We are down to the final week of the 2019 CrossFit Open. The live announcement for 19.5 will be hosted by the Wodapalooza CrossFit Festival in Miami, Florida. Following the workout reveal (hint: it’s gonna have thrusters), CrossFit Games champions Mat Fraser and Tia-Clair Toomey will face off. Joining them will be the top two women competing out of Mexico, Brenda Castro and Lea Schmidt.
To watch the 19.5 live stream, go to Games.CrossFit.com on Thursday at 8pm Eastern / 5pm Pacific.
After four weeks, Mat Fraser tops the worldwide leaderboard. Fraser won 19.3 and appears to have finished 2nd on 19.4 (once the scoring errors have been cleared up and Jonne Koski’s time holds up following video review). While Fraser is competing in the Open, the defending CrossFit Games champ has already secured a ticket to the 2019 CrossFit Games after winning the Dubai CrossFit Championship.
19.5 will be the first time the defending two-time Games champ has been part of an Open live announcement. Toomey has declined invites in the past to avoid travelling during the Open. This year, however, Toomey lives in Cookeville, Tennessee and the travel is not as burdensome. Like Fraser, Toomey has already qualified for the CrossFit Games. Toomey won the Wodapalooza CrossFit Festival in January.
But while most will be focused on Fraser and Toomey, the more important battle will be between Castro and Schmidt. The two women from Mexico are battling for the top spot from their country. Both are sitting well outside the top 20 worldwide so the only remaining way to qualify via the Open is by becoming a national champion. As of this morning, Castro has yet to validate her score so Schmidt is shown as #1 in Mexico. By the time they face off on Thursday, Castro and Schmidt will likely be almost equal on Mexico’s leaderboard.
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