23.1 CrossFit Open Preview: Gudmundsson vs Djukic

Yesterday, we previewed the match-up between Laura Horvath and Gabriela Migala. Today, we are looking at the performances of Bjorgvin Karl Gudmundsson and Lazar Djukic. As a reminder, the 23.1 live announcement from Madrid, Spain, is tomorrow, February 16.

The men’s side of the Open announcement features Bjorgvin Karl Gudmundsson and Lazar Djukic. Gudmundsson holds the advantage when it comes to longevity, Bjorgvin has been to the CrossFit Games nine consecutive years. Djukic, however, has made it to the Games the past two seasons finishing both inside the top 10.

The two men were the top European finishers at the 2022 CrossFit Games and 2023 is shaping up to look no different.

Let’s take a look at how these two athletes have fared over the past two years.

CrossFit Open

While Djukic has been doing the Open since 2017, his performances were not near that of Gudmundsson’s until 2021. Gudmunddson has been ranked inside the world’s top 100 in the Open since 2013, his second Open appearance while Djukic only cracked the top 100 two years ago.

Outside of a slow start, Djukic outperformed Gundmundsson on the three remaining scored workouts to finish 34th in the world. But that would change in 2022…

Quarterfinals

Similar to the women’s side yesterday, the Quarterfinals start to show how closely matched these two athletes are.

In 2021, Gudmundsson still showed his dominance with solid performances week in and week out. The Icelandic would take 5th in the Europe Quarterfinal compared to Djukic’s 14th place. But that gap would narrow in 2022…

This past year Djukic showed he has the ability to compete for the top spot out of Europe. While Gudmundsson still walked away with the top spot at the Quarterfinal, Djukic finished in third overall. Not only that, but the scores between all of the events are razor thin…a preview of what was to come later in the season.

Semifinals

Unlike the women, we only have one year of comparison between the two men at the past two Semifinal competitions. In 2021, Djukic competed out of the CrossFit German Throwdown while Gudmundsson went to the CrossFit Lowlands Throwdown.

But in 2022, both men headed to the CrossFit Lowlands Throwdown where Djukic took 1st overall, one spot ahead of Gundmundsson.

This time Djukic finally got Gudmundsson in a competition. Djukic never finished outside the top 8 in any event throughout the weekend on his way to 1st place overall. But Gudumundsson wasn’t fall off his heels.

CrossFit Games

As mentioned earlier, Bjorgvin is one of the most consistent Games athletes of all time. With nine appearances, eight of which were inside the top 10 along with two podium finishes, Gudmundsson is by far the most dominant European male athlete of all-time.

But while Djukic doesn’t have the long history at the Games, he is pushing to become the most dominant today. In his two appearances at the Games, Djukic has finished in 9th and 8th in 2021 and 2022, respectively. His 2022 performance put him one spot ahead of Gudmundsson at the Games when Bjorgvin finished 9th overall.

Summary

Bjorgvin Karl Gudmundsson and Lazar Djukic are the top two athletes in Europe. While one is on the back half of his career, the other is looking to take his place as the top athlete in Europe. The match-up between the two should be a good one as both are well-rounded athletes without any serious weaknesses.

Don’t be surprised if the outcome on Thursday comes down to just a few seconds or reps.