs Vs The Aussies or whether it was the Koski, Smith and Fraiser battle for those podium places. We were sitting on the edge of our seats until the very end, waiting to see who was going to win! We could not imagine the stress that the athletes were going through, considering that the stress we were going through just watching was intense! It was this battle that made this year’s games so amazing.

 

 

5) The continued Icelandic rule!

 

There has to be something in the water in Iceland and, whatever it is, we want some! Every year the ladies from Iceland head up the top spots on the leader board. This year, Katrin Davidsdottir is the new fittest woman in the world and Sara Sigmundsdóttir certainly gave her a good run for her money, eventually finishing third overall.  The Dottirs also really showed us what it’s like to be amazing sports-ladies. Not only did they show incredible strength, composure and adaptability, but also incredible sportsmanship.  The Dottirs were always the first on the field to cheer on anyone who was still finishing an event and were, without a doubt, the most supportive athletes on the field.

 

6) Dan Bailey the Comeback Kid

 

Dan Bailey is, hands-down, one of CrossFit’s most consistent athletes. He has never finished a CrossFit Games outside of the top ten and his performance this year was nothing short of outstanding. We were not surprised when he was awarded Spirit of the Games!

 

Dan came into day 2 well outside of the top ten. He had a couple of disappointing finishes on the Sandbag Run and the Snatch ladder. Not letting this phase him, he demolished Heavy DT, placing 6^th in that event, and absolutely stormed through the two sprint courses, finishing first in both. He even lost his sunglasses on one of the hurdles, managed to catch them, carry on and still win his heat. That man has style! His persistence, attitude and commitment paid off and he managed to successfully fight his way back up the leader board to finish in fourth over all.

 

 

7) Froning is still the champ!

 

We were all pretty gutted last year when Rich Froning, four times CrossFit Games champion, announced his retirement from individual competition to try his hand as part of a team. We could have happily watched him take 1^st place year in, year out.

 

However, Froning and his team CrossFit Mayhem Freedom, did not disappoint. After a couple of lower placed finishes in the first events Mayhem Freedom, in true Froning-style, came storming back and managed to secure the gold on the final day of competition! It was also great to watch Jason Kahlipa and Tommy Hackenbruck head up their respective teams and we wonder if any other competition veterans will follow suit next year!

 

 

So, that’s our favourite moments… what were yours? Let us know!

 

 

*All photos courtesy of CrossFit.com