In one of the closest finishes possible, Frederick Aegidius held off Lukas Hogberg by just two points to take 5th place and qualify for the 2017 CrossFit Games. Aegidius was in 4th place heading into Event 6, just 13 points ahead of Lukas Esslinger in 6th place and 14 points ahead of Hogberg in 7th. Elliot Simmonds was in 5th place.
Hogberg was the first to finish the Assault Bike and was closely followed by Esslinger. Hogberg would slow down on the burpees allowing Esslinger to take the lead and ultimately 1st place in the heat, 2nd in the event. Hogberg managed to hold on for 2nd place in the heat, but 4th in the event.
Aegidius would make it through the sprint chipper taking 7th place on the event. Behind him, however, was Simmonds. Simmonds would finish the event 9th in the heat and 19th overall, thereby eliminating him from a qualifying spot.
As the top 5 were announced, Bjorving Gudmundsson, Jonne Koski and first-time Games athlete Jason Smith were locks. In 4th, Lukas Esslinger. For the final qualifying spot, the announcer started by saying that just two points separated 5th and 6th place. After a long dramatic pause, Aegidius was announced as the final athlete to qualify out of the Meridian Regional.
Aegidius would celebrate with longtime girlfriend, Annie Thorisdottir. Thorisdottir also qualified for the Games minutes earlier.
Had Hogberg finished Event 6 just 2.33 seconds faster or if Aegidius has finished 2.88 seconds slower, Hogberg would have beaten Aegidius.
For Aegidius, it will be his first trip back to the CrossFit Games since 2013. He narrowly missed qualifying the past three years. This year, however, he found himself on the better side of the cut line.
Final Standings:
1. Bjorgvin Gudmundsson (545)
2. Jonne Koski (485)
3. Jason Smith (476)
4. Lukas Esslinger (447)
5. Frederick Aegidius (438)
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6. Lukas Hogberg (436)
7. Elliot Simmonds (410)
