We all know that Toomey’s two-point victory over Webb was the closest winning margin in Games history. The two points separating the two Australian women represents just a 0.2% scoring differential after 13 events over 4 days.
During those four days, there were a few moments (or seconds) in time that could have changed the podium.
Let’s take at how a fraction of a second or one pound could have made the difference…
0.86 seconds. Beginning with the first event, Tia-Clair Toomey beat Kristi Eramo on Event 1, Run Swim Run, by less than one second. Had Eramo found the extra gear for the event victory, it would have been a six point swing to Webb.
1 pound. We all know Alessandra Pichelli thought she went for 207 pounds on her final 1RM Snatch, but didn’t load the bar properly, taking her back to 202 pounds. If she had gone conservative and gone for 203 pounds, that would have pushed Toomey back six points.
But had Pichelli gone up two pounds to 204, she would have passed by Webb and Toomey, causing both to lose 6 points and the point spread would remain the same.
1.96 seconds. For an event that lasted around 18 minutes, two seconds is a pretty narrow gap. That’s exactly the amount of time Webb needed to improve on the Madison Triplet Sunday morning to take 8th place over Chyna Cho. Those 1.96 seconds were worth four points.
3 Overhead Squats. How fast can you walk a couple steps and complete three overhead squats? According to CrossFit HQ, six seconds. After Kara Webb’s judge inadvertently told Webb to run to the finish line before completing the final three reps on the 2223 Intervals, CrossFit had a dilemma. How would they handle the miscounted reps?
After reviewing Webb’s previous three reps, they settled on a six second penalty. That dropped her from 2nd to 4th in the event, a difference of 10 points. If Webb could have found an extra gear and knocked out those final reps in 4.78 seconds, Webb would have gained four critical points.
Surprisingly, these were the only four events where a second or two could have made the difference between Toomey and Webb. But just a second here or there could have changed history…every second counts.
