What Happened on Friday at TYR Wodapalooza?

James Sprague and Lucy Campbell were crowned the champions of the 2025 TYR Wodapalooza Friday night. Outside of the podium, there were a few other story lines that I think were interesting.

Let’s take a look…

GUI’S 400-POUND CLEAN COMPLEX

Gui Malheiros is the undisputed best lifter in CrossFit. I don’t remember the last time he lost a weightlifting-only in-person competition. Sure, pair it with running and it’s a different story.

But put a barbell in his hands for an event and you might as well just give him 100 points.

On Friday, Gui made the clean + hang clean complex look like child’s play. His speed under the bar and standing up out of the squat was unparalleled. 

It was clear early on that he was going to win. And unlike two years ago, he made sure he loaded 400 pounds on the bar. 

HORVATH GET WEAK?

One of the bigger surprises Friday was Laura Horvath not winning the clean event. While she took 3rd place in the event, many, including myself thought she would win it. 

But neither Horvath nor Dani Speegle could keep up with the weight put up by Kyra Milligan and Anikha Greer in earlier heats. 

With 255 pounds on the scoreboard, Horvath and Speegle seemed to play it safe and just go for 250. 

HATFIELD’S NEAR-PERFECT DAY

Austin Hatfield nearly won four straight events to cap off the individual competition. Hatfield won Event 3 to end Thursday night.

He the tied for 2nd in the clean event, only behind Malheiros. He would then win the last two events of the competition. 

Three event wins and a second place finish earned him 397 out of a possible 400 points.

But while Hatfield piled on the points on Friday, James Sprague didn’t give in. In that same span, Sprague went 2nd, 14th, 2nd, 2nd. As you can see Sprague did not let Hatfield gain enough points to catch him.

ATTENDANCE

First, I’ll caveat that I am not in Miami Beach, but sometimes perception is reality. TYR Arena on Friday night during the final event did not look close to capacity last night.

Now I’ve heard the crowds during the day have been good both days. If so, why did everyone leave when both the men’s and women’s race was not settled?

I can remember just two years ago when Flagler had a line 100 people deep at multiple entries to get in to watch Friday night’s final event. People were complaining that something needed to be done to improve the seating capacity. 

Maybe it was the weather. Last year it rained three of the four days and by the end the bleachers were sparse.

This week it has been unseasonably cold. With skies mostly overcast all day, it was in the 50’s during the final event. Combined with the wind, many in attendance might have preferred to leave and just watch the livestream (which I might add was the best it has been).

Today is forecasted to have the best weather. Let’s hope the weekend and better weather brings the crowd. 


RECAP SHOWS

We will be hosting recap shows on The Barbell Spin YouTube channel for the elite teams today and tomorrow. Join us for the pre-show beginning at 11:40am.

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