One of the cool features the Games site added this year was the ‘All Regional’ leaderboard. In previous years, someone on the Internet had to put this together for everyone to compare the athletes. And while there are obvious differences between the regional competitions (i.e. timing, altitude – hello Salt Lake City, judging standards, etc), it does provide a directional guide to who did well compared to other regionals.
The biggest surprise on the leaderboard right now is that Mat Fraser is not in 1st place on the All Regional leaderboard. Fraser is in 2nd place. In 1st? That distinction goes to Patrick Vellner.
While Fraser holds three event records, Fraser’s performance on Event 1 put him back in 53rd. And while the rest of his five events are all top 4, it is not good enough to match Vellner’s consistency. Vellner’s best worldwide regional finish was 3rd on Event 5, however, his worst finish was only 15th on Event 6.
With one week remaining, Vellner has 52 points compared to Fraser’s 63. Fikowski, the other podium finisher from 2017, is in 3rd with 97 points. So while many have Fraser already penciled in as the 2018 CrossFit Games champion, Vellner is doing everything he can to change that.
On the women’s side, Katrin Davidsdottir is dominating the All Regional leaderboard with just 23 points. Annie Thorisdottir is in 2nd with 52 points followed by Kari Pearce in 3rd.
