Every competition there are moments where a split second or an extra few pounds on a lift make the difference on the final leaderboard. However, in the moment, you never know if that split second will come back to haunt you.
At this year’s CrossFit Games there were several moments where athletes are likely looking back and wondering what would have happened if they just found that extra gear to cross the finish line a second faster. Let’s take a look at those top 5 moments…
#5…Mertens’ Jump Rope
Colten Mertens was in the lead when he reached the first set of 20 double-under crossovers. Then disaster struck. Mertens’ jump rope broke.
After running to the start line and then across the competition floor, Mertens received a back up rope to finish the workout. His rope broke at 2:12 and he restarted at 2:49, a loss of 37 seconds. Mertens also failed a number of DUCO’s early on as he adjusted to having a longer rope than he would normally use.
Had Mertens’ rope not broken, those 37 seconds (plus 4-5 seconds for one less failed DUCO) would have moved him from 20th in the event up to 13th place for an improvement of 22 points.
In addition to possibly being in the second heat for more events, those 22 points would have moved Colten up one spot to 11th overall for the weekend.
#4…Hammer Down Dallin
Throttle Up and Hammer Down were won by mere seconds. With both events being a sprint and back-to-back, every second counted. For Dallin Pepper, Hammer Down is where he could look back and say there was a chance he could have stood on the podium.
Pepper finished Hammer Down in 7th place with a time of 4:41.68. That could have been faster, but on his first rep on the final set of three burpee box jump overs he received a no rep for not stepping down. That no rep would cost him as Sprague would end up passing him on the final box. Sprague took 3rd overall with a time of 4:38.85.
Had Pepper no been no repped and he stayed ahead of Sprague, Pepper would have gained 20 points on Sprague (and 16 on Garard).
If you do the math, Pepper would have ended up tied with Garard for 2nd place. Garard, because of his win on the same event would have kept the tiebreaker and Pepper would have ended up 3rd…but on the podium.
#3…Sturt & Loewen on Running Isabel
Maddie Sturt and Arielle Loewen ended up with the same amount of points…631 total. Loewen earned 5th place over Sturt with her first place finish on Throttle Up. However, it could have been a different story had Sturt been just a little faster on Running Isabel.
Loewen and Sturt finished 6th and 7th, respectively, on Running Isabel. The two crossed the finish line within 0.57 seconds of each other with Loewen edging out Sturt.Â
That would end up being the difference between Loewen staying ahead of Sturt in the final standings.
#2…Sprague Loses to Medeiros in the Final Event
Yes, all eyes were on the center of the floor as Jayson Hopper was finishing up his last 10 feet of overhead walking lunges to become the Fittest Man on Earth. But while that was happening, Justin Medeiros went unbroken and passed James Sprague to win the event.
At the time, Medeiros’ event win didn’t seem to matter in the big picture. But when the final leaderboard was revealed, Sprague was just one point behind Ricky Garard for second place.
Medeiros ended up crossing the finish line just 0.48 seconds ahead of Sprague. Had Sprague beaten Medeiros, Sprague would have taken 2nd place at this year’s Games.
#1…Ricky Garard’s Back Squat
It’s no secret that Ricky Garard was unhappy with the pegboard. However, it the back squat that ended up being the most critical.
Garard finished 23rd in the 1RM Back Squat event with a 455-lb. back squat. However, Garard missed his attempt at 465 pounds. Had he hit that third attempt, he would have tied Sprague for 18th.
The difference between 23rd and 18th was 15 points. Garard lost to Hopper by 14 points.
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