[UPDATE: Ananiadi’s score was removed from the CrossFit Games leaderboard shortly after we posted this article. She is back on the leaderboard and is currently in 15th overall and is in 1st place for both lifts.]
If you have checked the CrossFit Liftoff leaderboard today, you might have seen a name near the top that you don’t recognize, Eutixia Ananiadi. As of 11am PST on Monday, Ananiadi has the top snatch and clean and jerk and sits in 5th overall.
Here are the videos she posted of her workouts…
Ananiadi used to compete in Olympic Weightlifting for Greece. Under the spelling, Eftychia Ananiadou, she competed at the 2014 and 2015 European Senior Championships where she finished 7th and 5th, respectively, in the +75kg weight category.
Ananiadou also competed at the 2015 IWF World Championships in Houston, Texas. She put up a 113kg snatch and 138kg clean and jerk at the competition, but was disqualified after she failed an in-competition drug test.
Ananiadou tested posited for deyhdrochlormethyltestosterone, an anabolic agent. She would receive an 8-year ban from competing in Olympic Weightlifting as a result of the failed drug test. Her suspension ends December 21, 2023.
Here is the Greek TV interview. The YouTube description translated in English says, “‘I feel lovable despite strange looks because of my muscular body’: Crossfit athlete Happiness Ananiadi in Annita Panias.” The audio is not translated.
There are only 24 images on her Instagram feed. One references the Greek Throwdown from back in May while another one in September references the Spanish Throwdown. She is tagged in a photo showing she won the Spanish Throwdown. We were unable to track down archived leaderboards from the events.
Here is a video of her first snatch attempt from the 2014 European Senior Championship.
Here is her final two failed clean and jerk attempts at 130kg from the same event.
She came back in 2015 and improved upon her lifts. Ananiadou finished with a 110kg (242lbs) snatch and 130kg (286lbs) clean and jerk to take 5th in the +75kg weight category.
With the IWF’s suspension it is unlikely that CrossFit will allow Ananiadi’s scores to stand. Stay tuned to The Barbell Spin as this story develops.
