Tia-Clair Toomey has done what no other CrossFit Games athlete, male or female, has done before. On Sunday, Toomey won her sixth consecutive CrossFit Games title in Madison, Wisconsin.
After a slow start on Wednesday, Toomey saw herself sitting in 9th overall following a 23rd place finish on the Skill Speed Medley. In that event, Toomey failed to complete the 75 unbroken single-unders in the first round. She was unable to make up the lost time and did not advance to the second round of the event.
But Toomey came back strong on Thursday on the two scored events of the Shuttle to Overhead workout. Toomey finished 2nd in the run portion and 1st in the lifting segment.
Friday started as Thursday ended. Toomey notched a third place finish in The Capitol event and after Mal O’Brien’s 9th place finish, Toomey recaptured the white leader’s jersey. From there, Toomey never looked back.
Toomey never relinquished the top spot on the leaderboard and continued to widen the gap event after event. Toomey entered the final event, Jackie Pro, with over a 100 point lead over O’Brien thereby securing her sixth straight CrossFit Games title.
O’Brien took second place overall, making her, at 18 years old, the youngest athlete to ever stand on the CrossFit Games podium. Laura Horvath rounded out the podium after a strong comeback over the weekend with two event wins and five top 4 event finishes.
Toomey’s sixth Games title places her one ahead of Mat Fraser and two ahead of Rich Froning’s four individual titles. Throughout the week, rumors were heard that this could be Toomey’s final CrossFit Games. As Toomey was finishing her bar muscle-ups on Jackie Pro, Sean Woodland appeared to let the cat out of the bag.
Woodland commented, “Move over Mat, step aside Rich. For the sixth time and for the final time, Tia Toomey is the Fittest Woman on Earth.” See the clip below.
But after the event was over, Toomey left fans wondering what next season would hold. In a post-competition interview, Toomey said, “That’s the question. We’ll see.”
