Original subtitles

In 2007, a handful of friends got

together on a small Northern California

ranch to determine who among them was

the most fit.

The event was known as the CrossFit

Games.

A decade of fitness later, the sport has

outgrown the ranch and expanded its

reach worldwide. Further validating the

title of fittest on Earth.

In sport, the margin between winning and

losing can be traced back to fractions

of a second. A slip on the blocks

or a flick of the wrist could be the

difference between victory

and defeat.

The sport of fitness

is no different.

This is it. It closes out the 2015

[cheering] Reebok CrossFit Games.

I can still get him. He's right there.

Smith with the double

And here comes

Mat [cheering]

Fraser.

I swear, if I if I have to get

introduced as the second fittest man, oh

my I want that to now. Second last year

to Rich Froning, and Fraser will have to

wait at least another year before he

stands on top of the podium.

Today,

Superman does not wear that cape. He

wears a CrossFit Games gold medal.

Ben Smith, is the fittest

man on Earth.

It wasn't a fluke last year. I trained

if not harder than anybody else out

there every single day all year. I feel

like I have a shot to win anytime that I

go to the Games, so that's why I've

always thought that in the past. And

yeah, this year is absolutely no

different. I'm feeling better than I've

ever felt.

Your 2015

Reebok CROSSFIT GAMES CHAMPION

>> [music]

>> is Katrin

Davidsdottir.

>> [cheering]

>> Back-to-back wins is a huge statement.

It proves what I've done is no fluke.

I'm fitter than I've ever been. I'm

stronger than I've ever been. What I am

right now is enough to win the CrossFit

Games.

I think about it every single day.

Here's Sara Sigmundsdottir who could be

seeing the title of fittest woman on

earth slipping through her fingers.

>> like, I'm going to think about that

moment every day now when I want to give

up. I don't ever want to feel like that

again.

The CrossFit Games are fun to watch and

they are freaking [music] cool.

The misconception is that the CrossFit

Games are CrossFit. It's not the case.

In a typical affiliate, you walk in and

you're going to see people just like you

in a local community. You're going to

see your soccer mom, high-powered CEOs

working out next [music] to janitors,

people from all walks of life all trying

to pursue a better version of who they

can be.

What we're trying to accomplish through

CrossFit.com programming and [music] in

our affiliates is getting people good at

life. So, CrossFit's really a lifestyle.

It's a philosophy, it's a belief, it's a

a way of taking care of your body and

preparing yourself for anything that the

world throws at you.

We're fighting chronic disease, we're

getting people better. It's life goals.

>> [music]

>> It's I want to be a better person. I

want to have more discipline. I want to

lose a little bit of weight or just be

better, period.

Regular folks that have a job, have a

family, have other things going on,

we're not trying to be the fittest

person in the world. We just want to be

in [music] great shape and have a high

quality of life and avoid all the

metabolic diseases hitting the world.

You can go to the gym, hit one workout,

hit it super hard, stretch a little bit,

go home, eat clean. You're great.

And the CrossFit Games is very different

in that it's a test to determine the

number one man, number one woman in the

entire world, who is the fittest.

[music]

CrossFit athlete does one workout,

rests, does another,

rests, does another.

So, when a CrossFit Games athlete walks

into the gym, they're doing the same

thing that those people are doing, but

they're doing so much more. You look at

some of the top athletes,

they've gone beyond controlling every

single lifestyle factor. Sleep, what

passes their lips and goes into their

bellies. Some of them are talking to

sports psychologists just trying to get

that one extra edge to visualize

performance in order [music] to maximize

their abilities on the competition

floor.

I think that you can move the needle

outside the walls of the gym.

I don't know what's going to do it. I

don't know if it's going to be from

self-reflection and diary. I don't know

if it's going to be from recording your

macros. I don't know if it's going to be

from make sure you don't have any

processed foods, but we're going to do

all of it and hope that some of it

works. Our athletes now are professional

athletes. They're committing their lives

to this.

They suffer really hard. Very few people

in any sport in the world outwork them.

Being a CrossFit Games athlete is

basically a mental illness.

>> [music]

>> All I want to do every single day is

wake up and train and become better. I

don't think about much else right now.

You know, I think about working out,

preparing myself,

I'll meeting,

and then I go to bed at 9:00 and then I

wake up and I do it again.

You can't have anything else. That's

just how it is.

You can't work. [music] You can't go to

school. I do train all year and I think

I train almost just [music] as hard in

the off season as I do

in the season. I don't really think

there's an off season.

I love the pain and I love the

suffering.

The more more I keep training, the more

and [music] more I realize there's so

many more things that I need to get

better at.

So, it's kind of like a continuous

process of learning, failing, growing,

and then going [music] and repeating

that over and over.

Champions [music] don't have balance and

the reason that they are exceptional

what they do is because they focus all

their time and energy on it. Can my

nutrition be better? Can my sleep be

better? You always [music] want to

maximize everything.

>> [music]

>> I want to be a tiger. So, I don't think

I like

I used to We used to talk about this

with my grandma. We I think I'm We're

like a a deer. That's like our animal

like inside of it. We're a deer, but I

want to be a tiger and I think I I

I'm going to be a tiger. I don't know.

Deer is so like I don't know like light

and popping and it's got light inside of

it. It's what we want to We want to have

We want to have light inside of us, but

tigers are like so fierce and

and like

you know, they want to be out on the

field. They you know,

put me in, coach.

That's a tiger.

>> [laughter]

>> Since winning the games in 2015, my life

has changed. [music] There is so much

more attention and they'll look at my

arm and that It looks like

I get to go to Reebok and build shoes

[music]

and my own tank top. Inside of my shoes

is kind of cool. Like inside of one

sole, I have my signature and then the

other one it has be the best me. And the

same thing on my [music] shirt. So, it

has like daughter grown across the shirt

and then be the best me.

I just it means [music] a lot to me.

Everyone's talking about competing

against others. You're put against

others. You're put [music] in a line and

and told who can go the fastest. And

they think that, you know, to be the

fastest that you can be [music] or to be

the best athlete, you have to go faster

than other athletes.

No, you have to go as fast as you can

go. [music]

And that has nothing to do with anyone

else. It's only to do with what's inside

of myself.

>> [music]

>> I want to be the best me.

I always have thought, why can't

somebody compete [music] in multiple

different sports? Why can't somebody be

good at everything? Why is everybody

just focus on one specific thing? Kind

of like a superhero, you know what I

mean? Like they can do everything. It's

It's just that cool like super athlete.

We, you know, just wanted to be able to

[music] be athletic in every possible

realm that you could have and CrossFit

popped up and it was like, "Yeah, you

got to be good at everything.

Not great at any one thing." I was like,

"That's pretty awesome. That's pretty

cool." I thought it was I just was

attracted to it right off the bat. Just

kind of where I've pointed my energy in

the last 7 years.

We are at First Landing State Park

hanging out playing some Spikeball,

getting some sunburn. When was the last

time you were tan?

What What does that even mean?

No, I wasn't. I've never tanned.

I've never been tan.

I remember the first time he really kind

of started getting to fitness was he was

doing push-ups outside and he wanted to

take his mind off of his arms hurting so

[music] he gives me this plastic golf

club and says, "Malik, hit me in the

legs as hard as you can while he's doing

push-ups." And so

I take this plastic golf club and just

whack him in the legs as he's like still

[music] doing his push-ups trying to get

like take his mind off of his arms

hurting. I really legitimately don't

remember that. Did he actually tell a

story like that?

Did he dream of that? Because I have

never heard of that in my entire life.

Besides being extremely gifted and

having a huge work ethic and having

years of CrossFit underneath your belt,

you have to completely commit to

changing your life to that is your sole

existence and goal. And even then,

you're probably not going to make it.

You don't know how good you have to be

just to suck at the CrossFit Games.

Once upon a time, the CrossFit Games was

more backyard barbecue than it was

sporting event. So, the CrossFit Games

started in 2007. It basically started as

a backyard barbecue on Dave Castro's

family's ranch. This is the Woodstock of

fitness right here.

It went from a small event on my

family's ranch with, you know, 50, 60

competitors, 100 spectators. Some

competitors even drank beers in between

events. Now, in the modern era, we

actually have a qualification process.

We have the worldwide open.

>> You know, this year we had over 300,000

people competing in the first stages.

Out of those 320,000 people in eight

regionals, we had 40 men

and 40 women make it from there. So,

right away you can see how much we

paired it down. And those 40 men and 40

women that went to those eight regional

competitions are absolute total ninjas

who, if you took any of them back to

2007, probably would have won the games.

So, that's how good they are. To give

you an idea how much fitter these

athletes are now, in 2009, we tested the

snatch at the CrossFit Games, and the

winning lift for the women was 145

[music] lb.

This year at the regional level,

athletes had to snatch 135 lb 10 times

at the beginning of a workout just to be

able to remain in contention. And if you

get to the CrossFit Games, it means that

you're in the top 1% of the world's best

athletes, bar none.

So, it evolved from this little

get-together and gathering into this

legitimate sport.

There is nothing else like what we put

these athletes through at the CrossFit

Games.

What [music] the CrossFit Games is is

truly who's the world's fittest athlete.

Not the best CrossFitter, the world's

fittest athlete. Man-made event, crafted

inside some very devious minds to exceed

the challenges you would ever run into

in the world, period. And so, what you

face at the Games, you'd be like, "What

It's almost like something you'd see in

a silly movie or whatnot." And you're

[music] like, "That's over the top." And

they they do it.

The Games is what the sport used to be.

Unknown, unknowable, varying, everything

goes, right? From other sports like

strongman or paddle board or throw a

softball. And you don't know if we're

[music] going to go to the mountains,

you don't know if we're going to go to

the beach. We've always, every single

year, introduced an object that people

have never [music] touched before and

never seen before the competition and

don't get to touch until they're on the

competition floor and 3-2-1 go has been

called. Nothing is off the table.

>> mean, from

taking these athletes to

>> [music]

>> a military base in the past, taking them

to the ocean. You wake up in the

morning, the rig's different. Like,

whatever it is. And now, everything's

fair game, man. You better be ready if

you show up to the Games.

I'm always so excited for like Mondays.

Like, the day when you feel like, you

know, it starts. Monday night's the

athlete's dinner, and Dave always comes

in and he tells us something. Welcome to

the 2016 Reebok CrossFit Games. Give

yourselves a hand for making it this

far.

>> [applause]

>> This year I gave them a little speech to

put a little fear, to put a little uh

take a different angle. This year is

going to be the most challenging,

physically and mentally, that you guys

will ever encounter at the CrossFit

Games. This 10-year anniversary is going

to push you guys to limits you will

never know you could go. We are going to

ask a lot of you guys. You guys are

going to have to step up to the plate.

Kind of just telling everyone like,

"Hey,

this is about to hurt a lot." There's

going to be times where you're going to

get really scared, where you're going to

not want to be doing some of the stuff

we're doing. You're going to question

what we're doing. We're You're going to

question why you're here. He was like

scaring everybody so much. I was like,

"Wow, he's going to make us jump out of

a helicopter or something. Like, what is

he going to make us do this year?" If at

any point you are scared or you are

questioning those moments, please feel

free to come up to me or any of our

staff and say, "I don't want to do this

anymore." And we'll gladly pull you out,

make you comfortable, take you back to

the bus, and you'll be done with the

competition.

>> [laughter]

>> This is about crushing the people next

to you, and this is about trying to win

the CrossFit Games. If you're not coming

for that reason, you should just quit

now. Anthony leaves.

>> [laughter]

>> And we're all just sitting there like,

"Wait, what?" It is what it is. Like,

everyone's like making their guesses of

what we're going to do, and I'm just

who gives a you know? We're We're

going to do whatever whatever he wants.

If you want to be nice and warm and

fuzzy and comfortable, just come on over

here, and we'll

take care of that for you and remove you

from the CrossFit Games.

It's pretty great.

I definitely maybe overloaded that

message. Maybe even said it to It was a

little too strong. But, that's okay.

Tuesday night we had like an athlete

briefing at the hotel. [music] We think

we're about to get like some of the

workouts to find out what we're doing on

Wednesday. I need all you individual

athletes, so you can leave and go to

sleep, so we can meet tomorrow morning

in the lobby at 3:30 a.m. If you are not

there at that time, the bus is leaving

without you, and listen, your CrossFit

Games are over. I still feel like we

know nothing about individuals. I have

no idea what's happening.

Just know that I'm waking up after in

hours.

Report to your assigned judge at 3:30

a.m.

Bring valid photo identification.

In case we die. Bring these pants. Bring

this, this, this. It says don't bring

food?

No food? So is it true we can't bring

food? Does it say swimsuit?

Was this like are we going to the swim

tomorrow? Where are we going? Why do I

have to bring this? When are we coming

back? And so the rumors just started

flying around. He's going to leave us

somewhere in the mountains. I'm just

going to I'm just going to get next to

Josh. Do whatever he does. I have no

idea. I'm lost.

See you in the morning.

>> [music]

>> Yay. Oh, huh.

>> [snorts]

>> It's 3:17.

You'll be walking out the door in 60

seconds.

Brush your teeth.

If you're late, you're out of the

CrossFit Games.

And I'm known for being like fashionably

a few minutes late.

>> [laughter]

>> I was not going to be late that morning.

Are you guys excited?

Are you guys nervous?

I'm both. I'm excited and nervous.

Prep your bags for a flight. So no

liquids, carry-on only. You're not going

to have the opportunity to check

anything on.

That's what's happening next. Go ahead

take the next few minutes to make your

bags flight ready. Thank you guys.

We're going on a flight.

Man.

Oh my god, this is exciting.

As soon as they said the airport, I was

like, "Uh-oh, we can go [music] we can

go anywhere." Once again, everyone's

like, "Oh, what do you think we're

doing?" Everyone's giving their best

guesses and we're all going together, so

it's not like some people are getting

the good destination and some of us are

getting the short end of the stick.

We're going to Vegas. I'm not scared.

Free drinks, right? As long as you're

playing. Dave was like, "You know what?

I really like you guys. You're going to

go see a cool show."

Samantha Briggs

Katherine Davidsdottir We get our

boarding passes and we're going to San

Jose, California.

The Ranch. Hey Katherine, what what did

she say we're going? She said

San Jose.

I was like

everyone got one, Katherine.

It's not a secret.

We knew that we were going to a Romwod

event, but we didn't know what we were

going to do.

You know when you see like

kindergarteners like walking outside of

street and there's the rope with like

the 40 handles on it and every kid has

to hang on to the handle. That's pretty

much what we were like going through the

airport.

>> [music]

>> Eight elite athletes, all sleep

deprived, going through the airport

trying to get on one flight. Must have

just [music] looked crazy. Second part

of the charade.

>> [music]

>> Aw, he's adorable. He's like a little

angel.

>> [music]

>> You know, this was something so off the

wall that I didn't want anyone to

[music] have any idea that it was

happening. People always try to guess

what we're going to do. People always

try to predict where we're going or how

we're going to run [music] something.

And to catch everyone off guard that we

were taking them to the Ranch, that was

a success.

>> [music]

>> Hopefully we're here. Welcome to San

Jose. Came from the airport, went

straight to a bus, and I fell asleep.

Woke up and I was at the Ranch and I was

like, "Wow, this is so cool."

>> [music]

[music]

>> The Olympics were born in Greece.

CrossFit Games were born in Aromas.

Taking it home was as special as things

can get. It gave people that haven't

been to the Games in earlier years a

chance to see this iconic Mecca, [music]

birthplace of our sport. So, that's

really cool for those athletes. That was

really special to be able to at the

10-year anniversary celebrate [music]

and compete at the original home of the

Games. I hadn't been back, you know,

since 2009 to the ranch.

>> [music]

>> You know, it looked the same. Everything

was the same. No coaches, no crowd, no

pump up music. [music] Like, it was just

throwing down in the warehouse with with

some of your buddies. We've seen the

videos. We've seen all the cool

announcements like the hill sprints.

That's the heart of the CrossFit Games.

The first two events are a repeat of the

2009

CrossFit Games first two events, 7K run

followed immediately by the deadlift

ladder. I was like, "Oh, great." I

remember that year cuz until that point,

that was the toughest CrossFit Games

that I had ever been to and I only

competed in four events. The run is

slightly different. I made it more

difficult and the deadlift ladder is

much heavier. Last place on the run,

10 minutes later, you're deadlifting.

First place on the run, you have a long

rest.

Let's talk about some of the the dangers

of the ranch. Typical, tried to scare

everyone. Like, there were no sharks,

but he's like, "Hey, there's mountain

lions and and hogs out there. Recently,

they've been really active. Killed three

of my dogs. Huge blood street. There's a

lot of snakes out there. Poison oak and

jagged rocks. There's poison oak right

next to the trail everywhere. What is

poison ivy? Huh. Wear your Kevlar pants

and work boots.

Like to run?

That looks whatever. I mean, I kind of

figured it'd come at some point.

I don't think there's anything else

going through my mind.

It's going to be awesome.

I'm excited.

It's special to be able to share this

with so many people and

not just here, but globally. A lot of

people watch this from all over the

world and a lot of people practice Katy

from all over the world. So, to think

back on where it started 10 years ago to

where it is now, it's insane.

I like seeing the athletes suffer.

There's general themes that CrossFit

athletes don't like to do.

Everybody wants to deadlift, slap each

other on the ass, and congratulate

themselves in their PR. Nobody wants to

go to the track and run 400s or 800s

until they vomit or black out.

Nobody wants to do the run of 10K day

and things like that. So, when we go to

the Games and they are forced to do in

general things that they

usually dislike,

it warms my soul. And the 7K trail run

was the perfect epitome of that.

They do a must start and then we're

sprinting and pushing each other. I

think everyone [music] came up pretty

high.

Let the crazy people do their little

sprinting fighting bit, and then just

kind of pick people off. I was just so

excited to run with the boys, but then I

was like, "Oh my god, they're going to

trample us."

>> It's the kickoff of the Games, you know,

the nerves are all there. You're a

little juiced up. From the bird's eye

view that you might be afforded when

you're watching the CrossFit Games, this

is an arroyo that you go down into. What

you can't see is how incredibly steep it

is and the fairly slippery slope.

>> I knew for me I was like I got to get

out to the front. Like I don't want to

get caught in a channel and not be able

to pass people. All right. Up. Yep.

Go up, guys.

The dust is so fine and thick.

And the effect of that as soon as one

person goes through it, it's in the air.

As soon as two people go through it,

it's all over the place. And as soon as

you've got a herd of people going

through it, you're basically breathing

smoke.

>> [music]

>> Early on, there was a a handful of

athletes that kind of separated

themselves towards the front. Josh

Bridges, Mat Fraser, Brent Fikowski, Sam

Briggs for the women in particular.

Go left. Slow down. Slow down. Slow

down.

Make it easy going here. You got to go

left. Slow down.

We both know we can pull away right now.

Let's leave these guys behind. Mat took

off and I was like, "Okay. I'll let him

go. Let him Let his [music] lungs burn

up a little bit and then I'll catch up

to him." Which is not the case.

All of a sudden that dude was just gone.

So,

it was not an easy run by any means.

Some of those hills were you know,

you're on all fours. You're using your

hands. You're crawling up.

>> I went down a little bit and then up

again. And then down a little bit and

then up again. I was like, "Wow, when

does this stop? Like when am I done with

this?" I was just like by myself kind of

like, "Man, I hope I'm on the right

path." You could see who said, "I don't

like this crap either, but I know I need

to do it. I know I need to be well

rounded, so I don't avoid it in my

training. Hey, I'm glad you threw it at

me. Watch this."

>> You're always looking behind you just

like constantly have that fear of like

someone chasing you. You just feel that

[music] on like the back of your neck.

So it's like I just keep going. Keep

going. Keep going.

>> [music]

>> Like all the dirt on the ground, like

you couldn't see anything. I think I

slid [music]

all the way

down.

It was the fastest slip and slide.

Here he comes. Here he comes. Here he

comes. If you're running faster than you

can fall, you're not going to fall. Try

to keep those [music] legs pumping.

How was it? It was good.

Not a barbell in sight and Matt Fraser's

got 100 points on the board. The guy

wasn't even breathing hard. He just did

a 7K trail run through treacherous

terrain and then just kind of walked

off. Josh Bridges comes in I think a

minute 20 behind him and then I think as

as more and more people sort of filtered

in, that's when you started to see the

effects. That was awesome.

>> [music]

>> What a way to kick the Games off.

Woo!

Yes. Here's what I like about Sam

Briggs.

>> [music]

>> She's running. There's not a female in

sight. She could walk it in. Brooke Ence

is about 10 or of Sam Briggs

and solely to establish dominance, Sam

Briggs dusts Brooke Ence just to say,

"Welcome aboard, rookie. This is my

event." Not necessary to do it all, but

that's how Sam Briggs rolls and I love

it. Sam Briggs beat me in the run.

I came fifth.

>> She beat you on the run?

>> Yeah, I was the first dude she beat.

Dude, she was right behind you.

>> know she was.

>> like, "Oh, Brent." Yeah.

Sam, how close were you to Brent?

I took him on the last corner.

Yeah, but you didn't beat me. Oh,

I'm not the first dude. Oh, [laughter]

yeah, I know. I uh

So, you took You took fourth overall?

>> I took fifth overall.

Oh, yeah, cuz you had a

>> Yeah.

>> [laughter]

>> I kept like slipping. I was going so

slow that I just went on my butt and

then literally just like So, I probably

have pony lines all over. Seeing some of

the women of the CrossFit Games who are

sweethearts and beautiful women. They

look good? Just with like dirt

mustaches.

>> [laughter]

>> And like And like dirt beards, you know,

and they didn't know it while they were

having the interviews done. Oh my gosh,

have I been looking like this the whole

time? Like mud everywhere, like between

my teeth and everything. It was fine.

You're like, "Oh." Looking like they

were coming back from war. I mean, just

covered in dust, looking like they've

been up for days. It's the very first

event of the CrossFit Games. People are

just hunched over, dousing themselves

with water, and then thinking, "I have

everything left to do."

2 minutes.

>> [music]

>> In theory, the fastest runner would not

have the highest deadlift, and the

slowest runner would have [music] the

highest deadlift. So, Sam didn't warm up

for the deadlift either. I was like,

"Dude, you're going to like warm up?"

He's like, "I just ran 7 km. I'm warm."

So, in 2009, we did not get the loading

right on the deadlift. I said one or two

people are going to get the deadlift.

And in that year, I think it was 17

people cleared the deadlift. I was like,

"This is the opportunity to get it

right, the event right, the loading

right, and the combination right."

You didn't even know what was happening

out there because no one was cheering or

anything like that. [music] You heard

your name called out and now it's just

you and a barbell.

Sam Dancer.

He's like a cartoon character.

He, I think, almost checked out of life

on the trail run, but then when he got

back in and there was a deadlift ladder

there.

He cleared the entire thing and pulled

that last barbell of 615

lb. I'm pretty sure my spine would have

shot out of my back if I would have

tried to do something like that, so.

And then I watched Brooke Wells pull 415

lb from the ground.

>> [music]

>> Pulled 505 at the games. That's the

heaviest I've pulled in a long time. I

was really happy with my 505, but that's

right at my [music] PR deadlift.

505 ended up being like 20 something

place. 23rd.

Oh my god. Which is crazy [music] cuz

that's where the ladder finished in

2009.

Oh wait, look, there's Tia Toomey again.

Where'd she come from? It's amazing that

given the fact that Tia Toomey finished

second in 2015 that we still overlooked

her.

You know, I wouldn't look at a weight

and be like, "Oh, I can't do this in any

given day. [music] I've just done a 7K

workout. Whatever it is, I'll just have

to try and get to the end of it."

What happened to Tia in 2015? That's a

really good question cuz I remember

going back and and looking at everything

that we did. We barely showed her.

There's rumors, there's a mysterious fog

about her. You overhear something in a

bar, and like, "No, that's that's that's

a myth. That didn't happen." Damn it,

how did she catch us by surprise like

that?

>> [music]

>> Here's what I know about Tia-Clair

Toomey. She flew under the radar, and

she was so consistent.

>> And I think it's because she wasn't very

flashy, didn't win an event in 2015. But

you look at the women she beat to get on

that podium, and they're like, "Who is

she?" And that's incredible as a rookie.

It surprised that out of me.

We knew even she was going to be in the

mix again in 2016, but just [music] very

quietly in the background saying, "Yeah,

I can do this, and I can do the next

event. I can probably do the next event,

too." This year, I qualified [music] for

the Rio Olympics for the weightlifting

spot, and now I'll be heading over to

Rio 10 days after the CrossFit Games,

and I can call myself an Olympian.

>> [music]

>> Did you guys enjoy your introduction to

the 10th anniversary of the CrossFit

Games? YEAH!

>> [cheering]

>> GOOD. EAT SOME FOOD, DRINK SOME WATER,

RELAX.

Does any part of you think that maybe

you made the event too hard?

None whatsoever. Have you ever thought

that?

Yeah.

Like, we're pretty well conditioned

comparatively to like a powerlifter, so

like, those short rest periods aren't

the worst thing in the world for us, but

you're taking

just really nice jumps, and CrossFitters

typically don't do that.

And they typically don't deadlift.

The Ranch Mini Chipper brought to life

one of the most notorious hills at the

Ranch. There was an event, sandbag

sprint, face up the hill, run back, grab

your sandbags, throw them over your

neck, and haul ass up the hill.

Annie Thorisdottir at that time was this

raw athlete with no technical skills.

She didn't know how to snatch. She

didn't know how to do a sit-ups, she

didn't know how to do a muscle-up. And

regardless, in 2009, she crushes the

sandbag sprint, takes first place

overall. [music] This wasn't bad. This

was easy. Easy?

Yeah.

It was just the right amount of rep

range for athletes to kind of try and go

for broke [music] and do the set

unbroken.

But if you do so, you're burning up your

legs, you have to get on a GHD that's

going to tear up your quads [music] as

your midline breaks down.

I was next to Annie who just went like

out of the gates. The worst daughter had

the fastest pace going up the hill and

when we saw that I went, "This isn't

going to last. This is a bad choice."

And she kept going.

Saw Pakowski in front of me and tried to

chase him down. Trying to grind with

Branton is challenging at the best of

times. They were just slow. They were

making the choice to be slow. They could

have been faster. Every single guy there

could have been faster.

I was like, "Okay, Sara, you have to run

whole time. You can't stop." 1/3 of the

run I was on the catwalk.

Go time. It's [music] time to really

run. That base of the hill is going to

rip up your legs and your heart rate's

going to go through the roof. You run as

[music] much as you can until you can't

run anymore. You walk a couple steps and

then you run again. It was the type of

burn that it's hard to put yourself

there [music] in training.

I was like, "This is my event to win."

Like if I don't win it, it's my fault.

>> You cross the finish line and everybody

was just collapsing. Nothing left in you

when you finally like got up that hill,

it was like boom, you're on the floor.

And it's just that like flopping around

on the ground trying to find that

position to make the pain go away. And

it it doesn't matter how you sit. Like

it it's going to hurt. Damn.

So I got

what?

Say what?

You won your heat for sure.

Good.

If I understood your question correctly.

I hated that event in 2009. I hated that

event there.

That was hard.

Oh, that was a blast.

I'd like to do that again.

Yeah, well it was all so much fun.

All right.

Man, this is hell with Bonnie today. How

cool is it we just jumped on a plane

this morning and we're here.

That was good. That was great.

Good finish for both of us.

I think I I felt like that was my event

to lose.

Or to win. Um

and I did just that. So I'm

really happy. It was hard, man. It was

it was a grind.

Last event was like

hard, but like afterwards you're like,

oh I should have pushed a little bit

harder.

But like

I maybe did not think that when I was

doing it. I was dying, but afterwards I

was like, oh I should have pushed

harder. Dang it.

But

first day done.

Four days left.

No problem.

I do a little hoo-yah and then say

goodbye to Aromas and

head back onto a bus for an hour,

[music] hour and a half and then

get to the airport to be told that our

flights were delayed.

>> [laughter]

>> Which for me is pretty typical. Well, we

got to the airport 5 hours early, first

of all, and then our flight was delayed.

So, it was like, "Okay, we're just

sitting here forever." Trying to find

somewhere to sleep. There were bodies

everywhere. We were just like pulled up

like [music] outside the gate and just

fell asleep.

If we circle back

to what I said previously,

which is that I enjoy

human suffering and when people are

totally thrown off their game,

the ocean

does that almost like nothing else.

>> [music]

>> The ocean was amazing. Like, it it was

like as soon as you arrived, you were

like, "Wow, this is like so awesome."

And then Dave announces that the girls

and the guys are all starting at the

same time. We're like,

"Say what? No."

>> [music]

>> I actually freaked out a little bit

because, you know, those boys are not

going to hold back and we're going to

like fall flat on our faces in the sand.

They're going to trample us. Coles

Seager was sort of behind me, to the

side of me, and he sort of said like,

"Brendan, I just want to let you know

like I might run you over."

I'm a powerful athlete. I was a football

player in in my past, so having just

quick spurts of power can really pay off

for me and and I think that's what it

did. So, you want to start in front of

me, Cole?

>> [laughter]

>> So, I was like, "Why don't you like lead

the charge and and I'll take the

football and I'll kind of stand behind

you, right?" But off the line. But off

the line.

Stand by. Ready.

>> The thing is with CrossFit is everybody

wants to win.

And even if they're [music] not a good

swimmer, they want to be the first in

the water. The swim was more like a fist

fight and [music] a run more than a

swim.

That was the most fearful I've ever been

for myself in water. That was

>> [music]

>> very scary. Seriously war zone over

there. People are like scratching,

they're like pulling on you, pulling

your legs. You've got guys like swimming

over the top of you. And you've got no

chance when somebody is like twice the

weight of you and you're getting pushed

down and under. Very comfortable in the

water and then at a couple points

turning around the buoy, I was like,

"Okay, I'm going to die. You know, I'm

going to just drown right here.

Someone's going to pull me under." It

was getting very irritating, to say the

least. I was I was almost to the point

where I wanted to grab someone and and

pull them to the bottom of the ocean and

tell them, "Hey,

stop swimming on top of me, all right?"

I can hold my breath longer than you.

And

then we got hit. And Ben and I got

smashed by this wave. I didn't even see

it. I just got pulled under, and tumbled

a couple times. I'm like, "I'm just

relax, you won't drown, relax." I got on

top of a wave. I'm like, "I'm doing it.

I'm doing it." And then, "Oh, I'm

spinning. I'm spinning."

We're both like all three of us are like

taking a breath and then just

Got up and got like a gasp for air.

Looked at each other and we was,

"Where's the shore?" And then like we

started like running for the shore.

I only seen one girl so I was like, "Oh,

I got to go. I got to go. This is the

time to go. You got to go now."

I managed to hold on for a little bit

longer and come over the line but I had

no idea if I'd come first or not. It was

just like I knew I'd beaten someone so

when they said I came first I was really

happy with that. But there was a wave

and I seen it coming

and jumped right on me and Ben Smith.

I swear I got crushed.

It was brutal.

I think I got like 15 kicks in my

my mouth. People were ruthless out

there. Really? Yeah.

Uh

Got some good Got some scratch marks and

stuff. I got a scratch mark right there.

Right there.

Yeah, people were like tugging on you,

pulling on you. I mean I knew it was

going to a little bit would happen but

people weren't messing around. So

got me a little angry.

It's really hot in the sun, isn't it?

>> [clears throat]

>> Shouted at you.

He was what? Sprayed all over you.

Sprayed it all over me.

I know. Revenge.

I'm not going to name any names. I

remember after the event one girl came

up to me and she was pissed. She was

like "Someone grabbed my ankle

and just yanked me back, like swam over

me."

And

I was like, "Yeah, that sucks." And she

was like, "And I know it was a man

because like how strong they were."

Next day in the athlete area, not going

to name names, that man came up to me.

He was like, "Oh my god, that swim was

ruthless." He was like He was like, "At

one point I just grabbed an ankle and

just pulled them back." I'm like,

"Shh.

Don't tell anyone that. Like that is a

bad story.

Murph. It is a hero workout that's done

in thousands of CrossFit gyms across the

world. And for the first time, [music]

the fittest athletes in the world will

be doing it here at the CrossFit Games.

Well, so 2 years ago I knew we were

going to come to the ranch.

1 year ago, I knew we were going to do

Murph again. I say that because as soon

as we did Murph last year and all the

commentary everything that happened with

it happened, I said, "All right, we're

bringing that back."

>> Kara Webb just collapsing into the arms

of Anna Tunnicliffe who's trying to get

her some water. They're calling for the

medical staff [music] to come over and

check out Kara Webb. I just didn't know

what my story to end like last year.

Overheated and that was the last time he

did Murph. Like I kind of wanted to

rewrite that a little bit.

This is more than an event today. It

absolutely is. It's one of probably I'd

say the most famous hero workouts that

we have and everyone has done this. Not

going to lie, not having an American win

it in 2015 was a bit of a bummer. From

Iceland, Guðmundsson will take

event number three, Murph.

Murph is a hero workout named after a

SEAL who was killed in action. Josh

Bridges, well-known Games athlete,

former SEAL, didn't compete at the Games

in 2015, so couldn't give BK Gudmundsson

a run for his money.

He crushed it. So, you know, you can't

take anything away from him. He went out

there and destroyed that workout. You

know, when it's a hero workout named

after an a former Navy SEAL, you know,

who for me is just something near and

dear to my heart where like, all right,

an American should win this workout.

Yeah, he did well, but in 2016 I wasn't

going to allow him to do that again.

>> [music]

>> Kara Webb, you're done.

Oh my god, she's out.

>> [cheering]

[cheering]

[screaming]

>> I'm not here to take second on this

workout. I'm not here to take third. I'm

not [music] here to take fifth. I want

to win this workout. I want to be

a dominant performance.

But, of course, first mile, guys are

going out like a 6-minute pace. You

can't win the workout in the first run,

but you sure as can lose it. Jacob

Anderson before the workout said, "Yo,

I'm going to win that first mile." Like,

get it, man.

And sure enough, coming in the stadium,

he passes me. He's like, "I'm going to

win this first mile."

Get it, man. Get it.

>> [laughter]

[music]

>> You can see the dividing line where the

shade was. As the sun started to come

up, more of the field would be covered

in sunlight. So, like half the [music]

field is in the sun, half the field had

shade. And it was first come, first

serve for lanes. I ran [music] as fast

as I could on that first mile just to

get a good spot in the shade. So, I was

like, "I'm going to play it smart. I'm

going to go like three lanes in. The

shadow's not going to move 15 ft in the

next 20 [music] minutes."

It did.

And when he [music] announced that it

was like partitions, I was like, "Great,

there's like even more fitness to it."

Like, you just got to go faster. All the

other girls were like, "Aw, this [music]

is going to be so much harder cuz we're

going to have to go so much faster." In

In my head, I was like, "We don't have

to go faster, okay? We can just take our

time if you really want." cuz I'm up for

that if you really want to do that. We

can [music] do it, but just do it

slowly. Some of those guys like like

Josh and Matt, they smoked it. You

couldn't watch them. If you tried to to

see whereabouts they were and and try to

keep up with them, you'd kill yourself.

>> Bridges done with round one and back

[music] for round two and if you read

the description that we had just had up

on the screen, I'm sure that would have

motivated him as well. He doesn't like

to be told things like he's the oldest

and the shortest.

He's going to He's going to use that as

fire had he seen it.

The best part about being an older

athlete, you know, being around for a

while [music] is is the fact that you do

know yourself so well. You have the

data. You have experience. You know when

you should break and when you shouldn't

break.

>> The thing that stood out to me the most

about Josh Bridges in Murph was the fact

that he kept going back to the pull-up

bar and I think he did every set of 20

unbroken, which he makes look easy, but

when you actually try and do that at

that fatigue level, that was incredible.

Josh Bridges is done and he is on to his

second and final

one mile run and it looks like he is

well on his way towards his eighth

career event win at the CrossFit Games.

I never got to meet Michael Murphy,

[music] but you know, when you become a

SEAL, you you form a brotherhood with

these people. Just knowing that we'd

been through some of the same things

together [music] and then, you know,

knowing his story and what he did

uh was super special for me.

You can watch it. You can hear other

people say how tough [music] it's going

to be all you want, but until you

actually experience it, you don't know

what those athletes go through and just

last year, I remember telling myself

that I just gained so much more respect

for the athletes that come here year

after year. It's a lot more demanding

than anyone can ever imagine.

I remember I was just like in my own

world. I didn't know where anyone was. I

didn't care where anyone else was. I

just wanted to go as fast as I could.

And as I ran down that runway, everyone

like stood up. Everyone was cheering for

me and I could hear them like, they were

so elated for me because it was more

than the placing and it was the effort

and it was overcoming what happened the

year before

>> [music]

>> and I just couldn't get the smile off my

face.

There is nothing better than watching

[music] Josh Bridges win an event just

for the celebration that comes out of

it. It is a tremendous [music]

thing to watch because there's nothing

fabricated about it. There's nothing

planned about it. It is raw emotion just

from his heart and soul that is [music]

pouring out of his face and mouth and

you can feel it.

Yeah, just coming into the stadium it

just felt really, really [music] good,

you know, like

knowing that

I did what I needed to do. You know,

there was there was no way, like I said,

I could let anyone else win that

workout.

>> [music]

[music]

>> I was excited about the squat clean

ladder but in the same time I was also

very nervous because I knew that even

though I really like squat cleans

compared to some of the other girls,

it's not a strength of mine. Dave's

scalp is going to burn with those

braids. The next event, you guys all

know what it is. It's the squat clean

pyramid.

Who do you think is going to win?

Who do you think Bridges is going to

win?

>> [cheering]

>> You got to answer. Hey, what the hell,

man?

Yeah, thanks for messing with me.

>> [cheering]

>> There it is. No pressure.

Yeah, you know? You know?

Beams and

>> [laughter]

[music]

>> Reps go down, weight goes up, and man,

look at those weights we're ending up

with 325 squat cleans at the end of

doing all these reps. This is going to

be a big one for these strong guys.

If you made a pact with the devil,

and you're like, I want to come back as

just the strongest, most handsome man

you can come up with, he would make you

[music] Alex Anderson.

Alex Anderson crushed that workout. I

think what's cool about the squat clean

ladder for the men is that it gives

and I don't want to use the term

specialist, but gives guys who really

like to throw around heavy weight an

opportunity to shine on a really cool

stage. And And that guy was Alex

Anderson. He is

strikingly handsome.

Looks like a Ken doll.

And he's so strong.

It is almost offensive. First event win

for Alex Anderson. Wow. Carl [cheering]

Webb, one to go. Who was looking to make

a charge up the leaderboard? I couldn't

keep up with her in that thing. Same

weights.

And I don't know if you think you could,

but I'm here to tell you, you can't.

Not [music] even close. We'll set it up

after this.

And then we'll play it on a monitor, and

you can try to race her on the monitor.

Ain't going to go well. Carl Webb,

hearing it from the crowd as she will

win event number six. Katherine

Davidsdottir, the defending champion,

still on the floor, as is a

Sigmundsdottir. These are two women you

would have expected to be pushing for

the lead here at this point in the

event. I tried to follow Kara Webb

instead of going in my own pace and just

lost my head and lost focus and [music]

then I was like, "Wow, what like what's

happening to you, Sara? Where where is

the Sara that I know?"

It's like my head just I don't know. I

don't know what happened, but I was

like, "Okay, stop thinking about it.

Next event." [music]

And once again,

Tia-Clair Toomey, just like a thief

creeping in the night,

just takes third. Again, you know, like

all eyes on Kara Webb, all eyes on Kara

Webb, and there's Tia-Clair Toomey doing

amazing once again.

I was extremely nervous at the double

DT.

But now that that was just a confidence

booster. Like, "Okay,

I can I can with this.

You put me next to like Alex Anderson,

that's a big guy.

I'm that big. I'm not as big as Matt

Fraser.

They breed those Anderson boys big.

>> [cheering]

>> When in doubt, sparkle.

Anything. And that it doesn't just apply

to nails. It's eyeshadow, it's

headbands,

leotards,

especially leotards. I used to always

have sparkly earrings, but my grandma

always wore pearls.

So, I changed. I wear pearls now.

I feel like four reps of this.

Never felt sparkles. I don't know what's

happening here.

Just to bring in a DT.

You excited about DT?

I am.

I'm very excited.

Like real house workout?

Yeah.

Yeah, it's going to be grip.

Just grip. Yeah.

>> [music]

>> My coach decided that we should go do

Stockton for training camp before the

games. We're teasing them.

They think we're giving them food.

It's like a small farm or something and

walking distance from the [music] gym.

It was just awesome. It was so quiet.

It's warmer than in LA. Yeah, and no

distractions. [music]

No break. Back [laughter] to the bar.

Back to the bar.

Let's go.

Come now.

Back to the bar.

Come now.

Come again.

Fight to the end, Sarah.

Come now.

Come now.

Go. Go. Go. Go. GO. LET'S GO. LET'S GO.

COME NOW.

>> [panting]

[gasps]

[music]

>> OF COURSE, I THOUGHT LIKE, OKAY, you won

heavy DT last year, you have to win

double DT, too.

Double DT, put my money on Sara, beyond

a shadow of a doubt, right? I think all

eyes were on her. It was like, okay,

this is her event. [music] This is where

Sara Sigmundsdóttir is really going to

make her move. Show and all eyes on

Katrín Davíðsdóttir. I talked to [music]

her coach, Ben Bergeron, backstage and

he said she's going to smash this

workout. We've got other workouts you

can back off. This one is everything

you've got. Okay, you're going to smart.

Show me you're smart. Show me strong,

okay? Show me smart. Show me strong.

Mat Fraser comes in with a 104-point

lead over Alex Anderson. Mat Fraser

could sit this event out and he would

have the lead going into Saturday.

[music]

Sara Sigmundsdóttir, there's one thing

we've learned about her, she will not

quit. Whatever Davíðsdóttir is going to

do, Sigmundsdóttir is going to see if

she can do better.

It's Friday night lights, CrossFit

style, and we're doing it with double

DT.

This is now finally where Ben Smith can

start making a move on Mat Fraser. This

is an event that is very, very good for

him. He's extremely good with the

barbell. He's short range of motion, so

the deadlifts are going to be great. If

the range of motion is shorter, the reps

will be faster. I know he doesn't like

being talked about, you know, one of the

shorter athletes. Oh, he's going to be

good this workout cuz he's short. Find

something different to say other than

I'm short. But her Enough of that. Well,

maybe it's cuz I did 10 years of Olympic

weightlifting.

And it is a nice land [music] of civil

war between Katrín Davíðsdóttir and then

Sara Sigmundsdóttir, who right now has

the lead. Toomey is currently ninth

place in the heat.

You win it in in rounds 8, 9, 10.

Rounds 1 through 7

are just to get there.

I think I got to round six. My grip was

already going out. Like I'm just like,

"Hang on there as long as you can." That

last round, I think I broke up the hang

cleans three times.

Katrin was more on her game plan. Sara

was starting to wrestle over the

barbell, spending more time on the

ground. Katrin [music] clearly had a

strategy and was able to stick to it.

You get to round 8 and round 9, and now

Katrin's pace looks basically the same

as it did in rounds 1 and rounds 2. She

might not be the most physically gifted

athlete out there, but what's between

her ears [music] made the difference in

that event.

>> Katrin's speed on these cleans is just

so much faster than Sara's.

You always have a plan, and if the plan

doesn't work, [music] you just got to

work with what you got.

Mat Fraser is an unstoppable

force. He is [cheering] on fire. Katrin

Davidsdottir has moved into first place,

but Sara Sigmundsdottir got a hit with a

costly no rep. I think I failed one hang

clean. It like flew out of my hands, and

after that I I knew I had lost. Last

year, round one, heavy DT with the Sara

Sigmundsdottir. Round two, double DT,

and this one goes to Katrin

Davidsdottir.

>> [cheering and music]

>> I knew like when that workout.

All of you ladies, put your hands

together. How about Katrin Davidsdottir?

[cheering]

My grandma has always been my biggest

fan. And my best friend, she is amazing.

In the stands, [music] she was always

standing. You know, everyone else might

have been sitting, and she was standing,

cheering her head off. And you could

always hear her.

I always knew where she was,

>> [music]

>> and everyone always knew that that was

my grandma.

My mom [music] was Katrin's biggest fan.

Embarrassingly so. She would be at

competitions, [music] and she would be

so loud that we would move away, and

just like it would just be my mom in the

bleachers.

Very suddenly, [music] she um she died

in April.

It was devastating [music] for

everybody, but it was particularly

devastating for Katrin.

Every morning, I light [music] a candle.

She She loved candles and she would

light a candle every morning over

breakfast and she had these little like

Moomin elf cups [music]

that she used to collect.

So, these things are like the Moomin

elves. They're such lovely things. It's

a It's a Finnish um thing. And I loved

so much cuz like

I have

My grandma used to collect

a- lots [music] of them.

They're so cute. These are all the

little Moomin elves. I have two at home

now and I always light a candle and I

always say good morning to her.

And I have coffee [music] out of that.

I think [snorts] I'll miss her every

single day for the rest of my life.

I don't understand [music] how it

happens that you can be mad. You can

quit everything. I can put everything on

hold and I can go [music]

get a tub of ice cream and cry. If I

would do that and imagine her looking at

me,

she wouldn't want that.

What she would want is for me to keep

doing what I'm doing. If anything, it

made me do things better. We were always

together. So, we always sat on the

phone. So, we always sat on the phone or

sleeping. We're always together and I

still believe that.

She was always in the stands and now I

feel like she's with me on the floor.

Which is cool for her.

She

has more [music] energy than anyone

else.

And that she can now get to experience

being on the floor.

I want wanted be so proud of me.

>> [music]

[music]

>> Have you seen it? They said you have to

touch steel. So what I was planning on

doing is getting all the way to the top

and just going like that. Yeah, that's

good.

>> And then dropping it.

>> Yeah, so what what what you have to do

is like

double tap.

>> Double tap.

That's good. That's how you slide it

down. They also said touch the V, so I

was going to

>> [laughter]

>> just slide myself down here.

Way better.

We talk about the unknown and the

unknowable a lot. It's a silly phrase, I

think, except to say that what it

represents is critical to the CrossFit

Games. People have to be able to show

up, learn something in a very short

amount of time what the task is, and be

able to accomplish it in order to say

that they're the fittest on Earth.

The climbing snail was by far my

favorite event at the Games, by far.

That wonderful combination

of

fun,

miserable,

and

unknown.

It is climbing snail, the first new

challenge. A rope climb with a rope that

dangles 5 ft above the floor. The other

is the snail. The climbing snail is kind

of an interesting workout because you

had two new kind of elements thrown in.

You had the shortened rope, basically so

they had to do a legless rope climb and

then transition into using their legs

once they got high enough up on the

rope. And then a completely new element

in the snail, which athletes had never

really touched before. Most athletes

didn't even know what it [music] was.

We threw this big cylinder out there

filled with sand. So when you roll it,

it's not like you can build momentum.

And they didn't have a chance to

practice. So you wanted to see how they

were going adapt to that.

Yeah, when that one was released again,

I thought, "I think I can win this one.

I think this is mine to win."

That worm run is just is it sucks.

It It's like just long enough that you

start losing hope right by the time you

get to the top and then it flattens out.

So, you just had to remember that you're

strong enough to make it up those stairs

and you got to run the stairs.

So, the climbing snail for the men was a

really cool battle to watch because you

had two athletes and Patrick Vellner and

Brent Fikowski. You could see them kind

of battle back and it looked like no one

was really going to give an inch there.

It was one of those things where they

kind of see in their eyes that like

we're in this thing for the battle. As

Brent Fikowski is coming down the steps

first, he and Patrick Vellner

have both passed Cole Sager on the run.

>> Yeah, I've been trying to go with Brent

all weekend. I knew that coming down he

was a little ahead of me but his lane

was farther down. So, I knew we were a

little bit close coming

>> in.

I was far enough ahead of Vellner and I

was confident enough with my rope climbs

that as soon as I ran to the ring I was

just up and down it. And then as I came

off I could hear the announcer that I

was the first one off. Brent Fikowski,

the rookie,

battling another Canadian, Patrick

Vellner, who's trying to catch up with

Fikowski and Brent Fikowski is going

[music] to lock up 100 points as he wins

climbing snail.

But it doesn't look like anybody's going

to catch Sam Briggs here. She just has

43 ft to go with that 400-lb snail and

and it's going to be event win number

two for Samantha Briggs, the ninth event

win of her CrossFit Games career as she

will earn 100 points.

So, like Sam Briggs always does, she

just goes out and hits a home run. And

while she was doing that, Tia Toomey is

busy struggling a little bit. And I was

actually pretty surprised of how much

trouble that event gave her.

I think that that workout just kind of

went downhill from there and it feels

like everyone's overtaking you.

Toomey

just looks gassed, just resting her head

on the snail right there.

Katerin Davidsdottir is on the left. She

has passed Sara Sigmundsdottir.

Davidsdottir [music]

will get in. She only trails

Sigmundsdottir by 10 points.

Sigmundsdottir needs to hurry up and get

across the finish line. Kristin Holte is

going to beat her there and that's going

to cost Sara Sigmundsdottir.

Tia Toomey has yet to finish.

And that means that Samantha Briggs

is going to be your overall leader after

eight events.

Sam Briggs wins and and Tia Toomey is

back in the middle of the pack and falls

off the overall lead.

How was that?

So good. That was my all-time workout.

So happy. So so so happy.

Got to do what you got to do, man.

That was good.

Just trusted the other guys would die

off.

And that my pace would be fast enough

and it was. But again, I felt this was

mine.

Mine to win or lose. It was kind of my

call.

Brent and Patrick were very impressive

to me. The mantle in Canada was passed

and those two took it and ran with it.

They're going to be a challenge for

these top guys for years to come.

Brent Fikowski

is an odd bird.

And that's doesn't mean he's a bad bird,

but he's just not your normal [music]

bird.

He is different than everybody else.

From just how he said [music] he

prepared to his, you know, that sensory

deprivation tank that he would go into

for how many years he had been grinding,

um how much of a student of the game he

was. It was just the little flag went up

and again I didn't know if it would pan

out, but this guy wasn't he wasn't

normal.

If I wasn't doing this, I think I'd be

doing something else. I'd try to be the

best accountant in the world, right? I

would try to be the the best rower or

the best swimmer. I have that drive and

it's just hardwired into how I've always

been since a kid before my parents told

me to work hard. It's just what I wanted

to do.

When I retired from gymnastics, I sort

of had a big gap in my

week. So, I think when I finished that I

just had a lot of time on my hand. I

needed an outlet probably from my

competitiveness [music] and CrossFit

allows me to compete every day. I'm a

student full-time. I study to be a

chiropractor [music]

right now. So, pursuing a health field

is something that's important to me and

I'm passionate about. Not just a capable

athlete, but another one that when I I

spoke to him on the phone,

he was just fun to talk to.

Laughing, joking around, you know, he

had a good personality. Took [music] the

event and what he wanted to do

seriously, but didn't take himself too

seriously. Kind [music] of had a

lighthearted approach while working hard

at the same time. Really appreciated

that. And he, [music] with Pakulski

right on his heels,

there could be some Canadian athletes

making a serious run at the CrossFit

Games. That's pretty exciting.

It's going to be a good workout.

Definitely going to be a separator.

The separator. The separator.

Come on. What do you feel about those

front squats, bro?

Great, man.

I'll be passed out. What?

I'll be passed out.

Just kidding.

Go off, SEE THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED.

OH, BOY. HOLY

This is

The land of what the

So, practice went well. Every year we at

the games,

we always throw a movement out there

that

you know, the the object is to test the

athletes, not showcase them.

And this was definitely going to test

them. Oh my god, that workout was

It was terrible.

Final heat of the separator, everyone

chasing Matt Fraser.

>> [music]

>> You You do your much as you can on the

rings, and then you don't have to worry

about anything with your shoulders in

the first bit. You just back squat.

Try not to use your shoulders at all in

the first bit. Just belly flop it. And

then go back, do it again. You burn your

shoulders out on the front squat, you

try to belly flop your burpees again.

And then you just try to survive that

last push on the handstand push-up and

the overhead squat, and then just ride

it out if you get there.

Josh Bridges is pulling farther ahead

here. So, the whole workout, Josh and

Matt [music] are neck and neck. Okay.

Like, he's he's got this one. Like,

there's no point killing myself to get

to him. And I don't know what happened,

but all of a sudden, I was getting no

reps on my handstand push-ups.

So, she started [music] just no-repping

me galore. I'm trying my damndest, and

I'm like, I just did a set of 12, and

now I can't even string two together. No

rep again for Matt Fraser. No rep there

for Fraser. And I don't know why that

was a no rep, Sean.

And now Fraser gets hit with another no

rep, and he clearly disagrees with what

his judge is saying, shakes his head,

and walks back to the wall to just

collect his thoughts.

Tia Toomey [music] has passed the

halfway point. Katrin Davidsdottir has

moved into second in front of Sara

Sigmundsdottir.

Gets to the final barbell, that 185-lb

barbell for the [music] overhead squats.

Now, all of a sudden, Matt Fraser is

creeping up on him. Josh gets it

overhead, and he's working his tail off.

And he's a scrappy guy, but he's not

known for his strength. You've got a

former junior national weightlifter

right behind you. He's going to be

bearing down on him with these last

couple reps. Oh, yeah. That's what I

wanted. He is attacking.

I have never heard the tennis stadium

crowd just like you rock. Every single

person in here is screaming. And I was

like,

"Oh, yeah. Yeah."

And

and then like I did one

and

>> [cheering]

>> Camille's daughter is done.

And she's going to lock up with what

looks to be [music] a second place

finish in this event. That'll be worth

94 points. That is Mat Fraser is in.

Mat Fraser once again continues to be

the unstoppable force.

Nice work, bro. Ah. I had you.

One stupid lift.

Dude, I'm there. I I walked my bar

forward.

>> That's all Did one rep, missed it. I was

like, all right, Josh is away. And then

you missed it and I was like, Well, I

up a rep.

I was like, all right, I got this. Oh,

I'm moving.

Matt winning these games

way more mentally [music] dialed in. The

ring handstand push-ups was a really

good example of something that in years

past might have derailed him. Matt

wasn't Matt versus the world. Matt was

Matt versus Matt.

Heavy DT [music] last year. I was I was

ahead by a very good margin. I know it

was Ben and I going in the last round in

a race and me just [music] kind of

shrugging up and be like, "Ah, whatever.

I got I got enough points. Like, I'll

let I'll let him get this like these six

[music] points." And then come the end

of the weekend like those six points

probably would have been nice to have.

Matt has this mentality which is why

he's so good [music]

that he has to prove something to

everyone else, right? He has this thing

where it's I'm going to be the very best

at everything. [music]

It's why he's so good. If he finds a

weakness, he's going to he would get to

train so he's the best [music] in the

world at that.

It's one thing to be gifted at a couple

of

things in life, but then [music] you

have to do something with that. You have

to have the mentality to go with it. You

have to have the drive and the focus.

>> [music]

>> It can be a detriment though as well.

He's the best in the world at parallette

handstand push-ups.

Well, if I'm the best in the world, I

should be able to get these unbroken. He

got them unbroken. I'm better than him.

I got I can kick right back up right

now. I should be able to go right now.

When you erase that this year [music]

when you kind of figure out

it's not Matt versus the rest of the

world, it's Matt versus Matt's best, it

[music] changes the approach. And so

that that ate at me all year just like

don't let

don't ever give up. Don't don't ever get

comfortable.

2014, I was full-time in school at UVM.

2015, full-time student for one semester

and went part-time for the other

semester. 2016,

just CrossFit.

I mean like last year I was always

competing with the guy next to me, but

the whole 2016 season for the most part

I was training by myself. [music]

And so when I'm training by myself, I'm

imagining training next to Katrin. I'm

telling myself, "Katrin, when we put the

bar down right now,

>> [music]

>> Katrin would be taking shorter breaks

than you."

He's he's pretty rough and tough on the

exterior and he's

got a potty mouth, but when you dig into

it, he is got one of the strongest

mindsets and nothing can really shake

him.

Just imagining your competitor right

next to you and always imagining that

they're doing

>> [music]

>> one one step better than you. I I think

that was my biggest change going into

2016 season was just my mental game.

[music]

>> [music]

>> Flip it forward after every 10,

just like at Regionals,

And you shoulder over shoulder.

>> [cheering]

>> And you call this 100%

because it's a sprint. You just need to

go go go. You guys excited about this

one? Yeah. All right, here we go. That

was actually fun.

Yeah.

Yeah, that's fitness.

I thought it was going to be some

The one thing I need you to

remember is it's not over until you

cross the red line. Yeah. So, you have

to sprint sprint to it and sprint after

it.

This will be fun.

Probably going to be totally at it

and be last in my heat, but

huh,

it'll be all right.

The workout 100% is the the last

Saturday Night Lights event that we're

going to get to have at the StubHub

[music] Center with the the Games moving

locations. And for the women at that

point, Katrin had beaten Tia in three

[music] consecutive events.

So, it started to look like Katrin maybe

was going to put some distance between

her and Tia. And that was really the

kind of the start for me of what felt

like this [music] championship prize

fight boxing style between Tia Katrin to

kind of close out the CrossFit Games.

Earlier in the week, Dave Castro [music]

said this Games would test you

physically and mentally, and he wanted

to see who came here really to take the

title.

>> [music]

>> And this event's going to show you who's

in it to play.

Everyone that's going to go to the

CrossFit Games is going to be the

biggest threat. I don't think that there

is one particular person. I think that

you can't underestimate anyone.

There are a lot of contenders.

There are a a [music] of very fit, very

strong girls out there.

So, when I'm out there on the floor, the

only thing I can worry about is myself.

All those guys showing up to the games,

they're there to win.

And to win it, they got to beat everyone

else, and I'm one of those people that

they have to beat.

So, I look at it like they're they're

trying to take it from me.

This event is pretty simple. Just stop

the gas and see how long you can hold

on. The woman [music] who currently has

the overall lead, the defending CrossFit

Games champion, Katrin Davidsdottir,

Look out, though. Katrin is going to

smash this [music] one.

We're underway, and the crowd already on

[music] its feet knowing what they're

going to see here. They blink, they're

going to miss it. I was like, "Okay,

this is pure CrossFit. I love this." And

this is like, you can't make any

mistakes, because then you're just

screwed. Like, you stop for a second on

that workout, and it's going to cost you

a couple places.

It's one of those ones where you're

going to set yourself on fire. The pace

is go, and [music] the pace is if you

slow down, these people around me are so

good,

they're going to pass me, and a lot of

them are going to pass me. So, you just

need to go for broke, go [music]

berserk. It was crazy. It was just a

street fight out there. Everyone on

their feet here saying there's 5 to go.

He's back in the lead. Now, here's

Fikowski.

The crowd was just going nuts, cuz

everyone was so close.

>> [cheering]

>> The man they call the professor,

GETS THE CROSSFIT GAMES

Ben Smith is going Will win the event.

>> [music]

>> It's like a cartoon slip when your feet

are straight up in the air.

>> If you didn't slip, you weren't high

enough to get the points.

Davidsdottir and Sigmundsdottir, these

two heavyweights are trading some big

punches here. Katrin and Sara battling

it out. One of these two is going to win

the event. Everyone was going crazy

[music] and saying their name. This is

the workout where you can't look around.

Tia and Kara just like [music] picking

it up on the shoulder. I started

realizing like, "Come on, Tia. You got

to go." This is a battle that started

last year and this war is going to carry

over into Sunday as Tia Toomey finishes

ahead. Brooke Wells is in it there. Sara

Sigmundsdottir.

Tia, when the lights were kind of

brightest, really, really, really

showing and really kind of announced

everyone, like, "Hey, no, no. I'm I'm

not going to go quietly into the night."

Where did she come from? Toomey just

does that. Katrin Davidsdottir

will finish

seventh in the event. So, Tia Toomey

looks like she's going to have the

overall lead heading into Sunday.

>> [music]

>> Yeah. Yeah. It's just

It's like you can't make any mistakes.

Like you get three

no reps in the deep end.

They cost me a lot.

All we're doing now is we turn the page

again. We turn the page again. Now we

look forward. It's what you do in this

moment right now to prep yourself for

tomorrow.

Anything we do with the past does not

help out.

>> Yeah, ask me about the start of Sunday,

bro.

>> [laughter]

>> Let's talk about this one.

So, like when it's Sunday morning, I'm

almost like sad that it's over. Last

day. It's the last day, man. It's the

last day. I'm excited. Almost over. My

year's almost over. You're on

You're in the lead.

Yeah. Not for long after those handsome

ones.

I'm going to be so happy not to eat

after this weekend. Oh my god, [snorts]

I'm so over this

Holiday.

Sad to see what day brings. I was like

dreaming about

all the exercises that are left.

Thrusters, farmers lunges, ring muscle

ups, pistols. So, you see the big

question is, what is Dave going to

bring?

Pretty much nail biting me. Me and

Fraser nail biting right now.

My wife this morning goes,

"Jacob, you can still You can still do

really well today." She's like, "Except

for Fraser."

She goes, "You could win every event and

you still will not even come close." I

was like, "Ah, thanks for the

encouragement." The biggest question we

had was by how much was Matt Fraser

going to win?

Just like you want before like the

biggest day of competition of your life,

I didn't get a wink of sleep.

You wake up and you're like, you got to

make the most of this day. It's the last

time you're going to get to work out at

the 2016 CrossFit Games. You better make

the most of it.

And this handsome walks in late.

Sunday, it just rolls on and I just

wanted it to be over because it's

actually quite painful.

Cuz you you're putting yourself under

so much

strain, really.

I've held on for so long.

And then it just gets

like I just

lose it.

towards the end like yeah.

All of the fun stuff is left.

So this day will be really good.

All right, let's stop filming now cuz

there's other athletes.

Also

you probably want to delete that after

today.

>> [laughter]

>> Be like this is not worth my my

photo.

Did you bring your leader jersey? Yes.

Good. They gave me that bloody leader

jersey. I was like

great. I hate it Angel. Everything you

said cursed in this event.

>> say cursed. What are you talking about?

After this first workout, after this

first workout Don't get in your head.

No, it's already in my head.

It's part of the fun.

Can you just merge into like everyone

else [music] so I can just pretend that

you're filming everyone else and not

just me? Yes.

>> [music]

>> Sunday morning the women's competition

was extremely [music] tense.

First through third was only separated

by 12 points. You had Tia-Clair Toomey

in first place, Katrin Davidsdottir in

second, and then Sara Sigmundsdottir in

third.

The fifth and final day of competition

for the individuals at the 2016 Reebok

CrossFit Games and it's time to decide

[music] whose skills will pay the bills.

Day number five starts with a brisk

[music] walk on their hands.

It was hard because there were like

holes. All of a sudden you went into a

hole you're "Oh, no." Like trying to

balance again. When [music] I kicked

down, I was in first in that heat, and

then I got called back, and then it was

really just a fight to the finish cuz I

my arms went out.

I hit the little red guy.

>> [laughter]

>> If you fall down, you have to like back

up. So, it's like trying to stay on my

hands, and I'm like trying to walk, and

I made kept it up there.

And Davidsdottir gets there just ahead

of Kari Pearce, and she is going to pick

up 50 points.

>> And Tia Toomey is towards the back of

the pack, and she's going to watch her

overall lead disappear after this event.

Right next to her is Sara

Sigmundsdottir. Katrin was the only

woman to finish the entire handstand

walk unbroken.

There goes Mat Fraser. Oh my goodness.

>> Who's catching up with Jacob Heppner,

and Jacob Heppner will take this heat.

Now, Mat Fraser, he will finish second.

We were pretty dumbfounded by what he

did in the handstand walk, but that

paled in comparison to what he did uh in

a suicide sprint.

Last year, there's two runs, [music]

and I think I got dead last on both of

them.

It sucked.

Yeah.

What happened? Not a good sprinter.

And it was the type of thing [music]

like everyone everyone said, "Ah, you

know, suicide sprint. You know, what are

you going to do?"

I'm like, "No, like I I want to win

[music] that." So, you're thinking,

"Okay, now this is where Mat Fraser

finally finishes in the middle of the

pack, and all order is restored."

Katrin Davidsdottir unofficially has the

overall lead thanks to her win [music]

in the handstand walk, but this is now

the event where Tia Toomey could regain

it.

By that time, [music] I think I heard

that Katrin was leading. Instantly when

you hear that, you put out more effort

because you're like you're [music]

fighting for that position again. And I

think like a more adrenaline kicks in or

something, you know? It's It's just a

mental thing. And Toomey is going to

take it. So, Tia Toomey answers back

here in the sprint, and she will win the

event. And now I'm not sure who has the

overall lead. Look at Katrin's face. She

is not happy with that.

But look who is there in the red shorts.

That Fraser and Ben Smith in a foot

race. Going around the cone, he got a

couple meters ahead of me. By the time

we got back to the cone, we'd be even

again. And then it was on that last one,

he was a couple of meters ahead of me. I

had so much adrenaline going. If I don't

do this now, that whole [music] year of

training was useless. If I'm not going

to die before crossing that finish line,

what was the point of that whole year of

running?

Are you kidding me? What can this guy

do?

Matt Fraser is going to win this race.

>> [music]

>> I was so

pumped up off like

just

goosebumps again.

That was the proudest I've ever been of

myself. Like that was like the [music]

moment of the Games for me.

I'm lucky that I get to do what I do.

I'm lucky that I get to be at the

CrossFit Games. This is what I love

doing. [music]

You're going to have ups, and you're

going to have downs, and things aren't

always going to go your way.

>> [music]

>> And make the best of it. Like make it a

good memory.

>> [music]

>> That's a different Katrin than last

year. Something that she struggles on a

lot in previous was what I call

horizontal movement. [music] Move things

from here to there. She's a gymnast and

she's moves well and she's good at this

really long conditioning [music] stuff,

but odd object grunt work for us not so

good.

And when she went out for that event,

which was the most just like get work

done

>> [music]

>> and annihilated it, that's when I turned

to my friend and was like, she can

repeat as the champ. More importantly

though for Davidsdottir, if she wants to

be crowned the champ 2 years in a row,

she [music] has to stay ahead of

Tia-Clair Toomey. Briggs is putting on a

last-ditch effort to beat Davidsdottir.

Damn [music] you, Katrin.

I was like ready to overtake her and she

cut into my lane and blocked me. I was

like, what a strategic move.

Katrin Davidsdottir is your overall

leader. Another 50 points as she wins

two of the three events here in [music]

the soccer stadium.

Fraser is going to be in the top four

once again. What the heck

is going on?

Domination.

Tia-Clair Toomey had the lead, lost the

lead, had the lead, and now has lost the

lead again.

>> [music]

>> I like her so much. I know.

I can't talk right now. Okay.

Go, Katrin. Hey, please.

I'm literally just going until my legs

don't work anymore. Like if I have a

drop of energy, use it.

I don't I don't need to come across the

line with any extra energy.

Hell yeah, Katrin.

Hell yeah, Katrin.

>> [cheering]

>> I thought I could pace it on the first

one and

sprint the second one.

Couldn't have it.

Bad strategy.

That doesn't look fun.

Your next event, we call it the rope

chipper.

Heavy handled ropes with a heavy cable.

Feel it.

>> Can I feel it, too?

No, no. You're You're good. You're good.

>> [laughter]

>> You'll see it out there, Brooke.

Your final event is going to start with

three peg board ascents, and we call

this event redemption.

Because we're going to get to see who

practiced and who trained on something

like this over the previous year. Yeah.

>> [cheering]

>> I think it's cool. I really like the

chipper. It's like I love workouts I

love chippers. I love workouts that just

go go go go and end with like a cool

rope pull.

Couldn't have picked

the like the worst movements for me. No,

I just

Nah.

Not that great with all the freaking

rowing and then assault bike.

Sometimes you surprise yourself against

certain athletes, but

I think I I know where I want to measure

up against certain people in certain

events. And like when you get a good win

over over the right people, like it's

good. It's It's reassuring, and it makes

you feel like

you belong there a little bit, right? As

soon as you think you can't beat

someone,

you're definitely not going to beat

them, and you're definitely not going to

beat another 10 guys that are just as

good as them.

Um

so, you know, I just go out there and do

my thing, and it's kind of like what he

said. I mean, I was able to

you know, win three events at the

CrossFit Games.

I think you're going to go want to go

faster than you think you can. Okay. Cuz

ski, rower, bike like we live on that

Right. And then And then the pull

the pull is just

just get that pump for the finish line.

>> Right.

When he announced the workouts, I almost

did backflips.

Because when I'm pressed on time,

I just do an EMOM

of 200-m row, 200-m ski, 200-m assault

bike with 50 double unders in between.

So, when he announced it, I'm like, "Oh

my god." Threw me a nice slow pitch. Let

me crank this one out.

Meanwhile, get it on the field, not the

same.

Not the same as home at all.

Event 14 of competition here at the 2016

Reebok CrossFit Games and as always we

close out in the tennis stadium in the

StubHub Center in Carson, California.

Mat Fraser will be right in the middle.

He has a gigantic lead over Ben Smith

and then there are two Canadians who are

fighting for third place. That's Patrick

Vellner and Brent Fikowski. It's been

like a ping-pong match between one and

two, Davidsdottir and Toomey. Will she

take it back after this event? Josh

Bridges is the first man to the rower.

He just seemed to get to the next

movement just like one rep before I

would. It's good to have him and then

Ben Smith to my right. It seemed like we

were all kind of holding the same pace.

And it's Australia out front. Carl Webb

and Tia-Clair Toomey are the first two

women [music] back to the jump rope.

This is good for Tia-Clair Toomey. I'm

shocking myself. Like, this is awesome.

And then it came to pulling. And now the

crowd coming to its feet as both

Davidsdottir and Sigmundsdottir have

gotten [music] to the skierg at the same

time. Tia-Clair Toomey is onto the sled

pull as is Carl Webb. Carl Webb

accidentally stepped across the finish

line. She is not done yet. She has to

pull that sled and she has to do it

standing in that red box. There was

confusion with her and the judge. Toomey

needs to make up 11 points in order to

overtake the top spot on the

leaderboard. Josh Bridges gets to the

sled first.

Brent Fikowski is behind him and I

remember looking at the sleds and Josh's

was creeping and Brent Fikowski was just

taking these giant chunks. Look at him

just crushing this. Toomey still ahead

but Davidsdottir threatening to pass

her. Carl Webb is the leader. Brent

Fikowski is destroying this sled and

Brent Fikowski destroys THE TIE TO BEAT.

ANOTHER WIN FOR THE IMPRESSIVE ROOKIE. I

expected it to be heavy but I didn't

even think it was going to like stop in

my tracks.

>> This is freaking not moving. Like what

is going on? Kara Webb has her sled

across the finish line. She will win THE

EVENT. [cheering] KATRIN DAVIDSDOTTIR

WILL FINISH SECOND, and she will take

the lead into the final event. Tia

Toomey is in trouble. I was a bit

disappointed because I was like, man, I

was killing that until that pull. Here

comes Cole Sager across the finish line.

Ben Smith will be done. Mat Fraser is

pulling. Here comes his sled.

>> [cheering]

[applause]

[cheering]

>> She now leads Tia Toomey by 23 points.

Sara Sigmundsdottir 53 back, and Sam

Briggs on the outside looking in when it

comes to the podium. Sara Sigmundsdottir

and Tia Toomey will try to chase down

that woman. They have one event left, in

which to catch her.

Brent Fikowski quickly becoming a crowd

favorite here. He's still in fourth

place, but he's only 26 points behind

Patrick Vellner for the third and final

spot on the podium. Ben Smith sits

solidly in second. Look, I'm not I'm not

being negative. I'm just being

realistic. Like may- maybe a podium

isn't in the cards, right? So, it'd be

silly for me to

I think to chase that,

and then finish in like, I don't know,

10th or whatever,

when maybe maybe fourth is where I

belong. I'm not being negative. I

completely believe I can be on the

podium, but that's just how I see it.

So, it's how I see it.

>> [laughter]

>> 1 second too late.

>> 1 second too late.

Gosh.

There's one more, and that's your one

more. You're just going to leave

everything out there.

The whole of 2016 has been left on that

floor for the next one.

Yeah?

Yeah?

My forearms are burning.

Let's go cool down properly and get

ready for the next one. Ice bath.

Yeah.

Last year when the pegboard showed up,

she was unable to climb any pegboards.

She couldn't She didn't get one. And

Katrin Davidsdottir has decided that

she's not going to go after this thing

again and rest up for the second event.

We practiced pegboards a lot this past

year. We built up a lot of upper body

pulling strength. Having said that, for

as much as we worked it, we did. We

worked it a lot. Between last year's

Games where she did not finish a

pegboard and this year's Games she did

one.

That's one

strategy which is lasting longer. I just

kept saying to Shane, I was like,

"Shane, I don't know how to do this

workout."

And I was worried that I'd get all my

emotions all mixed up and I would go out

too hot and then I'd fatigue and then

everyone would overtake me.

Sometimes it's honestly better to like

take yourself out of the CrossFit Games.

Like I said, if you're thinking too much

about it, like if you're like this

moment and these pegboards are going to

come down to whether I win the CrossFit

Games or not, it's easy to get caught up

in like going too fast and blowing

yourself up and it was a short workout

and there's no time for that. And then

Shane goes, "All you really need to do

is beat Katrin. Okay? That's all you

need to focus on." And I was like, "All

right, well, that's all I'm going to

focus on." So You knew that Toomey had

to beat Davidsdottir, but then she also

needed some help. She needed to get as

many people between herself and Katrin

in order to make up the point deficit

and get herself on top of the podium.

And also I said to Shane, "I need to see

you." So we, like you know, if there's a

workout that I want a bit more support

in, he'll position himself in the crowd

where I can see him so that he can tell

me what to do whenever I sit back and

I'll be like, "Okay, 3-seconds I'm going

to go."

>> [music]

>> You about to go home?

Mhm? You about to go home? I think we

have to.

They had to do the minimum work

requirement, man. I'm just going to do

the workout.

My hair is that all right? Is that good

enough?

It's a little wet.

Fantastic. Good. It's basically how it

always is, so

that's what you're looking for, then

that's what you got.

Going into that last event, like

you have to go for it. We're in a points

battle for the podium, and I knew Brent

was really good on the peg board,

and I talked to him about it before, and

he's like, "I'm going to go fast enough

that I'm going to risk burning out,

because it does matter. If I can go all

out and potentially get third, that's

great. If I go all out and miss it, and

I get sixth instead of fourth,

that doesn't matter. But, if you have

the chance for the podium, you got to go

for it.

Go, Valner.

Who is that? Who is that?

I'm really proud that like, I had the

confidence to say that yeah, I really

want to go to the Olympics and the

CrossFit Games in the same year,

and I was I managed to do that. I'm

really trying hard not to put pressure

on myself for for the Games. Um I think

this year it's more about me just making

sure I don't mentally break down. I

think that has to do with a lot of

confidence. Like, I I need to have more

confidence in myself. So, if I could

improve anything, it would be believing

in myself a little bit more. Do you

think you can win the Games?

I don't know.

She posted on social media, "This one's

for you." A tribute to her grandmother,

who she lost earlier this year. She

[music] posted together forever and

always. Her grandmother was her biggest

fan.

My grandma [music] was with me that

week. The shoes with Amon. I was like

wearing those. I was like I need to be

able to look down and and see her and I

had a necklace on. [music] We both had

the same one. After she passed away, I

put like a protection angel on hers.

That's buried with her.

>> [music]

>> And then I have mine and I have a

protection angel on that. So I always

feel like she's with me when I wear

that. I remember I just put it on

[music]

and I was like we're doing this one

together.

YOU GUYS GOT IT.

WE FIRST SAW THE PEGBOARD IN 2015. That

was a monkey wrench that

director of the games, Dave Castro,

inserted

directly into the anus of most of the

games' athletes.

And they didn't enjoy the experience

and I don't know if he did. The first

[music] minute, minute and a half,

however long it took you to get up three

ascent, was exactly the same as what you

did last year.

Katrin Davidsdottir just needs to finish

in fifth place or better in order to

guarantee herself another CrossFit Games

championship.

Now, he doesn't have to do anything in

this event. That's how [music] far ahead

he is, but you know that's not going to

happen here. Last year it stopped the

majority of the field dead in their

tracks. This year the pegboard is back.

>> Many women were just staring at it, but

this year is going to be a different

[music] ballgame.

Ladies and gentlemen, if you're not on

your feet, you should be

because this is going to be a battle

royale.

Final heat of the final event of what

has been a 5-day full test of fitness.

There [music] is so much on the line

right now.

>> The amount that these guys have had to

deal with and how they are responding

[music]

all the way into this last test of this

gigantic test of fitness is super

impressive.

I just kind of saunter up to my

pegboard. [music] I'm in no rush. I was

like, you know, I want to pace it, not

embarrass myself, and just finish. Not

only are you fatigued, but you're also a

little bit nervous about falling off at

that height. Look at how composed and

relaxed Katherine Davidsdottir is.

There was no reason for me to go out

really hard cuz it was just going to

come down to how many pegboards [music]

I was going to make.

>> I did my first three pegboards and I'm

not going to lie that I that third one I

was like, "Oh my gosh, like

my arms are already toasted." So, I

finally got down, looked at Shane, and

he's like, "You got 7 seconds." So,

there goes Tia Toomey to the barbell.

Toomey and Pierce trading first place in

the season. Sara Sigmundsdottir is on to

the barbell. Ben Smith was ahead of me

and I saw him on the set of 21

thrusters. He had put the bar down and

that was the moment that I was like, "I

want to win this."

And so, I just went, grabbed the bar,

and just started cranking them. Tia

Toomey is done. We'll roll her barbell

forward. Katherine Davidsdottir is just

finishing her third pegboard of the set.

On each set I was going to pause at the

top of the thruster and then just try to

rush the transition as much as I could

and take small breaks between the pegs

and and every part of that event, if he

was going up, I had to start moving.

Katherine Davidsdottir is resting on the

thrusters. She's been pushing herself to

her limits and it looks like it might be

[music] catching up to her here, Sean.

Tia Toomey continues to lead along with

Kari Pearce.

So, she takes a quick peek and has that

thought process, I got to keep up with

her. She tries to go up a little bit

[music] too quick and doesn't take the

rest she needs to. If she fails one of

those pegboards,

she's done.

>> [music]

>> You can take a chance now. Like this is

the time when you have to take a chance.

Well, Sara Sigmundsdottir just fell off

the pegboard. [music]

So, now she's got to go to the other end

of the floor. So, I just stay calm and

get your new pegs and then wait like

[music] 20 to 40 seconds and then you go

up again and you can still like still

possibility. [music] So, that opens the

door for Katrin Davidsdottir.

Tia Toomey is back on the barbell. Tia,

I thought she was looking at someone and

she was getting coached [music] to slow

down. Sara Sigmundsdottir, for the

second straight year, is running into

trouble on the pegboard. And then I

failed again. And then I failed again. I

was like, "Oh my gosh, is this how my

CrossFit Games are going to end again?

Like, what is happening?" Brent Fikowski

and Ben Smith are your leaders, but Mat

Fraser has moved himself towards the top

here. I don't want to be remembered as

like the guy who paced it, but I'd done

well enough in the weekend before. I

want to crush all of them.

>> [music]

>> Mat Fraser, back to the barbell to put

the finishing touches on his

championship [music]

performance. The dream is becoming

reality. Seconds, no more.

Mat Fraser is the fittest man on Earth.

Look at Katrin though, she just went

methodically one hole at a time.

Somewhere like [music] halfway up,

started falling.

I was not letting go. Katrin utilized

the center peg holes, which no one at

the time was using. So, I just started

like [music] gap retracting my way up

and I was like, "Okay, at least I'm

moving." And then I started going down.

Don't fall. Do not fall. Do not fall,

Katrin. And I make it back down. I was

like, "Woo!" Katrin Davidsdottir

fighting for her life here and Toomey is

back for her final nine reps. So, Tia

Toomey is getting closer to being

crowned the fittest woman on Earth. Tia

Toomey, we'll wait and see what happens.

She will finish eighth in the event.

Brent Fikowski is across the finish

line. Everyone's eyes just immediately

turned to Vellner. Where is Vellner at?

How many spots are going to get [music]

chewed up between them? And is it going

to be enough to give Bukowski the podium

spot? As Vellner comes across the finish

line, Vellner will finish [music] in

ninth.

And that's going to do it. Now we need

to see how this shakes out.

I made five pipe weights. That was huge.

I like I couldn't be happier, but

Tia finished the workout. She got a time

and

I didn't know where I placed. I don't

know where she placed. I don't know

where point distribution

felt like forever

that they were going to announce it.

I mean, Matt Matt Fraser's dominance was

astounding. There's just no other way to

put it. He did great at a lot of things

that [music] I didn't expect him to. I

expected there to be a closer race, but

it seems like if you were in a heat

[music] with him,

you probably weren't going to win.

And the celebration can begin for Matt

Fraser.

>> performance. You already know who your

2016

CrossFit Games champion is.

Matt

Fraser!

Everyone sees that little glimpse.

That's five days. They don't see me in

the basement doing rowing intervals by

myself. They don't see me squatting by

myself. They don't see that work I put

in. Just think about all those nights at

the track where I have to like pull out

my flashlight on my phone to get back to

my car. I feel like this year's finish

reflected what people didn't [music]

see. All that time training, doing stuff

that I didn't want to do. That's what

stepping on that podium meant to me was

[music]

it paid off.

And this is just where all you can do is

wait and it feels like an eternity.

Got to get those scores tabulated.

But the question is did Toomey do enough

>> [music]

>> to jump over Katrin Davidsdottir? And

these are just some nerve-racking couple

of minutes for these women.

>> [music]

>> When just before I left, someone said to

me, "If you beat Katrin in this last

workout, you will win." And so, I was

like, "Oh my god, I beat her."

>> [cheering]

[screaming]

[cheering]

>> But then, I'm never someone to assume

something [music] before I actually know

the end result. They took so long and it

was like it was the longest 10 [music]

minutes of my life.

I could see Katrin and she looked really

gutted and I was like, "Does she feel

like she's lost?"

I really

wanted to win [music] for my grandma.

And it was just more for her that I

wanted to win than for [music] myself.

We do have a lot of fun together. We

like to go shopping.

>> [music]

>> I like to go and cheer her when she is

competing.

We both do.

Grandma and Grandpa.

That's [music] us.

She was going to come [music] to the

Games this year.

>> [snorts]

>> And then we see that she just

maybe not [music] in the stands like she

normally was.

>> [snorts]

>> So, she got to be on the floor with me

this time.

All I want to do is make her

[snorts and music] proud.

And I looked up at Shane and I seen him

again and he goes like this.

>> [music]

>> Then I started bawling out crying.

>> [music]

>> And I walked over to Katrin and I was

like, "Good job."

It takes [music] so much for an athlete

to to get through that and for her to

come on top like I was really happy for

[music] her, but at the same time uh

I was so gutted.

Ladies and gentlemen, your 2016

Reebok CrossFit Games champion is

once again, Katrin

Davidsdottir!

>> [music]

[music]

[applause]

>> Like I said, I felt like my grandma was

with me this year. She believes in me

more than anyone in this world.

Thank you.

>> [singing]

>> It was a big disappointment [music]

that I let him down.

He did [music] everything that he needed

to do, and I just I didn't do my part.

So, and that was to execute [music]

each workout to the best that I could

have.

No, it's okay. You needed more than 15

seconds.

>> [music]

>> He blames himself for me not coming

first, and that's that's really

heartbreaking because

as far as I'm concerned, he did

everything that he could, and it was me

who kind of let the team down.

>> [music]

>> You were wild.

>> Next year.

Oh, no, no. Jared.

Results at the CrossFit Games often come

down to just a couple seconds or even

[music] less than a second. Every little

input that you have control over in

these competitive events absolutely

matter. It goes so far as to even go

beyond the way that you do [music] the

actual work as it's written on paper,

but it's how you get from one element to

the next. It's your transitions. It's

how you cross the finish line that could

mean the difference between first and

second, [music]

podium and not podium. Every single

little bit matters. Again, at the end of

that event, I told Björgvin I crossed

the line by a tenth [music] of a second,

and that put me over.

Trying to just sprint across that last

bit, that last ditch effort of like my

last 1 second of the [music] CrossFit

Games made the difference for me to make

the podium. Like that was it.

I love you, man. [music]

I feel you, guys. I got a good

friendship out of you, man.

To finish it, I was like overwhelmed

with with joy just cuz I was so I was

proud of

the way I attacked that you know, like

the big finale and you know, I didn't

choke or anything. I just did my best.

It was sweet. I'm not satisfied with

this year or last year.

It's already begun.

I'm so much [music] more hungry for next

year. Of course, my goal for next year

is

to win.

I'm the fittest person over 30

two years in a row.

You felt like you were playing really,

really good golf.

>> [music]

>> But the guy you played against was just

playing better. So, that's kind of how I

felt.

I'm going to need to work to get better

next year. That's on me. It's not on

anybody else, you know.

Even before the games, CrossFit was

blowing up worldwide and the increase

[music] in fitness that we were seeing

was already colossal. Then enter the

CrossFit Games and the increase in

performance we've seen in just one

decade [music] has made quantum leaps.

In the next 10 years, I just can't wait

to see how much further that can be

pushed.

>> [music]

>> I've got a taste of it. I want more.

I mean, if if one is good, two's got to

be awesome, right?

Duh.

>> [music]

[music]

[music]

>> Mhm.