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[powerful orchestration]
♪
[Tia-Clair Toomey] When I very first started CrossFit,
it was a blip in the universe, you know,
and over the last ten years of being a part of it,
I have watched it grow and evolve
into something that is leading from the front
in terms of training and health and fitness.
And I think gone are the days where people talk about CrossFit
of-- of, "Oh, it's like a cult," you know?
Today it's all about, "Wow, look at the athletes,
look at the people that do CrossFit,"
and what they're showcasing to the world
about health and fitness and well-being,
both physically and mentally.
It-- It makes people better,
and everyone around the world is understanding that,
and they're finally grasping that.
♪
[Justin Bergh] I really view the games as a celebration
of what these athletes are capable of.
And I think we've done it well when you can take somebody
that has no bearing for what CrossFit is,
and they can look at this,
and they can say, "Holy [bleep],
what this athlete can do is absolutely mind-boggling.
I don't need to know anything about what CrossFit is.
I don't need to know how they qualified.
I don't need to know how they train.
But I can see this person is strong, flexible,
tons of endurance, skilled, calm under pressure,
all of these things that we come to know from the best.
And it's evident without me having to know
anything about the sport."
And these athletes are coming now from Siberia
and Brazil and all over Europe and the United States
and Canada and Australia.
So, it's truly a global sport that is meeting
to contest the title Fittest On Earth.
But when they go back into their home countries,
these people will be heroes,
and more people are gonna say,
"Where do I go to learn more about that?"
And you'll wanna get a coach.
And the place that you find a coach is at a CrossFit gym.
And then they start feeling the community,
they can realize their own results
and the impact that CrossFit has on their lives.
It's not gold medals that are the goal.
It's becoming the best version of yourself.
♪
[tense instrumental]
[chattering]
[Sean Woodland] Athletes wanna compete at the CrossFit Games
because it is the pinnacle of their sport.
If you get to that point, if you just get to that point,
you are one of the 40 fittest people on the planet.
It means you're going to get to test yourself
against the best in the world,
you get to find out how fit you are,
but it also means that you're going to have an opportunity
to push the envelope and sort of redefine
what's possible in human athletic performance.
[Sean commentating] Event number one of the 2022
NOBULL CrossFit Games is presented by Trek.
It is "Bike to Work."
[Chase commentating] Sean, let's kick the tires
and light the fire as we're getting on the road bike again,
but this time one of the longest distances we've covered,
but we're mixing it with some high-volume gymnastics
between the toes-to-bar and chest-to-bar pull-ups.
It's the same thing.
Chest-to-bar is no different than [indistinct] biking.
Just-- just make sure you stay up.
If you feel unsafe going into the corner, that's okay.
Give it about a half second,
and as soon as you come out, blow by 'em.
[Tommy] Young phenom Mal O'Brien,
with her coach being the five-time fittest man on earth,
Mat Fraser, is a very unique blend.
You have otherworldly talent and drive
at a young age on Mal's side,
and then you have an athlete that I think
really pioneered part of the modern era of the sport.
As far as how Mat approached competition,
how he dissected training and how he worked certain ways
to stay a half step ahead of his competition
through every movement, workout and competition weekend.
-[interviewer] How you feeling? -Good, man.
[interviewer] Got a fresh haircut?
Fresh haircut.
-[interviewer] Nails done? -Nails done.
Ready-- ready to go mate, ready to go.
I'm feeling pretty good. Nerves are definitely there,
but not as bad-- bad as they have been before.
[interviewer] It's just riding a bike.
Yeah. It's a nice morning, leisurely run. Ten-mile run.
[Sean] For the first time in five years,
we are going to get to see Ricky Garard at the CrossFit Games.
The last time we saw him in Madison, Wisconsin, was 2017.
He finished third.
He looked like the super rookie
who was going to be the future of the sport,
and then he tested positive for PEDs
and was banned for four years.
So, this was the first time that we had seen him
in Madison, Wisconsin, since that time,
and a lot of people were looking forward
to seeing what exactly he was going to be doing
and what he was capable of at this level.
[commentator] Ricky has a ton of experience on two wheels.
At one point in his life,
he actually considered a career
as a professional BMX racer.
So, they're hoping to shake out the nerves
with an event win here on day one of the games.
It's ominous.
This is a, uh, it's an ambitious first day.
We got a lot of sport events,
a lot of moving pieces for a lot of divisions.
So, it's no, uh, no layup on day one this year.
[Sean commentating] Last year, we got back together.
This year, we get back to business as usual.
For the fifth time, we are in Madison, Wisconsin,
to crown the fittest on earth at the 2022 NOBULL CrossFit Games.
[Justin Medeiros] Just from the get-go,
you-- you were sitting on the starting mat,
you look to your left, you look to your right,
and there's a whole field of athletes,
and you're just questioning like,
"Did I do enough this year?
Like, did I work hard enough?
Where am I gonna stand?
Where am I gonna line up against all these athletes?"
And you hear the beep, and it's just 3-2-1, go.
-Everyone's sprinting down. -[beep]
[Sean commentating] Opening event for the men underway
here at the 2022 NOBULL CrossFit Games,
and we start with the 75 toes-to-bar, four men per lane.
On the pull-up bar, Ricky Garard
getting to work on his set of 75.
[Ricky] Yeah, I went in hot on toes-to-bar.
[chuckles] Did, like, 45 unbroken at the start,
which is, like, probably five reps off my PB. [chuckles]
[Sean commentating] Justin Medeiros right now,
sits five reps behind Ricky Garard,
who's through 45 of those 75 reps.
[Chase commentating] Forty-five toes-to-bar in a row
for Ricky Garard.
[Medeiros] If you needed to push yourself on that first set
of toes-to-bar in order to get off in a good position
because there's gonna be a big cluster of athletes
that get off at toes-to-bar at the same time,
and you're just gonna be fighting
for position on that bike.
So, knowing that you can get out in front early is gonna
put you in a good position for the rest of that event.
[Sean commentating] Then we got a wreck in the back.
Not sure who that was who fell off her bike,
but that caused a little bit of a logjam,
as now just about every athlete is done
with those 75 toes-to-bars.
Some of them are struggling to get on the bike.
Here, Tia Toomey out front early.
Five-mile loop, with five laps.
[Mal] Riding the bike in event one was pretty boring.
Not gonna lie.
We had ten loops, I think, total,
and they are each a mile,
so it's not like I can just dead sprint this loop
because we have to get back on and do it nine times.
So, it was just like we all kind of just settled in to a pace
And it was just like, only time will tell now.
Like-- [laughs]
[Sean] Pretty early in that event,
Haley Adams separated herself from the pack
and then behind her, you had Tia Toomey and the youngster,
17-year-old Emma Lawson, who was doing a great job
of drafting off Toomey, staying with the five-time champion.
[Chase commentating] You almost have to worry more
about riding up into their back wheel.
That's how much of a pull you get from this front athlete.
So, Emma Lawson just chilling on that back wheel
is a veteran move for a rookie debut.
[Emma] I actually just learned about drafting, like,
probably a week ago.
I didn't honestly have a strategy going into it.
I was just kind of like, this is a good workout for me.
I'm just gonna go for it and see what happens.
So, that's what I did.
[chuckles]
[Tia] And, you know, I thought that it was really cool
just to have, like, a rookie, you know,
attacking her very first workout at the CrossFit Games,
and, you know, not being intimidated or scared to--
to hang with me either.
That was really cool, but I knew I had her,
overtaking her on the fifth lap,
and-- and actually making a lot of ground up on Haley.
[Sean commentating] Haley Adams is off the bike,
and Tia Toomey and Emma Lawson are right behind her.
They still have to drop the bikes
and sprint across the finish line.
[Tia] I wish there was, like, six laps
'cause I think we would've gotten her,
and I think Emma and I would have come in one and two.
[music slows down]
[Sean] There was a lot of confusion
on the men's side, and it got kicked off
by Spencer Panchik and Lazar Dukic
coming across the finish line
after having only completed four laps.
[Chase commentating] No, that's not right.
That's not right.
[Sean] This has gotta be a mistake for Spencer Panchik.
He's running across the finish line.
Dukic is gonna turn around. There is some confusion here.
Is sprinting with Ricky Garard?
[Chase commentating] Is that Ricky Garard?
So, there's some confusion here.
[Sean] Jonne Koski came in, we knew he was in first place.
But when Ricky Garard came screaming in right behind him
and ends up beating him over the finish line with the--
with that sprint,
we did not know that Ricky had moved his way
up into the second place
because we had no frame of reference
because Panchik and Dukic were off the field.
Uh, I think that Panchik and Dukic did one lap too few.
So, they were tailing Koski.
They came in, they were like, "Koski's doing extra laps."
I'm like, "No, you guys aren't doing enough."
[Adrian] You guys missed a lap.
[Jonne] No, dude. We got [indistinct]
No, I think you guys got four, and they're doing five.
-So... -[Jonne, indistinct]
[Tommy] So by the time the dust settles,
Jonne, who had been in the lead the entire time,
finishes second.
Ricky makes a miraculous charge
that really threaded the needle
in terms of a best-case scenario for no one to see it,
including his competition,
and Ricky Garard's return to the CrossFit Games
ends in 100 points on an event
that we thought he would do well in, in the bike to begin with.
So, it's either he did five laps--
Either he did six or we did four.
Four, yeah. [chuckles]
[cheering and applause]
I don't know, I might've missed one.
Had a guy open the-- the flag
and I thought that was-- I thought that was five.
So, I don't know.
I don't know. It's a weird number.
It was fine, I mean,
I'm not super familiar on a bike like that yet.
So, I mean, to be able to come in a place like that,
I was pretty stoked.
Being able to kinda adapt as the event went on, so...
[interviewer] What did you take?
-Like sixth or seventh. Yeah. -[interviewer] Okay.
I was scared on that last lap.
So, it's, like, if someone comes, they can go.
I just don't like anyone behind me, period.
I'm scared I'm gonna fall.
Yeah, I was scared I was gonna like--
Like, look behind and be, like,
[imitating tires screeching]
[stadium announcer] All right, all right, fans.
It's time to get loud.
Make some noise
if you want a sweet Gooder windbreaker.
[interviewer] Haley, what happened?
[laughing]
You just got that on camera? I just fell!
[groaning] I think I'm bleeding.
-Oh, no! -I'm just walking,
and I slipped and fell. It was weird.
-[organizer] Here ya go. -Thank you.
-I'm 99% sure they did four. -Spencer did four.
[Bjorgvin] Yeah, yeah, yeah. They did four for sure.
-'Cause I was coming down-- -I didn't seem them anymore
on my left side, and I was just like--
I was 30 meters behind these guys.
I should have seen those--
-No, not with those times. -They did four, right?
-[exclaims] -Yeah, four.
[person] And the girls aren't that much slower on this?
-So, that was for the win? -You got it, 100 points, baby.
-That was for the win. -[Benny, indistinct]
[interviewer] How do you feel about Emily drafting off you?
They're playing the game right, right?
[interviewer] Does it drive you crazy?
Ah, it drives me crazy, but also, you know,
it's smart of them.
You know, every point matters.
Like, I'm pissed I came second.
I just gave up-- what? Four points?
Just gotta bring it in the second one.
[Tommy] Coming into the 2022 season,
Tia Toomey has just rattled off
her fifth consecutive CrossFit Games title,
and now she has a chance to stand alone in history,
to be the first and only athlete
to win six consecutive CrossFit Games titles
as an individual, and really separate herself
in the history books from all of the other all-time greats
that have come before her in recent history.
I have so much respect for my competitors,
but when people compare me to the other competitors,
it really doesn't even faze me
because I know I'm already gonna win.
[bold instrumental]
I believe in everything that I do,
and I believe in what I can do and what I'm capable of.
And, you know, I-- I know and have full confidence
that no matter what happens,
I'll always stand up on top of that podium
no matter who I'm going up against.
I mean, I would appreciate it
if people would stop freakin' thinking
that people can beat me.
And I'm, like, man, what do I have to do
to prove to you guys that I'm unbeatable?
Do I have to go compete against the boys?
♪
[Bergh] Heading into the 2022 game season,
there was a big change, as we found out
that Dave Castro would no longer be the director of the sport,
and he wouldn't be programming the games,
and in his place would be Adrian Bozman,
who is a long-time head judge at the CrossFit Games.
Basically, since the beginning,
and has been a long-time flow master
and member of the seminar staff
and education department for CrossFit.
[Adrian] The CrossFit Games are always gonna have surprises.
There's always gonna be a format
or a combination of things or a movement variation
that'll be a little bit beyond what the athletes have done.
And so, it shouldn't be a surprise
when you come to the games, and you're like, "Oh.
I haven't done it in this way before."
If that's a surprise, you either haven't been playing
the game that long, or you're not prepared.
[chattering]
Boz is looking at programming and saying,
"How do I add more elements
that are maybe a little bit more focused
on the basics and the fundamentals?"
[interviewer, indistinct]
'Cause it's part of CrossFit's DNA.
It's been in the hundred words of fitness for two decades now.
It's one of those things
that athletes should be playing around with and practicing.
It is one of those things that,
because it hasn't shown up in competition before
people are starting to get lazy and blow it off.
Um, you can't do that anymore, so...
Yeah.
If you're not dabbling with stuff,
you're not really doing CrossFit, in my opinion.
[Bergh] And even after 15 years,
Greg has an awesome quote where he says,
"Once you think you've mastered it,
it's time to go back to the beginning,
this time paying closer attention."
[chattering]
[Shane Orr] Uh, she did Jump Rope for Heart as a kid,
and what that is, is a, uh, skipping program
they give kids at, uh, like primary school level.
They would do those skills in front of a--
an audience and stuff like that.
-[interviewer] Is that true? -Very true.
Well, back then, I could actually do, uh,
double-- like, uh, crisscross double-unders.
But it-- it's with a heavier rope,
so, it's a bit different today.
Yeah, I can do them. But at first, I get there.
So, I'm worried about single-unders right now.
[chuckles] And then double- unders and then crisscross.
In high school, I mean, we did some in school, so...
[Mat] Like, just do some single-unders now.
[Adrian] The Skill Speed Medley.
Lot of mixed feelings on that one.
I think, you know, there's gonna be times
where, yeah, you gotta roll the dice with an event.
This is one of those times.
The movements, obviously,
some of them are gonna be new to competition,
either because they haven't been done in competition before
because they're considered to be too basic,
or because they were something that is fresh
and hasn't been required of athletes in the past.
[dramatic music]
[Sean commentating] Event number three
is the Skill Speed Medley.
And as we saw with the women, things escalate quickly here.
[Sean] I think the purpose of the Skill Speed Medley
was to see who can execute skills
flawlessly under pressure.
There was no middle ground here.
For example, with the single-unders,
you either did all 75,
or you had to start over until you did.
And that was ultimately the thing
that tripped up Tia Toomey.
[Chase commentating] Seventy-five reps unbroken.
For you guys watching at home, they cannot miss.
They miss at 74,
they have to start all the way over.
[Sean commentating] And Toomey just missed.
-[Chase commentating] Oh, no. -[Sean] Toomey's back to zero.
[Sean] That ultimately put her too far behind
the rest of the pack
to make it into the second round.
And I remember the shot of her,
just looking up at the scoreboard when it was announced
and sort of being a little bit dumbfounded.
And I think we all were because
we have gotten to the point where we just expect
Tia Toomey to be in the final heat
contending for an event win, and that wasn't gonna happen.
[Sean commentating] And now Medeiros is through.
[crowd cheering]
Justin Medeiros tries to retake the overall lead
from Ricky Garard.
And Nick Matthew is gonna win event number three!
[cheering and applause]
Medeiros has finally got himself upright.
Medeiros will take third place in the event,
Vellner will finish fourth, and it's Ricky Garard in fifth.
[indistinct talking]
[indistinct]
-[interviewer] [indistinct] -Yep.
I feel very amateur.
That's-- That's--
It's just disappointing because, like,
all those other-- like I--
I feel like I could've gone way further.
That-- That was--
That was super disappointing.
Yeah, I got fired up.
I said to Shane, "I'm winning this, and I'm going out hot,"
'cause I was like, "I will--
I do not care how hard I go. I'm just going for it."
[Chase commentating] 21-15-9-9-9.
Elizabeth is hard enough, Sean,
but we got these full squat cleans
as they should be and have always been.
But the parallel bars,
something that has been a staple in the original CrossFit gym
and used for training,
is now rearing its head again nearly 20 years later.
[Adrian] I thought this was gonna to be a layup for her.
You know, she came out, and I thought I saw,
like, kill-mode Tia come out,
and I thought, all right, everybody--
everybody's playing for second on this one,
and then she had a hard time.
[Sean commentating] Though Tia Toomey is still out there,
she's on the top of your screen, has three reps remaining.
Tia Toomey...
having a very un-Tia like first day.
[Adrian] This is, to me, where I think you started to see
the story of the 2022 games start to emerge.
There were lots of opportunities for athletes
that had a particular specialty or a skill set
that lined up really well with an event
to sneak in and disrupt the points table.
Those that wanted to be on top of the podium
at the end of the weekend had to deal with that.
You know, it's not enough to just, like,
"Well, I won an event, now I can take the next one off."
No, you've always got to be looking
for that opportunity to stay on top, even if you can't win.
[Sean commentating] Don't make Pat Vellner angry.
I don't think you'd like him when he's angry,
and he is clearly competing with an edge right now.
And Pat Vellner is gonna win event number four
and lock up 100 points, and look out.
Vellner is on the charge.
And O'Brien is across.
Arielle Loewen with her first career event win
at the CrossFit Games.
Kara Saunders is gonna finish in second,
followed by Mal O'Brien
who looks to take the leader's jersey from Emma Lawson.
Tia Toomey down in ninth place in the event.
[cheering and applause]
Woo!
[stadium announcer] O'Brien, able to give her applause.
[indistinct] Tia-Clair Toomey.
[indistinct]
-We'll see you around. -Oh, yeah.
-Come here. -[chuckles]
-You did so good. -Thanks.
[chattering]
[indistinct]
[indistinct] is probably not very good.
[indistinct]
There's no point.
No one cares about who squat-cleans first.
What was the purpose there?
Nothing. It's all right.
The workout matters and how you execute the hardest part.
That was the win.
[Adrian] We haven't seen her in this position
in quite some time.
And for the first time in a long time,
she didn't have the white leader's jersey
at the end of a competition day.
And not only that, she was staring
at a significant points' deficit in order to get it back.
[tense instrumental]
[interviewer] Are you-- Are you feeling good today?
Yeah, very good.
[interviewer] Uh, are you excited for the workout?
-Yeah. -Yeah?
Tactics, yeah? Tactics workout, yeah.
[sighs] It's to run fast.
Barbell, then run, easy. Barbell, easy, yeah.
[Bergh] Roman Khrennikov burst onto the scene in 2018
when he pretty much out of nowhere
came and won the 2018 Europe regional,
and everyone was really excited to see
this young Russian athlete kind of step forward in the sport.
But unfortunately, due to visa issues
and his visa getting denied to come to the United States,
he wasn't able to compete at the games that first year.
And then year after year, as the sport changed,
Roman continued to qualify,
continued to compete outside the United States,
but ultimately, he could never come to the games
to compete in person.
[Adrian] There's always a ton of speculation.
What would happen if we saw him in the mix
with the rest of these guys on that stage,
and we finally found out this year.
[Sean] And that was going to inject, I think,
a level of-- of excitement into the games,
given his ability to hit home runs.
And many of us were looking forward
to seeing what he could actually do in person
against the best athletes in the world.
♪
[indistinct]
Yeah, perfect.
All right, dude. Appreciate it.
[Chase commentating] Sean, one of the--
the very first CrossFit.com event
was called Move Fast and Lift Heavy,
and we've got 400-meter runs and max jerks.
We're bringing out the jerk blocks for the very first time.
[Tia] We had a very unique situation where you--
there was 200 points up for grabs.
If you centered in the run,
and you got the best overall time,
you got 100 points.
And you also got 100 points for the most shoulder overhead.
[powerful music]
[Chase commentating] This is a tale of two things for Haley,
one of the best sprinters and runners
in the women's division.
But as we know, the strength portion
is gonna be tough for her.
[Tia] I just knew that, hey, like if I can be consistent,
try and beat Haley,
but also make sure that I'm not fully exerting
too much of myself for the shoulder overhead,
I know that I-- I can win the shoulder overhead for sure.
[Chase commentating] And for Tia,
sitting in that ninth place position.
It's, again, we said it's such a great opportunity
to pretty much quiet all the noise
going into the third day of competition tomorrow.
And for me... [chuckles]
the run kinda punched me in my face.
It was my worst finish of the week.
I did not expect how my legs would feel,
kinda having to stop, slow down
and then accelerate again.
I think in so many times of our training, we run 400 meters,
and you kinda accelerate, you get your pace,
you find your rhythm,
and you get to come back and continue to work out.
But to have those stops and go's and those turns,
the acceleration, de-acceleration,
put a tax on me that I was not prepared for.
[Sean commentating] Ricky Garard
and Justin Medeiros look like they're gonna tie at 16.
Now, the tie-break
goes to the person who had the fastest run time,
and I believe that was Ricky.
[Ricky] Jerks went really well.
I was stoked with the jerks.
Once I hit the first jerk, and it felt solid,
I was like, "All right, we're on again."
Stayed hungry and determined on that event
and just put my head down on every run and got--
got aggressive and made sure that I didn't miss any jerks.
[Chase commentating] Tia's just destroying these shoulder--
she doesn't even take her hands off the barbell.
[Tia] I didn't get caught up in what Haley was doing.
Yeah, she was a little in front of me,
but for me, I was like, "Look, second's still good.
I'm still gonna get some solid points,
but I'm gonna make sure I nail the shoulder overhead,
and I'm-- I'm gonna secure those 100 points."
[Sean commentating] Eighteen shoulder overheads
for Tia Toomey.
Haley Adams looking to lock up another 100 points
and win the run portion of this event.
But Ricky Garard looking to hang on to the leader's jersey
heading into day number three tomorrow.
♪
Tia, you barely took your hands off the barbell
in that last set.
What did you know that you needed to do
in order to get that 100 points?
Just be super consistent and just keep attacking.
And mentality on this next day of competition,
given what yesterday looked like, how are you feeling?
Yeah, I'm-- I'm ready for a fight.
I can't [bleep] wait.
Congratulations, ladies. Thank you.
[cheering and applause]
Let's go!
[announcer] Just a reminder.
[interviewer] Is it heavy?
[bleep], yeah. My legs are gone.
Holy [bleep].
-[cheering and applause] -Should've placed well, I think.
It's interesting.
Oh, yeah.
That's what's up.
No matter how you feel, bro,
it's five years' worth of energy goes into each event.
-Yep. -It just comes out.
And [bleep], even if you don't think it's gonna.
-[chuckles] -It pulls out of you.
Unconscious mind there.
Been through the depths of darkness,
and now it's time to step into the light again.
Yeah, that's it.
Show 'em what you're made of.
Loving it. Loving it.
[passionate music]
[Sean] In 2017, Ricky Garard was a rookie out of Australia.
Showed up to the CrossFit Games,
we didn't know a whole lot about him,
and he winds up finishing third overall,
and he looked like he was going to be
sort of the next super athlete in the sport, moving forward.
[announcer] Please welcome
your third place finisher for the men, Ricky Garard.
[cheering and applause]
2017 was his debut year in Madison.
He had a great competition until they found out that he was, uh,
using performance enhancing substances.
Failed my drug tests and tested positive,
and was, um, sentenced to a four-year ban from--
from the sport, so,
at the time, I was just so frustrated and--
and angry at myself for-- for doing what I did,
and-- and taking that risk,
and it-- it ate me up for probably the first year.
It was the hardest part.
I moved back home,
lived with my parents for a little while,
and then started working with a friend
who owns a concrete polishing business.
I was working most days on my hands and knees,
granite and concrete, and making it look all pretty.
And I would come home every afternoon
and just train in the garage
just until late hours in the night,
9:00, 10:00, till I'd get it done.
What happened kind of broke me down,
but at the same time, it's what picked me back up.
And yeah, the training
honestly helped me get through it.
[Tommy] Fast-forward to 2022,
Ricky has served his ban.
He is now allowed to come back and compete,
and he has a huge task in front of him.
Earn his place back in the eyes of the community,
and also prove to himself and the people around him
that have invested in him, that he is a games' caliber athlete
and that that podium finish
wasn't just a byproduct of those substances.
[Adrian] He continued training.
He continued trying to develop himself,
served his sanction and he's back.
So, a lot of mixed feelings about that.
Some people love it, see it as a redemption story.
A lot of people think,
"Hey, maybe the punishment wasn't stiff enough.
Maybe he shouldn't be allowed back in the field."
But at the end of the day, he's there.
He did what was required of him.
Back in the mix, and, by all accounts,
seemed like he was ready to rumble,
and I think he definitely showed that
once the rubber hit the road.
Oh, yeah.
[exhales] I hate mornings.
-[interviewer] How you feeling? -So good.
Mornings are rough always.
[sighs] Gotta eat
and get to Briefing, and then I'll be--
then I'll be good. [chuckles]
Until then, I'm allowed to be tired.
Who do you think would win in a fight?
A silverback gorilla or a grizzly bear?
I feel like a gorilla could win, but I think the bear would win.
[interviewer] How do you feel about the circuit?
Should be a really good one.
I think it's gonna be pretty hard
to make up a significant amount of time on the run.
Like, you can make up time, but I think the pig flip
is gonna be a big crux to the workout,
and if you can get to the capitol in a good position,
I don't think the position is gonna change too much.
So, making sure you pretty much hit those pig flips for time
and then see what happens after that.
[chuckles]
[ominous instrumental]
[Sean commentating] The Capitol is event number five,
and it's a throwback to one of the most popular events
in CrossFit Games history.
[Chase commentating] Do you think Burden Run 2013
where they explored the space of the StubHub center
almost ten years ago.
Now we're exploring Madison.
We have pig flips, a three-and-a-half-mile run
to the capitol, as well as the carries with the bag.
[Tommy] As soon as I heard
the Capitol event and what it was going to be,
immediately, I thought, this is gonna be an event
that people remember forever.
The build up to this event, from just the buzz
of what the capitol was going to be,
was unlike anything I have experienced before in an event.
We are going from the Alliant Energy Center
to the capitol.
You can see the capitol from North Park.
[Chase commentating] And this will be the first time
the competition has taken over a portion of downtown Madison.
Before we get there, we had the pig lifts,
the same instrument that was used at the games last year.
510 pounds for the men, 350 pounds for the women.
[Bergh] So, this wasn't just a parade
for the athletes to run through the streets and be celebrated.
It was a really hard test, and it was long,
and it was heavy, and it was heavy at the end,
going up the final steps leading up to the capitol.
[empowering music]
[Emma] That one started with 20 pig flips.
I've never touched a pig before, so I was pretty nervous.
[Roman speaking Russian]
♪
[Tia] You needed to make sure
that you executed those pig flips great,
so that you could get out onto that run
and settle into a really solid run,
so that, you know, you weren't battling the whole time,
and you weren't too fatigued
when it came to the jerry can and the sandbag.
[Sean commentating] Roman Khrennikov and Jason Hopper,
the first two men out onto the run.
[Chase commentating] Oh, boy.
Poor Jason, he thought he was in front.
Next thing you know, what do you see?
[commentators laughing]
[Sean] Roman Khrennikov.
[Adrian] We're gonna start in the North Park,
you're gonna flip the pig 20 times,
then you're gonna run from the North Park,
do a lap around the grounds,
out the back, all the way down to the capitol.
Three-and-a-half miles, all in.
[Tommy] The path to the capitol
is a path that is easily accessible,
and was left open to the public for fans and anyone else
that would normally be on their morning run
or morning jog or morning bike.
[Sean commentating] This is an open course.
You just saw a biker pass Travis Mayer.
So, you're gonna have to deal
with people who are out for a Friday morning stroll
or jog or bike right now.
[Tommy] Meant that, from a fan perspective,
you could line the road
that your favorite athlete would be competing at.
♪
[music fades]
[Sean] Here goes Lazar Dukic right to work
on those 100 pound jerry cans.
[Chase commentating] And I personally think
there's gonna be more strategy needed
on the jerry can carry
to set them up for the Husafell bag carry
because we saw what happened in heat one.
That grip failure was the deciding factor
for all of these athletes.
[empowering music]
[Adrian] When you get to the capitol,
you're gonna pick up two sandbag jerry cans.
You're gonna carry those 200 meters.
The guys are gonna have 100 pounds in each hand.
Girls are gonna have 70 pounds in each hand.
Once you finish that, you're gonna run down
to the Husafell bag,
then you're gonna pick that up,
and you're gonna go 200 meters from the base of State Street,
all the way up the capitol stairs and over the finish line.
[Sean] Getting to the Husafell bags first
will be Lazar Dukic and Roman Khrennikov.
200 pounds.
They can carry it however they want
until they get to the steps,
and that's when they have to bear hug it.
Ricky Garard now joining Dukic and Khrennikov.
[speaking Russian]
[Tia] And now we had to put down at this line
and then bear hug it all the way up the stairs.
And as soon as we had to do that,
I was like, "Oh, [bleep]."
[Sean commentating] As Haley Adams has
that Husafell bag hoisted up to her shoulder
and looking to lock up her second event win here
at the CrossFit Games.
[Haley] When I got to the s-- the bag at the end,
everyone-- so many fans were there,
like, in the-- like, on the sides.
It was so motivating, it was so crazy.
[Roman speaking Russian]
[Tia] I literally had my family and friends
just running up the--
the whole hill with me, and that was just so special
because I really wanted to slow down, but I-I had no excuse to.
So, I was like, "Look, they're running with me,
and they're just screaming at me.
I have to keep going."
[Sean] Haley Adams was running away,
literally, with this event.
She was way out in front, got to the Husafell bag carry,
and that's where she started to struggle a little bit.
[Chase commentating] Wow. Oh, Haley is done.
Her muscles are just shutting down.
[Adrian] Dukic, I think,
was the most extreme example of that,
next to Haley Adams.
Both of them were pretty equal in that regard.
I mean, they were at the finish,
looking at the line, looking behind them,
seeing competitors pass them,
and they couldn't pick it up and finish.
It was crazy just how much they had emptied the tank.
[Sean] And all of a sudden, here comes
Gabi Migala and Laura Horváth,
and they pass her on the Husafell bag carry.
Yeah, I-- I've-- I know I passed four on the carry,
and then another four, I think, on the other carry.
I wasn't gonna put those things down.
[Sean commentating] Migala was able to take the event.
Gabi Migala is going to win event five.
Here comes Laura Horváth.
Laura Horváth is in,
and she's gonna take second place in the event.
97 points for Horváth.
Garard and Khrennikov,
staring at those steps.
And then I was like, "Oh, man,
well, Roman's gonna win this one." [chuckles]
[Ricky] And then when I seen him, he went three steps
and dropped it, I was like, "Oh, [bleep]."
Here's my opportunity. I think he's cooked himself.
[Sean commentating] Final ascent for Ricky Garard
looking to win another one
and there will be no doubt this time.
Ricky Garard, his second event win here
at the 2022 NOBULL CrossFit games.
-[cheering] -Let's [bleep] go!
♪
-[cheering and applause] -[announcer in background]
[announcer] [indistinct]
There it is, buddy. [indistinct]
-[man] Need help? -[announcer] ...Haley Adams,
exceeding 10% every inch,
every ounce that they got
to get up those steps and finish this thing.
[cameraperson] What's up, Laura?
Feeling good.
I think this was the coolest event
of the CrossFit games ever.
-[cameraperson] Yeah? -Finishing here was so cool.
I really liked it.
[cameraperson] What was it like, walking up those stairs?
Oh, amazing. The crowd was unreal.
It's like, why would you put it down,
when everyone's yelling at you?
-Do it for the crowd. [groans] -[announcer] [indistinct]
[Sean commentating] On the men's side,
Ricky Garard picks up his second win
of the competition, 31 minutes 54.47 seconds.
Roman Khrennikov will finish in second.
[Medeiros] Going in, especially after the Capitol event,
I felt like that, uh,
the standing on top of the podium
was getting too far out of reach.
I mean, after the Capitol, I mean, he had
almost a hundred point lead on me
and I felt like I was doing everything I can,
and it was just kind of that time
where we had to sit down with the team
and kinda evaluate, like, what's going on.
Like, a-- am I doing something wrong?
Are my workout plans going, like,
not the way they're supposed to and kind of just deciding that,
"Hey, I just got to focus on myself,
keep dying for points and knowing
that at the end of the weekend, it's gonna pay off."
[Chase commentating] Man, we have a nice little
chipper style of getting to that lunge in the end,
but you gotta get to the muscle-ups and the log.
We have another new implement here on the floor,
we've seen it back at the ranch.
But this one's a little bit higher,
and a little bit different.
[Sean commentating] Ricky Garard, though,
has been Mr. Consistency.
Two event wins so far,
and doesn't look like
he is going to slow up at all right now.
[Tommy] Seeing Ricky,
wearing the white leader's jersey
and putting some distance between him
and the rest of the field,
I think forced a lot of people, athletes, fans,
to confront a question
that maybe we hadn't really considered,
but what our feelings would be around the possibility
of not only Ricky coming back, but winning.
The "What if he wins?" question
was weighing heavy on everybody's minds,
and I think a lot of people realized
that they were ready for Ricky to come back,
and they were ready to welcome him back as an athlete.
But maybe they weren't ready for him
to be the face of the sport as a champion.
[Medeiros] Workout after workout,
he was just performing really, really well.
As that workout went around,
I was kind of sitting in the middle of the pack,
knowing that when we got to those last set of lunges
is where I'm gonna be able to make my move at the very end.
[Sean commentating] Here comes Ricky Garard,
who looks to increase his lead yet again.
We finished the GHDs,
Ricky already picked up his bar,
and he started lunging down the field.
I knew that I needed to pick up my bar right away,
if I had any shot of catching him.
[Tommy] Ricky opens up the door and drops the lunge bar
and has to stop.
[Ricky] One line before the finish line,
and I just lost my front rack,
like, it was literally on one finger.
Then I couldn't hold it, so I had to put it down.
[Tommy] And Justin, to his credit,
smelled blood in the water.
[Medeiros] I could see him in front of me,
kind of doing the wobble steps,
and he ends up dropping his bar.
And man, there is nothing like that adrenaline rush
of seeing that person that you need to beat,
kind of hit that breaking point in the workout.
And at that time, the crowd just went nuts.
[cheering and applause]
[Sean commentating] Medeiros is gonna come in
ahead of Ricky Garard.
Medeiros will take second place in the event.
[Medeiros] It was probably my highlight of the weekend,
and just kind of that full adrenaline dump,
just started lunging faster and faster,
and crossed the finish line in front of him.
And I feel like that was just kind of, like,
that mental, uh, win that I needed
to kind of push myself for the rest of the weekend.
[cameraperson] You weren't gonna let go
-of that [bleep] thing, huh? -[bleep] no, dude.
He dropped that, I was like, "You're gone."
[bleep] that, there was no way he was catching me. [sighs]
Uh, I wanted to hold on to the lunge but my grip--
my front-- I lost my front, I had to put it down.
It's all right.
Justin only got three points on me.
So, it's good, man. It's good. Feeling good out there.
He was like, "Man, did you hear the cheers
when Justin was passing Ricky?"
And I was like, "Yeah, I know."
When I passed him in the jump-- jump overs,
he came off second, it was the same thing.
I'm like, everyone's just roaring
-for someone to beat Ricky. -[man] [bleep] for real.
[Patrick] It's hilarious.
Antagonist.
[cameraperson] You were pretty pissed off that, uh,
Ricky's wearing that shirt?
I think everybody-- everybody's, like,
cool with him coming back, but nobody wants him to win.
It sucks when somebody cheats, but I wouldn't say that...
I've, like, harbored a ton of resentment over it.
He got caught, and then he got punished
and, like, there you go.
So, the only, like, long-lasting implications
are that I, like, didn't get a trophy
for an event win.
And technically, my event win record,
I lost one of those event wins to Ricky.
So, I should have seven career event wins,
but I have six.
[groans] Right? Like, no big deal.
So, it's not a-- there's-- there's no real, like, issues,
but I think it's good he's...
he's able to come back and compete
and hopefully, he's doing it the right way.
-[cameraperson] How was it? -It was good.
That's all. [laughing]
[indistinct talking]
Sometimes I only have two-word answers.
We're going over to the coliseum
to get briefed on our last event of the day.
[cameraperson] What are you hoping for?
Something short and heavy.
S-- short and sweet. [chuckles]
Huh?
[Mal laughs]
[indistinct]
[cameraperson] It sounds like you're in dad mode all weekend.
I've been in dad mode for the last seven months.
Got the silent treatment for the first time in my life
-a couple of weeks ago. -[Mal laughs]
[Mal] It happens.
[cameraperson] What did you do to deserve that?
He tells me what to do and I get mad.
[tense orchestration plays]
[Tommy] Tia gets the white leader's jersey
after the Capitol,
but only has a few point lead.
And then in up and over,
she really started to reassert herself
at the front of the pack,
as the champion that we know and love
and are used to for the last five years.
[Adrian] Did I think Tia was ever in a position
where she wasn't gonna win it?
The short answer is no.
Uh, I never-- I never was in a position where
I was like, "Yeah, I don't think she's gonna be able to do it."
The question was, like, "How is she gonna do it?
And what's that gonna look like?"
I don't think it's gonna look like years in the past,
where it's just win, win, win, win.
[Tommy] And after getting the white leader's jersey
for the first time, gets an event win, 100 points,
and kind of signals to the rest of the crowd, like,
"I'm back, and this jersey isn't going anywhere."
[Sean commentating] Day number three of the 2022
NOBULL CrossFit games coming to a close here.
One event remains for the men and the women.
[Sean] Final event for Friday for the individuals.
Echo Bike calories and now a new handstand push-up standard
wall-facing handstand push-ups,
and I think that the reason for that was that
the handstand push-up has gotten way too easy
for these athletes, so now, he's trying
to change things up and really challenge them.
So, typically, when we do handstand push-ups,
our back is to the wall, we're facing outward,
we either have our hands, you know,
on some sort of object or flat plane to press to,
and usually our head, at some point,
gets to come in contact with the ground.
I think we're doing a wall climb
into a strict ten set of push-ups.
Like...
I don't know how they j-- judge it, but--
[cameraperson] Have you-- have you never tried it before?
It's like gymnastics when you do,
like, a cartwheel in the [indistinct]. [chuckles]
It's a Mal event if I've ever seen one, so.
That 25 at the end is brutal.
[Haley] Girl, you manifested it.
You said, "I wanna do 50 pounds for Tom today."
[laughs] I always do 50 [indistinct].
-[Haley] You manifested it. -[Mal laughs]
When they announced that event, I was stoked.
I was so happy.
Like, I love the Echo Bike and I love handstand push-ups.
And then we're watching the briefing,
and they're doing, like, a wall walk onto this brick,
and they're like, "Yeah,
you can't touch your head to anything,"
and, like, all these standards and stuff where I was like,
"This is not a wall-facing handstand push-up.
This is a whole different thing."
[Tia] That, I felt like that was a movement
that they implemented, and it was like,
"Oh, wow, I don't even know if I can do that."
[announcer] [indistinct] first, Mallory O'Brien!
[cheering and applause]
And with a 33 event win under her belt,
make some noise for your five-time champ,
Tia-Clair Toomey!
[Sean commentating] There is Justin Medeiros
who sits in second place.
Jeff Adler is currently in fourth.
So, Medeiros is now in a position
that we saw Pat Vellner last year.
He's gotta start finding a way to beat Ricky Garard
and get some help in the process,
to cut into that 87 point lead.
[Medeiros] If you look back to the 2020 CrossFit games,
the-- I really, really struggled with strict press.
I think we had the CrossFit total
and I think everyone thought
it was a mistake how I loaded my bar,
how it was so much lighter than the rest of the field.
And for the past two years,
I've been working on my upper body pressing,
haven't had that chance to showcase it.
And with the new movement that Boz introduced
of the handstand push-ups, walking up, facing the wall,
it kind of puts you in that pressing motion.
I'm like, "This is what I-- we trained for.
This is, like, where I show
that I've been working on my weaknesses
and been improving."
It was something that I was really,
really excited to showcase, but at the same time,
you're watching the heats go before,
and you're seeing people just completely hit a wall
on the last set of handstand push-ups.
[Sean commentating] Roman Khrennikov,
he's your leader, and he has now closed out
his set of 20 calories back to the wall.
[indistinct] Justin Medeiros
with the next two [indistinct].
[speaking Russian]
[Sean commentating] Khrennikov is done.
Ricky Garard is falling back here.
Yeah, I was actually excited for that one.
I thought that I'd actually might be better
at doing the strict handstand push-ups like that,
like, better than the normal way.
And it proved me wrong pretty quick.
[Chase commentating] You see that midline,
that real big hyperextension for Ricky.
[Sean commentating] And another no rep,
he did not get to depth there.
[Mal] I am frustrated because I was fine.
Like, I didn't feel tired or anything.
I just couldn't move that fast on that movement.
It was just muscle fatigue.
So, I'm, like, getting on the bike, sprinting it,
and then getting right up on the handstands
and I can only work out one rep at a time.
I think I did, like, 15 reps and I got one.
Like, [indistinct] for one.
[Sean commentating] Another no rep for Horváth.
Khrennikov has one rep to go, and he's to the bike.
Looks like Will Moorad is going to win the event
but Roman Khrennikov is looking to really put a stranglehold
on one of the top three spots in the overall standings.
So Medeiros is in.
[audience cheering]
Fifth place in the event, that'll give him 88 points.
Ricky Garard is still on his final set
of ten handstand push-ups.
[Medeiros] Crossing that finish line knowing
that I, like-- that was-- that was the finish that I needed.
And when you turn around,
you're watching the rest of the field kind of finish,
and watching the guy that you need to beat
still working on the competition floor
is, uh, is definitely, like, one of those feelings
that, uh, you won't forget and, uh,
kind of knowing that, "Okay, like,
the competition is back, like, it's anybody's games now
and going into Saturday, like, that's move-in day."
[Ricky] I didn't-- didn't finish too well in that event
and pretty much gave up my lead and almost [indistinct].
[Chase commentati Now, Ricky Garard unofficially
is gonna finish 28th,
which means that Justin Medeiros
shaved 62 points off that deficit.
[Medeiros] That felt good.
-Flawless. -Yeah.
-Couldn't have been better. -Nope.
-Outstanding. -That's awesome.
I'm pumped.
That was what we needed. [chuckles]
Feels good, you know, it's good to end the-- the day
on something like that, you know.
There was about three or four times
I was like, "Kick down, kick down, kick down."
You went for one extra rep,
but you were trying to avoid
going back up on the walk line, mate.
[indistinct] I should be good at that one.
[indistinct]
[friend] Doesn't matter, bro.
[Mal] At the end of Friday,
I felt like a little defeated because that workout--
like, no one wants to end their day like that.
But, like, at the end of the day,
we still have two days left
and, you know, I was ready
to fight through those next two days.
I think Saturday morning was the swim,
and I was excited for that.
So, I just kind of put the echo-press to the side,
and I was like, "Okay, you know, go to bed.
It's a new day tomorrow,
and we still have plenty of time to put up a fight, so."
What's going on?
Good. Excited for the events today.
It was cool, uh, cool announcement.
Should be a fun one.
Am I getting any sleep? Why, is it showing?
Yeah. Not much sleep. [chuckles]
Late night.
And I think I was sitting in the living room
at 4:30 this morning.
-[cameraperson] Doing what? -Figuring out life.
It's always a good time
to figure out life's problems, right?
Ask her how she says "Good morning."
Our mornings always go-- I walk in at 8:21,
Jake comes in...
what time?
-Like, 8:28. -[Jake] 8:28. Yeah.
I say "Morn," he says "Morn."
Matt comes out a few minutes later.
"How are you guys feeling?" "Good. Good."
And then silence for like-- [laughs]
[Jake] It's said that no matter how Mal's feeling,
she'll always answer Matt with "Good."
[Mal] Yeah, even if I feel like trash.
She'll tell me, and we'll be like, "Oh, yeah,
all beat up today, like, whatever."
And then Matt will come in,
and she'll be like, "I feel good."
-I'm like, what? -[Mal laughs]
[cameraperson] Why is that?
Because I don't train a lot and if I don't feel good,
he'll make me do smart training.
[laughs]
She's like, "Yeah, if I'm over-trained,
he'll take volume away.
And I don't want that."
Like, two weeks ago, I was like,
"Mal, how are your lungs feeling?"
"Great."
First interval, passes out.
I was like, "All right, we're done.
Get in the car, going to the hospital."
[cameraperson] Do you go so hard you make yourself
-pass out sometimes? -Yeah, I gave myself bronchitis.
[cameraperson] Bronchitis? Holy [bleep].
A horse will race so fast that the heart-- heart explodes.
-[cameraperson] Yeah. -That's-- that's Mal.
I don't know if she feels pain,
like, she just goes and just keeps going.
And then even after that, you know,
we go to the hospital
for four hours, come back.
She's like, "All right,
what are we doing this afternoon for training?"
It's like, "No Mal, we are not training right now.
You need to recover."
That was an interesting couple of days.
♪
[Tommy] Saturday morning started at the pool
for a swim event called "Rinse 'n' Repeat."
The cool part is that every athlete in every division
did this exact same workout.
Two minute intervals.
You swim 50 yards down and back in the pool,
you get out of the pool,
and then you have to ski
ascending reps and calories on a skier.
[tense music playing]
[Roman speaking Russian]
And I think you can slow your pace down,
we talked about it, level five.
[Roza speaking indistinctly Russian]
[Nick] [indistinct]
-[speaking Russian] -[Nick] Yeah.
[bell dinging]
[Chase commentating] It is a beautiful day
-for a CrossFit pool party. -[chuckles]
Thanks for joining us here on day four of competition
at the 2022 NOBULL CrossFit games.
We're at the Soderholm Family Aquatic Center
in Madison, Wisconsin, on the campus.
Swimming is the big deal.
We're back in the pool for the first time
in a giant field since 2013.
Obviously, we had swim stuff in 2020.
But it's a beat test style event every two minutes.
[Adrian] When we tested this,
it was pretty clear
after running a bunch of people through it,
that one or two things was gonna happen.
You're gonna fail early on
'cause you're not a great swimmer,
or you're gonna make it all the way through,
and you're gonna have to put the hammer down
to win on those last two sets.
Not a lot of middle ground.
And that's exactly what we saw.
[Mal] It was definitely, like, the first four to five rounds
were, like, super chill, everyone was fine,
we're not breathing that heavy.
Then, like, instantly,
it just went from, like, zero to 100
where we were, like, jumping in the water,
and we're like... [inhales] ...like, we were like,
"It's scary how we feel in there."
[Tia] And I remember looking out over at Shane
and, uh, he was like, "Damn, slow it down."
I was like, "Man, we good."
Like, I just felt like he was, like, holding me back.
[Ricky] I know everyone thinks
most Australians are good swimmers,
but I'm-- I'm an Australian from the bush.
I-- I didn't grow up in the water.
I was one of the-- one of the kids at-- at school
that would be laying on the hot concrete
trying to warm up
instead of being in the pool.
[Sean commentating] Ricky Garard is trying to hang with Medeiros,
and he's getting closer to him now,
but Medeiros has a four calorie lead on Garard.
[Chase commentating] Twenty seconds left
and Roman Khrennikov
is starting to open up a lead.
He's through now 111 calories,
and he's keeping that 1,700 calorie per hour pace.
[Roman speaking Russian]
I will say the coolest part of that workout
was finishing the buy-in rounds, the six rounds,
and then having Roman hype the crowd,
like, people do for a big lift
before he's about to ski calories.
And we knew it was, like, his [indistinct] at, like, nine
and, like, he's just gonna tear this thing apart.
I don't think we've ever seen that before.
And he just-- he knew it.
He knew and we knew it.
That was savage.
[Sean commentating] Ricky Garard's trying to make up
ground on Justin Medeiros.
He's four calories behind him.
It's final seconds, Roman Khrennikov looking
to lock up the event win.
And Roman Khrennikov is going to do it.
160 for Roman Khrennikov.
Yeah, you, Roman. You did it, man.
Event win for Roman Khrennikov
at his first in-person appearance here
at the CrossFit games.
[whoops]
-[indistinct] -Really fast. Yeah, easy.
Easy win.
[speaking Russian]
You-- it wasn't about the swim.
It was about the skier, so.
He wasn't the first one finishing the swim--
[speaking Russian]
He always came out, like, second or third,
so it wasn't about the swim, it was about the skier.
He's really confident on those kinds of ski machines.
[speaking Russian]
The last 30 seconds, he was holding 2,000 base higher.
So, hey, try to beat that.
It looked like she gave her everything.
I think she finished fairly decent.
Skier was definitely her weakest machine.
Yeah, she did phenomenally well.
That was incredible.
[indistinct chatter over PA]
Thanks. 60?
It went good. [indistinct]
I was surprised how fast you could recover
on the-- like, from each one to the other.
So, it was good.
Definitely sold out, so,
Let's see what the leaderboard shows.
Yeah, it was good, man. It was...
pretty much two weaknesses of mine.
So, I gave it all out
and executed it as best I could.
So, it's all I can ask for.
I'm not sure where I came exactly,
maybe seventh or eighth.
So-- I think.
Pain's temporary, [bleep].
You gotta dart for points,
so one calorie could be two or three spots.
So, [bleep], I just had to
hold on and dig deep right to the end.
[cameraperson] How about your [indistinct]?
Okay. It wasn't good enough.
It's hard, it's hard to know where people are,
and skied as hard as I could at the end,
but I don't think it was fast enough.
But I don't think I beat any of the guys
that were around me on the leaderboard.
So, it'll shake things up a bunch.
But I think so will the rest of today.
So, everything's gonna get shuffled a lot.
So, we'll see what happens.
[indistinct conversation]
[Tommy] Coming into Hat Trick,
the point spread for the men at the top
had started to narrow a little bit.
Justin had chewed up a ton of ground.
So had Roman, and they were really closing in on Ricky.
So, the emphasis on this high-pressure type event
was very high.
[empowering music playing]
[Sean commentating] Event nine...
for the men.
And when's the last time we saw this?
Just 22 points separating first from third
in the men's overall standings.
[Adrian] During the Hat Trick,
you couldn't win it on any single movement
because none of it was long enough for you
to really distance yourself from your competitors.
The sprint wasn't long enough for you to win it at that stage.
The wall ball, there's not enough reps there
for you to really pull ahead.
The dumbbell snatch, same thing. There's only six.
You have to be consistent,
but you could lose it
on any single one of those elements.
You miss a wall ball, you get a no rep,
it's gonna be really hard to overcome that.
You fumble on the dumbbell snatch,
you can't get your position right,
you miss one, you're gonna get passed by three people.
[Sean commentating] And Tia Toomey missed.
[Chase commentating] Right off the bat.
[Sean commentating] Second time that Toomey has missed
her first wall ball shot.
[Chase commentating] She just got another one, that's three!
[Sean commentating] Mal O'Brien is pulling ahead here
of Tia Toomey.
[Tia] That workout, that was not executed right.
Um, you know, I kind of--
I felt like this whole past weekend,
I made some very costly mistakes,
and, you know, I think that that just came down
to me just rushing.
[Medeiros] It was a super high stake workout
and going to that workout and kinda walking through
and, uh, knowing that, like, you have to execute,
like, the pressure's on 'cause if you have any misses,
like, you could put yourself in a huge hole again.
[Ricky] Uh, in the second round, uh,
I actually got two no reps on the wall balls,
one of them hit the bottom of the target, underneath it.
I think the other one-- just completely missed it.
[Sean commentating] The battle for first in this round
is between Roman Khrennikov and Justin Medeiros,
and Ricky Garard is getting left in their wake.
[Mal] It was the last round,
Tia got, I think, two or three no reps
and I know I was ahead of her.
I could tell by my tempo
just because of how she had it reset and stuff.
So, I instantly was like, "This is my chance,"
and I just, like, turned it on, and I was like, "Just go."
[Sean commentating] O'Brien is done,
and she will take-off and here comes Danielle Brandon.
[cameraperson] How was that, Mal?
[Mal] That was fun.
It's just all about execution,
like, one no rep and you'll get behind.
So, it's just about being perfect, basically.
[audience applauding]
I-- I mean, that-- that was just exciting.
-You know, it's just an all-- -[Mal] It wasn't, like, hard.
It's just more pressure to execute.
Exactly, it's--
yeah, I don't think it does, like, physically demanding.
It's like-- but you need to-- you need to be perfect.
[Mal] Yeah.
Are you calling me perfect?
-You were perfect. -[Mal chuckles]
Use the bath. [indistinct]
There's the bath.
We can dunk our heads though, right?
[overlapping conversation]
[exclaims] That feels so good.
[clears throat]
[indistinct]
[Sean] Justin Medeiros and Roman Khrennikov,
once again, finished well ahead of Ricky Garard.
Ricky made some very costly mistakes on the wall ball
and never looked like he was super comfortable
with that dumbbell.
And then things got really interesting
from there on out in that race for the top spot.
[Justin chuckles]
Oh, that's awesome.
Oh, that feels good.
-[all applauding] -I'll take it.
Come on, Adam, bring it in.
You look good, [indistinct] right away.
Still got a ways to go
but step in the right direction, you know.
[Adam] Whatever you do, don't give it back.
[chuckles] That's the plan.
Thank you. Sweet.
[intense instrumental playing]
[Chase] So, when I was first told
about the Saturday night strength test...
I couldn't picture it in my head how that was going to go.
I-- it made sense.
We've had, you know,
a clean ascending just lift off.
We've had a snatch ascending lift off.
And Boz wanted a sandbag.
[Adrian] I'm kinda going back to this idea
that there's a lot of disciplines
that feed into what CrossFit is,
and there's a whole physical culture
that offshoots from so many of these different elements,
why not draw from that?
And-- and we should be comfortable
looking at these different expressions
of certain elements of fitness and taking them in
and, if not adopting them as training methods,
certainly putting the best to the test against them
and seeing how they stack up.
[indistinct]
[speaking Russian]
He was the only one that started clapping.
It was-- that was awesome because, like, we came--
we announced that the athletes are tired.
They're kind of sitting there.
They're like, "I don't know what to think
about this sandbag event."
And there's this little delay because Roza, his translator,
she's sitting there telling him what is gonna happen.
And once he finds out, he's the only one
that starts clapping in this-- this whole audience
of, you know, tired, worn out athletes.
That was awesome. [chuckles] That was fun.
[Laura] It's really, really heavy, first of all.
And then we-- then they told us that we're gonna start at 160,
I was like, "Wow, that's really heavy."
I have never touched the-- a sandbag heavier than 150.
So, I was really surprised.
It was gonna go up to, like, 260 for the girls.
That's, like, insanely heavy.
[Mal] The warm up for it was--
I missed, like, 170, like, three times
in front of everyone.
And the starting weight was 160.
So, I was like, "Ugh, I'm gonna get last." [chuckles]
[Chase] On paper, it looks pretty boring.
And for-- about four or five rounds,
I didn't really understand what the hype was.
[intense music playing]
Anyone you talk to that demoed this
was like, "This is gonna be
one of the most epic Saturday nights we've ever had."
And I'll be honest, about five rounds in,
I was like, "I don't see it."
I mean, I see people lifting sandbags
and then... it got heavy.
[upbeat music playing]
[audience cheering]
[Tia] I really didn't know how it was gonna go.
'Cause I was like, you know, "You don't know
how many people have-- have actually practiced
sandbag from the ground to the shoulder."
It was just perfect. It was just running so smoothly.
Everyone was just getting better and better
as they warmed up and started to feel themselves
and started to embrace, you know,
"Oh, I've actually got this."
[Chase commentating] I don't know what it is about this lift,
but there's something so primal
about this strength test.
♪
[Mal] The crowd in the coliseum, specifically, helped so much.
Like, it was a max lift, I guess, with the sandbag,
and just, like, having that, like, you just get so hyped up,
and you're like, "I'm ready to attack this."
[Medeiros] Man, the-- the coliseum was electric.
I mean, lifting Saturday night at the CrossFit games
is, uh, is something super, super special,
but I kind of wasn't sure
what the crowd was gonna be like with the sandbag.
I mean, we've seen so many people with barbells
and how exciting that is.
And I think people were kind of thinking like, "Okay,
like, the sandbag's a little bit of a slower lift.
Like, maybe it's not gonna be too exciting."
I mean, it was-- it was electric in there.
I mean, the way the crowd got behind
every single lifter was insane.
The event, I think, took two or three hours for the men,
and it did not get quieter as the time went on.
It was-- it was electric in there.
[Sean commentating] No good for O'Brien.
But Toomey is struggling now.
[audience cheers]
At 210, and she will get it.
[Chase commentating] And this is big for Tia
because we know Mal missed on the last bag.
If Tia can get this bag,
she can put things almost out of reach going into Sunday.
[Sean commentating] Here's Laura Horváth
who's trying to crack the top ten.
She comes in 11th place overall.
Best finish was in the capitol
when she took second on Friday morning.
And Horváth is gonna get through.
[Tommy] As we got to three platforms, finally,
in one of the final few bags,
we got, in my opinion,
the biggest,
most important moment of the weekend competitively.
And so we had Justin Medeiros,
Roman Khrennikov and Ricky Garard
all standing side by side
alone on the competition floor,
each with a sandbag in front of them
and the entire CrossFit community cheering them on.
On the leaderboard, 15 points separated them.
So in that moment,
with all of them side by side competing simultaneously...
the difference in being able to lift that sandbag
next to your peers or not,
could be the difference in who gets the overall leader's jersey
going into the final day.
The stakes were at an absolute highest.
You had the three definitively best athletes
out on the floor in that division,
and you had it in the biggest, most energy filled moment
that we get all year long
on Saturday night at the CrossFit games.
[Ricky] It was getting more nerve wracking--
nerve wracking every round
because it was like, "Man, who's gonna break first?
I don't want it to be me."
[Medeiros] You don't wanna fail sandbag
and see the two guys that are chasing you
continue moving on.
So those last two to three sandbags,
those are lifts that I had to make.
[Chase commentating] Ricky Garard looking like
he got in a-- in a fight with a blackboard.
[Sean commentating] Roman to work first.
Justin has it to his lap.
Khrennikov just can't stabilize it.
Ricky is inching his way there.
[Chase commentating] He's gotta keep his balance.
He's gotta keep his balance!
[audience cheering]
[Sean commentating] Garard will do it,
and Medeiros will do it!
Here we go.
[Tommy] The next round, we get to the 330 bag.
Both Ricky and Justin go on.
So now they get relegated to the tiebreaker round
alongside Saxon Panchik
to maybe wiggle some more points back and forth between them.
[Sean commentating] So Justin heads over to the tiebreaker.
Now this is going to be a big...
big tiebreaker.
[Medeiros] Those are points that are so, so crucial,
especially on Saturday night.
And just knowing that I need to maximize the opportunity
to kinda increase that lead on Ricky.
-[bell dinging] -[Sean commentating] Here we go.
Garard appears to go on first.
[Chase commentating] Garard struggles with that second bag.
Door's open for Medeiros. Medeiros is through!
Medeiros will win, and Garard takes third!
[audience cheering]
It looks like Medeiros will add
six more points to his lead,
unofficially going into the final day.
[Tommy] Justin, again, grinds one out,
and beats Ricky on the tiebreaker
and even in a moment
where they could have just walked away
with the same amount of points,
or he could have even conceded,
Justin continues to build on his lead
and rack up wins against Ricky.
[overlapping conversation]
I am so [bleep] proud of you.
-Oh, my God. -I'm so spazzed.
Did what I could. [chuckles]
Almost passed out, but I did what I could.
[cameraperson] I know, [indistinct] pretty hard.
Yeah. [chuckles] Yeah.
[cameraperson] Are you happy with what you got?
Yeah, I mean, it's the best I can do.
So, I can't really be upset with it.
You know, I did what I could.
[soft instrumental playing]
[rain pattering]
[cameraperson] Uh, what's today, Tia?
Last day of competition.
Yeah, I feel good.
I'm excited.
Um, it's gonna be a big day.
Leading into this season,
you always question yourself, you know, like,
"Is this gonna be the last season?"
And I came into the season very worn out and tired.
You know, I was-- I was pretty confident
that, you know, for Shane and I,
we understood that the-- there's more to life than competing
and, you know, this could potentially be
my very last year.
I'd just so proud of Tia,
just to appreciate today, you know?
Yeah.
Well, it's a little bit of doom and gloom right there outside.
It's raining.
[cameraperson] Just a little-- little emo outside.
[chuckles]
Doesn't matter.
Final day.
Still looks like there's 300 points up for grabs today.
So, probably two workouts.
One of them is a double sport event, so.
Still long ways to go. [chuckles]
Doing good.
Better than I thought I would on day three--
or four, five, or whatever day it is.
[chuckles] But, yeah, we're feeling good.
Curious to see what-- we'd heard,
or they posted one of the events, um, yesterday,
but it looked like the event was out on the field.
So, I wonder if they're gonna do any changes
since it's been raining but...
we'll see.
[Chase commentating] One day remains
here at the 2022 NOBULL CrossFit games
and in a matter of hours,
we will know who is the Fittest On Earth.
For the first time in a long time,
all three spots on the podium are up for grabs
heading into the final day in the men's competition,
just 39 points to separate Justin Medeiros
from Roman Khrennikov.
Yeah, not too bad.
Considering it's the final day...
and we're at the CrossFit games, I don't feel too bad. [chuckles]
This is the-- the day that counts.
Championship rounds.
Interested to see what they're gonna do with the, uh, weather.
[Roman speaking Russian]
[Sean] The Alpaca was supposed to be a sled push,
kettlebell clean and jerks and legless rope climbs.
But once they got on site, officials determined
that the ropes just were not going to be safe
due to the amount of moisture that they had absorbed.
And so, to keep the athletes as safe as possible,
they decided to eliminate the rope climb.
So now, the event becomes the sled push
and then heavy kettlebell clean and jerks.
[Adrian] There's a lot of argument out there for people
saying, "Hey, they could've climbed in the-- in the rain."
Yeah, that's true. Probably would've been fine.
However, the ropes were saturated at different levels.
So, for example, lane one
might've had a giant saturated spot
right at the point where you have to grip
with one arm to make the touch,
whereas lane two was dry at that critical juncture.
So, how is that fair
when you've got one athlete
climbing on a very different surface than another?
[Mal] So now it's just a heavy sled push
and a heavy kettlebell clean and jerk.
And I'm like, "We're coming off another heavy event
on Saturday night.
So, like, mentally, that sucks.
Like, it was not to my advantage at all.
It's just kind of like a...
like, a-- a strong man workout, kind of again.
I feel like we've tested that a lot.
So, it is what it is, though, I'll make the best of it.
It's raining and we're not rope climbing.
We're gonna do the same thing without rope climbs.
I mean, it's the same movement [indistinct]
but yes, it's gonna favor different athletes.
I knew I had to do everything in all those events,
and they were all really good for me
and I just--
I just had to win all three of them, basically,
to make it to the podium.
You can serve a little bit on, like, the 20,
and then you can smash the 15 or ten...
-Yeah. -...kinda thing.
Yeah, 100%.
-100%. -Leaving, like...
12-8-10-5-10, or like--
Something like that, when the back half [indistinct].
Yeah.
I think for me, just is-- rope climbs is something
that's a huge strength of mine, and it was a workout
that I was really, really looking forward to,
and it kind of turned into, like, some panic
and kind of looked around the field around me
where the guys that I feel like that are kind of chasing me,
start to get more excited that there's not rope climbs in it
and it kind of came down
to, like, who wanted it more at that point.
[Chase commentating] But these three guys
have been going head to head
to head all weekend long,
and with an event like this, anything can happen.
[Tia] Kind of stuffed up
because when I was out there and coming back,
when I got onto the 15s
because of the rain, I was slipping everywhere.
And so, you know, once I'd get the kettle bells
up onto my shoulders, they would just slip,
and they would just, like, put me out from my jerk.
[Sean commentating] Roman Khrennikov
will be the first man back to his sled.
[dramatic instrumental playing]
[Tommy] On the men's side,
Roman Khrennikov went into destruction mode.
He just looked like a machine out there.
[Sean commentating] Roman Khrennikov now
in the lead,
Ricky Garard is in second,
and this is big for Ricky and Roman
with Medeiros behind them.
[speaking Russian]
♪
[Sean commentating] One final sled push for Laura Horváth
to pick up her first win of the competition.
[Tommy] On the women's side, the Alpaca event
was a little bit chaotic for some of the top women,
and it presented an opportunity for Laura Horváth
to really seize the moment,
and legitimately inject life back into her podium hopes.
[Sean commentating] And a dominant performance for her,
and she will earn her first win
of these 2022 NOBULL CrossFit Games.
And Roman Khrennikov
is gonna rack up another 100 points.
But Medeiros is putting on a late charge,
and Justin Medeiros is going to pass Ricky Garard.
What a comeback for Justin Medeiros
to hold off Ricky at the end.
[female announcer] Karl Gudmundsson.
[male announcer] [indistinct].
[audience cheering]
[Medeiros] Roman was that guy that was kind of creeping in.
You kind of felt like he kind of came out of nowhere.
It was not someone that I was focusing on,
I was like, "Okay, like, going into the last two events,
like, this is the guy that I need to beat.
This is the guy I need to focus on."
Step in the right direction.
Still got Roman coming in real strong.
So, still two more events left, 200 points up.
So, you never know. Keep diving for points.
It's gonna be an epic finish.
[announcer speaking in background]
[bleep]. [bleep].
[speaking indistinctly]
[Mal] Yeah, I finished, um, like,
through 15th through 20th in that event.
I'm not exactly sure.
But, yeah, we still have two events left.
So, I was just, "You just gotta focus on those."
I got in the ice bath, and I was, like,
"All right, give myself five minutes,
and then let's move on."
Lot of kettlebell things.
We tried, like, a lot of bags, a lot of forms.
It was all, like, back and legs.
It was a good-- good one.
[interviewer] Do you, uh--
do you know [indistinct]?
Yeah, I like if it's rope climbs too.
I like it-- like this, too,
so, it's a completely different workout.
Favoring different athletes, so, that's cool.
-Cool, cool. -I'm still picking my jaw up
off the floor.
That was awesome.
[Sean commentating] Only two events remain here
before we crown the Fittest Man and Fittest Woman on Earth
at the 2022 NOBULL CrossFit Games.
We are inside the Coliseum
at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wisconsin.
Coming into the event, only 25 points
separate Ricky Garard from Justin Medeiros,
and Khrennikov is only up by two
on Ricky Garard.
So, there's two-- two events left,
and really, the big discussion and decision,
do we push for the win, right?
Or do we stay conservative,
and let Medeiros or Garard make mistakes?
Either way, we're going for the win,
but kind of depends on the workouts that come out.
It'll be, uh, yeah, exciting.
So...
[Sean commentating] Event 12,
enjoy your posterior chain while you have it.
[Chase commentating] What posterior chain, Sean?
Have you been watching the events that we had so far?
This is an immense test of strength
for these athletes in only what we call
nine little reps.
Don't think about [indistinct].
Don't think about any of that stuff.
Just think about what it took to get here, okay?
Yeah.
Let's do it.
♪
[Adrian] The Back Nine.
You've got a heavy yoke.
You're gonna carry that yoke across the line, that's one rep.
Then you're gonna pick up the barbell,
you're gonna do two squats.
So, that's three reps total.
Then you're gonna do three deadlifts.
That's six reps.
Then, you work your way back,
two more front squats, one yolk.
So, you add that all up, you got nine reps.
No big deal.
The yoke was really, really heavy.
I never touched a yoke that heavy.
And considering it was the last day
of the competition, like, the second to last event,
the weights felt, for sure, heavier.
[Chase commentating] There's still no room for error.
This is a battle to the end.
It's a test of your might as well as your ability
to push yourself to the limit.
[Medeiros] This event was something
that was super exciting, but at the same time,
I mean, it's less than a minute, 30 seconds.
Like it's-- it's like
every lift counts in that workout,
and we're in the second to last workout of the weekend.
I mean, every point matters,
and you're looking to your left and your right,
and I got Roman and Ricky right by my side.
[Sean commentating] Garard, Medeiros and Khrennikov
have separated themselves from the field.
Now, it's a matter of who winds up with what medal.
♪
[Medeiros] This is where you gotta slam the door.
This is where you make your move.
You don't wanna give him a chance to be like,
"Okay, I can do this in the final workout."
And for me, this is where I need to make my move,
and this is where I need to make my stand,
and going throughout that workout,
Roman was just right in front of me
the whole time.
He was a couple of seconds before me,
picking up the front squat,
same thing going in the deadlift bar.
Right when he finished the deadlift bar,
I frigging took my breath, tightened my belt.
And by that time, he's already a front squat in,
and I felt like I needed--
I was like, "This is it, like, I gotta go now."
♪
[Chase commentating] Watch out for Laura Horváth.
She has just come off an event win
earlier this morning.
[Tommy] Tia's looking like she's a little bit in control.
She's cruising, she's just ahead of Laura,
but then it gets back to the yoke again,
and Laura just picks that thing up,
and runs with it.
[Chase commentating] We've seen this before,
between Tia Toomey and Laura Horváth.
[Sean commentating] Laura Horváth trying to win
her second event of the day, and she is ahead of Toomey.
Horváth is in,
and Tia Toomey
is one event away from history.
[Tommy] Laura just put a big stake
in the heart of the other athletes
hoping for a podium finish by stealing 100 points,
beating out Tia again on the yoke,
and having this really big boost of a moment
to kind of wrap up her comeback
from 15th earlier in the weekend,
and put her into podium spot.
♪
[dramatic instrumental playing]
[Sean commentating] But the key moment,
possibly, of the entire competition,
comes on the final yoke carry.
But Roman Khrennikov looked like he was going to finish
ahead of Justin Medeiros, and maybe even get some people
between the two of them.
[Roman speaking Russian]
[Adrian] You can see Khrennikov wanting to break,
Justin sees this out of the corner of his eye.
He'll be damned if he's gonna put that thing down.
He's going all the way through at that point.
And that, to me, was one of those moments
where if you go back, and you watch the competition
with your eye on Justin,
you see the championship mindset
emerge from him.
You see where he seizes these opportunities
to gain points here and there,
to not let those guys that are ahead of him
on the points table,
beat him where it matters,
and that's what it takes to get to the top.
You don't give up in those little moments.
[dramatic instrumental playing]
[Medeiros] As I'm walking, you can kind of see him
kind of get wobbly, and I just felt so locked in.
I was moving the yoke so well.
And when he dropped it down, and blowin' right past him,
man, it was electric.
[Sean commentating] Here comes Khrennikov,
but Medeiros is gaining!
And Medeiros has the lead.
Justin Medeiros is gonna go unbroken to the finish!
[audience cheering]
[tense instrumental playing]
Let's go!
♪
[audience applauding, cheering]
All I saw was like,
um, Roman was on the yoke,
and then, he stumbled, you passed him,
and then he stumbled again, somebody else passed him.
That's-- I was pretty [indistinct],
that's all I saw.
What happened on the first clean?
Seems a bit harder than [indistinct].
[mumbling]
[bleep], bro, I just want the podium, man.
Need another point.
-Points that I need. -[Cotler] Yep.
You still got a chance to go out there, and get second.
Let's [bleep], let's go. You understand what I mean?
Get fired up.
I know-- I know you're hurting. I know you're hurt.
Everybody's [bleep] hurting,
and you're tougher than everybody.
Tougher than anybody I know, hear me?
So let's get your food in you, and then let's go and get this,
and this last one.
Let's try to go out of here with a [bleep] bang, okay?
[Tia] [indistinct].
Like, is that jeopardizing my first place or...
[woman] No. [mumbling]
[Shane] [indistinct].
[Tia] Yeah, but [indistinct] if I came in dead last--
-[Shane] You're fine. -I'm fine.
And she came first?
-[Shane] You're fine. -Okay. All right.
Like, I'm not gonna come dead last.
But I want to embrace it, Shane.
Like, that's what I want.
[audience cheering]
[Sean commentating] It is going to be a coronation
for the greatest of all time.
Tia Toomey on the precipice of becoming
the sixth time Fittest Woman on Earth.
[Tommy] Going into the final event,
we're on the eve of history.
The sport's most dominant athlete,
one event away from an unprecedented
sixth gold medal.
[Chase] And at the end, the biggest thing was,
what's Tia gonna do?
This may be her last year.
[Tia] You know, that yoke workout
kind of said more than what people realize.
You know, like, normally, I would have attacked
that workout a little bit more.
Not that I didn't attack it,
but on that last yoke,
I would never have let Laura just beat me like that.
And-- and there were certain moments
throughout the weekend that I looked back,
and I think, you know, "Damn,
I kind of just like, let that one slide."
And you know, making those, like, mistakes too,
I was like, "That-- that's just not who I am."
Just go out there, and you blow everything out.
Just one more go.
[sentimental instrumental playing]
Go.
[Sean commentating] Overall standings.
Tia Toomey has a 141 point lead on Mal O'Brien.
Laura Horváth is now inside the top three,
and will have to hold off Danielle Brandon
and Brooke Wells, but there is Tia Toomey.
Soon to be six time
Fittest Woman on Earth.
[intense instrumental playing]
[Tommy] It's interesting, we often make those--
those realizations, or we bestow that title
after the fact.
And it's debated after the fact.
We look back and say, "Oh, yeah, she's the best."
And it's very rare that in the moment,
we're so ever present both from an athlete perspective
and fans and media to know that this is the exact moment
she is definitively the best.
[dramatic instrumental playing]
[Sean commentating] Now, Laura Horváth, Mal O'Brien
and Danielle Brandon, along with Tia Toomey,
move into the barbell.
Laura Horváth getting right to work.
She is not gonna give anyone a chance
to take away a podium finish from her.
Mal O'Brien is looking to become the youngest woman
to ever finish on the podium at the CrossFit Games.
And Tia Toomey taking some time to soak this moment in.
[Tia] You know, I-- I really wanted to embrace,
you know, the crowd and being out on that floor
and kind of being out on that floor
for as long as I possibly could.
And trying to embrace the workout,
regardless of what it was.
Every single thruster I did, I actually was like,
looking into the crowd, and I was--
I wasn't focusing on the workout.
I wasn't focusing on my competitors.
[voice breaks] But I was actually focusing
on, you know, the sound,
the commentators, the music,
and just thinking, "You know, this is it."
[dramatic instrumental playing]
[Sean commentating] Mal O'Brien is across,
and she could wind up in second place overall.
But Laura Horváth continues to work.
What a charge on Sunday,
and she may wind up on the podium.
Here goes Tia Toomey.
♪
Move over, Mat, step aside, Rich.
For the sixth time,
Tia Toomey is the Fittest Woman on Earth!
[sentimental piano instrumental]
[audience applauding]
[indistinct commentating]
[upbeat music playing in background]
[man] How are ya, darlin'?
[horn blows]
[announcer] Ladies and gentlemen...
[passionate instrumental playing]
[Chase] The three men on the top of the leaderboard,
they were not going to get caught by the bottom,
but we still didn't know
what order they were gonna finish it.
Justin Medeiros, Roman Khrennikov,
and Ricky Garard.
They were all separated by about 30 points,
and we have been watching these guys
beat the crap out of each other
for five straight days.
Anything can happen.
[empowering instrumental playing]
[Chase commentating] We start with the 1,000-meter row.
You have to complete it
inside three minutes and 15 seconds.
[Medeiros] Back in the 2020 Games,
we had a 1,000-meter row for time,
and Roman won that workout by far.
And I knew coming off the row that he's gonna be
one of the freshest guys out there,
and that podium spot's still in striking distance.
[speaking Russian]
[Sean commentating] And Justin Medeiros has started
to pick up the pace on these thrusters.
[Chase commentating] Look how close it is.
Everyone within one or two reps of each other.
I knew Roman would be good at the row,
and thought maybe, I could get him on the thrusters
and the bar muscle-ups,
but he still had a bit of a lead.
Uh, so it had to kind of come down to other people
getting in between us.
[Adrian] Roman needed to beat Justin
by, I believe, nine or ten placements
to win the CrossFit Games.
And so, when he and Justin got to the bar
at relatively similar times,
we were just like, doing the math.
I'm like, "All right, where is Roman at?
Where's Justin at?"
[Medeiros] And me and Roman both got to the bar muscle-ups
at the exact same time.
And man, he did-- he surprised me.
He hopped up right on that bar,
and knocked out a set of 14 or 15 reps.
[Sean commentating] And Roman Khrennikov
is in the lead right now.
Khrennikov knocked out a set of 15
before he took a break, now, Medeiros is back to work.
He went through 12.
[speaking Russian]
[Medeiros] And I kind of-- kind of lost track
about where Roman was, how far I was behind him.
And seeing him cross the finish line before me
kind of put me into panic.
[Sean commentating] Khrennikov with one remaining.
He'll come across,
and it was worth the wait for Roman!
[Adrian] Roman finishes.
I'm looking at other people
finishing between the two of them,
and I'm just counting off the athletes.
[Roman speaking Russian]
♪
[Chase commentating] And for the second straight time,
the crown of Fittest Man on Earth
rests on the head of Justin Medeiros.
[Adrian] Another example of Justin not having
an amazing finish on that particular test,
but he did what he had to do in that moment
to make sure that he was still in the mix.
And you add that up over 13 events,
over and over and over again, you got a champion.
[Chase commentating] Ricky Garard
coming in third in this.
Able to finish a third place position.
But Roman Khrennikov, welcome to the CrossFit Games.
It's been a long time coming.
He's earned it four times previously,
his first time to get here,
but Justin Medeiros, back to back.
I hope this is a sight
we get to see for years to come.
[Chase] When the men's event was over.
And you see this camera shot,
and it has Roman, Justin and Ricky
all sitting on their finishing mats,
staring out into space,
and just all in their own moment.
But on the outside, looking at them,
I was like, "We could see this
for years to come."
-[audience cheering] -Your reigning, defending,
Fittest Man on Earth, Justin Medeiros.
[audience cheering]
[Medeiros] Everybody kind of cheering for you,
and that feels so good.
I mean, the first thing I did
was run over and say hi to my whole family.
I mean, those guys, they've been with me
since day one, my support crew's second to none.
So, to kind of jump up,
share that moment with them a little bit was--
is always, like, the moments that I will never forget
when I look back at the CrossFit Games,
but to hold that flag and stand on top of the podium,
I mean, that's awesome.
[Mal] It took a while to actually sink in
that that I got second, but I'll never forget,
like, I wasn't expecting to be emotional,
and I was super emotional finishing the line
'cause you just like-- you look back on everything
that you've done,
and, you know, how crazy of a year it's been,
and all the ups and all the downs,
and it just is all coming back to you at that one moment.
And like, you're not the only one feeling it,
which is really cool.
Like, your whole team is feeling it with you,
and it's just like, a moment you all get to live together,
and you're like-- it just puts more, like,
fuel to the fire.
Like, you just want to keep going after that.
You're so close and...
it just-- it was just a really exciting feeling.
[Laura] I was happy I made it back to the podium.
Uh, I think people doubted me, that I would--
from like, 15th place or whatever,
30 seconds where I took on the [indistinct] push-up,
I would even be near the podium.
But the-- the second half of the events really were
my-- one of my favorite,
and I also did really good in them.
So, I was really happy that I made that happen.
[audience cheering, applauding]
[horn blows]
[soft instrumental playing]
[announcer] Ladies and gentlemen...
[speaking Russian]
Oh, yeah,
I definitely regret my decision, for sure,
what happened in 2017, um...
that was-- the regret and the thoughts
I went through after it, if I hadn't made that choice,
what my life would be like.
Yeah, I-- I just feel like I've--
now started again, like, I'm back to where I was,
and I just had five years of, um,
having to kind of weather the storm
to get back to where I wanted to be.
And now, I get to live the life that I imagined.
So, I'm grateful for that.
♪
[Tia] To be the only person to win six titles
at the CrossFit Games is--
it's-- it's unbelievable.
It's-- it's a huge honor,
and, you know, I-- I think it's just a true reflection
of how hard I've really worked.
♪
It's-- it's a funny one, because like, I-- you know,
I don't want it to come across like I'm not happy,
but it goes far beyond just six titles.
You know, I-- I don't do it for the medal.
I don't do it for the money.
I just-- I do it, because--
well, one, I like competing,
but two, it brings so much joy
to my family and friends,
and I think that that's what's cool.
And you know what?
Having people that have been a part of the sport
for so many years, way before me
and-- and people that have, you know...
built it, and-- and made it what it is today,
and coming up and thanking me?
That-- that's probably what hits me the most,
because I think, "What have I done?
You know, you guys are the ones
that have created this opportunity for me."
I think I-- I take that,
um, a lot more to heart
than, you know, just six titles.
[muffled cheering]
[Chase] You know, the emotion
isn't coming from any relationship
that I have with Tia,
but it's an appreciation and understanding
of what we've got to watch
over the last eight years of Tia.
And how much I love
getting to experience
those things with them.
And to see the humanity in the sport,
I think it's something very unique to CrossFit.
And for me, for-- you know, five days,
it's really personal for me
to be able to tell the story right.
It has nothing to do with me telling a story.
It's me telling their story.
The story of the athlete, the story of the Games,
and the story of what makes
this sport and community great.
♪
So at this point, millions of people
have begun CrossFit training
and experiencing the power it has
to improve their daily lives.
And a large number identify as athletes themselves.
The athletes who make it to the CrossFit Games
are the top of the mountain,
the absolute fittest men and women in the world.
And CrossFit is kind of unique
in that anyone who's done CrossFit at any level
understands that these athletes--
what they face at the Games.
They know what hard work feels like,
why technique matters,
what it means to be totally spent
to face something new, or outside your comfort zone.
They've actually done some of these
exact same workouts themselves.
So, there's a special emotional connection
that this community has with their athletes
that just doesn't exist in most sports.
[Tia] It was about the title back in 2017, 2018.
But as the years progressed,
it became less and less about that,
and became more and more about the opportunities
and the people around me and the bigger picture.
And-- and the sport itself, actually.
If I really emotionally wanted to go for another ten years,
I could be the champion for the next ten years.
I know I physically and mentally would be able to do it.
I don't-- I don't think I feel sad about it.
I think I'm just like, "Damn, I set on this journey
to do something with my life
that I'll be able to share
and, you know, tell stories for my--
for my children in the future."
And, um, I've kind of done that,
and now, it's at that point,
I'm like, "Okay, well, now, I'm gonna have to
have the children." [laughing]
[sentimental instrumental playing]
["Cover Me" by Black Math playing]
♪ We're lying face to face ♪
♪ You're frozen in your sleep ♪
♪ And I'm hardly breathing ♪
♪ Impress me with your silence ♪
♪ I'm hanging on your eyelids ♪
♪ As we softly stir the violence ♪
♪ As we slip back underneath ♪
♪ Say you will cover me ♪
♪ When there's nothing I can see ♪
♪ I dream I'm disappearing ♪
♪ One hand above the skin ♪
♪ My head below the water ♪
♪ As I float in the deep ♪
♪ I float in the deep ♪
♪ Say you will cover me ♪
♪ As we slip back underneath ♪
♪ Say you will cover me ♪
[music fades]