Top 3 Fastest Athletes in Each CrossFit Semifinals Event Worldwide

This was the first time that athletes across the globe competed in the same events worldwide during Semifinals (well, practically the same event, more on that later). And with that in mind, we can see which athlete was the fastest in each CrossFit Semifinals Event in the world.

Before we get on to that, there are multiple things we need to address. First things first, yes, all the events for all Semifinals were the same across the globe. This is the first time it has happened – in the past, each Semifinal would have its own set of workouts for athletes to go through, meaning someone in North America might have had to do muscle-ups to get to the CrossFit Games while someone in Europe maybe didn’t, but had to do rope climbs, and so on.

Related: So Close, Yet So Far: Elite Athletes Left Out of the CrossFit Games After Semifinals

Semifinals Workouts

Here are the workouts that athletes had to go through to receive their Games invitation.

Workout 1

5 rounds for time:

• 800-meter run
• 10 clean and jerks

Time cap: 30 minutes

♀️ 125 lbs

♂️ 185 lbs

Workout 2

5 rounds for time:

• 100 double-unders
• 20 toes-to-bars
• 10 front squats

Time cap: 18 minutes

♀️ 155 lbs

♂️ 225 lbs

Workout 3

7 rounds for time:

• 10-calorie Echo bike
• 1 legless rope climb
• 10 box jump-overs
• 1 legless rope climb

Time cap: 16 minutes

♀️ 24-inch box, 15-foot rope

♂️ 30-inch box, 15-foot rope

Workout 4

For time:

• 400-meter row
• 96-foot handstand walk
• 600-meter row
• 120-foot handstand walk
• 800-meter row
• 72-foot handstand walk

Time cap: 13 minutes

Workout 5

For time:

• 10 squat snatches by 2:00
• 8 squat snatches by 4:00
• 6 squat snatches by 6:00
• 4 squat snatches by 8:00
• 2 squat snatches by 11:00

Time cap: 11 minutes

♀️ 135, 145, 155, 165, 175 lbs

♂️ 185, 205, 225, 245, 265 lbs

Workout 6

For time:

• 30-calorie Echo bike
• 15 muscle-ups
• 72-foot dumbbell walking lunge

Time cap: 6 minutes

♀️ Two 70-lb dumbbells

♂️ Two 100-lb dumbbells

Which Athlete Was the Fastest in Each CrossFit Semifinals Event in the World

Now, before we get into the details of which athlete was the fastest in each of the events worldwide, there are a few disclaimers we need to explain.

The most important of all is that, technically, you cannot really compare event 1 (even though we will). That is because of the “running” part of the exercise – it greatly differentiate from one Semifinal even to the other. In some places, the running was inside, others outside and the wind can have an effect on how fast you can go or how much it slows you down. But more egregious is that some events had stairs as part of the running course while others not – and we all know how much more difficult it is to run up the stairs compared to on a flat surface. Plus, the Asia Semifinal had a lot of turns during the run event, which also impacts how fast a person can go.

Another variable that should be considered is any of the events itself. For example, Tia-Clair Toomey could have broken the world record for event 1, but she didn’t go full out because she was far ahead of second place in her Semifinal, however Laura Horvath was faster in Europe.

An athlete’s intensity also changes any time before an event. If the athlete does not need to rank so high up to guarantee his/her spot among the best, it might pull back to conserve energy – that is only natural, you don’t go all in on each event, there is no need for that.

Or if a given athlete only needs to be ahead of competitor X, that person will mainly push enough to achieve that objective. Although it is nice to win the Semifinals, each athlete has one goal in mind: to get to the CrossFit Games.

With that being said, BOXROX is not here to say who should or shouldn’t have qualified to the CrossFit Games based on these numbers. In fact, someone on Reddit tried to do just that, putting together an entire spreadsheet comparing everyone’s numbers on all the events to see, globally, who are the top 40 men and women to go to the Games and it kind of backfired – even though it is really interesting to read.

We are here just to elucidate who had the fastest time in each event as shown by the official CrossFit platform.

So here are the top 3 athletes in each event globally:

Workout 1

Men

1. Uldis Upenieks (Europe) – 20:20.50
2. Jeff Adler (North America East) – 20:28.44
3. Lazar Dukic (Europe) – 20.33.00

Women

1. Tia-Clair Toomey (North America East) – 20:56.25
2. Gabriela Migala (Europe) – 21:11.00
3. Aimee Cringle (Europe) – 21:13.00

Workout 2

Men

1. Colten Mertens (North America West) – 10:54.75
2. Pat Vellner (North America West) – 11:02.91
3. Austin Hatfield (North America East) – 11:06.16

Women

1. Laura Horvath (Europe) – 11:24.19
2. Tia-Clair Toomey (North America East) – 11:26.58
3. Gabriela Migala (Europe) – 11:31.51

Workout 3

Men

1. James Sprague (North America West) – 08:24.23
2. Pat Vellner (North America West) – 08:42.55
3. Roman Khrennikov (North America East) – 08:45. 98

Women

1. Alex Gazan (North America West) – 10:27.71
2. Tia-Clair Toomey (Noth America East) – 10:33.00
3. Emma Tall (Europe) – 10:42.57

Workout 4

Men

1. Cole Greashaber (North America West) – 07:14.72
2. Victor Hoffer (Europe) – 07:30.60
3. Jay Crouch (Oceania) – 07:32.16

Women

1. Laura Horvath (Europe) – 08:24.61
2. Olivia Kerstetter (North America West) – 08:28.64
3. Haley Adams (North America East) – 08:31.90

Workout 5

Men

1. Guilherme Malheiros (South America) – 04:43.00
2. Colten Mertens (North America West) – 05:07.62
3. Brent Fikowski (North America West) – 05:12.15

Women

1. Olivia Kerstetter (North America West) – 03:58.36
2. Kelsey Kiel (North America West) – 04:59.94
3. Elisa Fuliano (Europe) – 05:01.24

Workout 6

Men

1. Tudor Magda (North America West) – 02:15.97
2. Guilherme Malheiros (South America) – 02:16.00
3. Dallin Pepper (North America East) – 02:20.59

Women

1. Emma Tall (Europe) – 02:48.08
2. Alex Gazan (North America West) – 02:57.00
3. Tia-Clair Toomey (North America East) – 02:57.46

Of all top 3 athletes worldwide in each event, 5 failed to qualify to the CrossFit Games:

• Olivia Kerstetter – 9^th in North America West
• Kelsey Kiel  – 10^th in North America West
• Uldis Upenieks – 11^th in Europe
• Colten Mertens – 11^th in North America West
• Tudor Magda – 10^th in North America West

After all the dust has settled, all 80 individual athletes (40 men and 40 women) will be competing at the CrossFit Games, which takes place on August 8-11 in Fort Worth, Texas.

Are you excited to see new faces competing to become the Fittest on Earth this year? What, you don’t know who is trying out for the first time in their career? Then click on the link below.

23 Athletes Are Going to the CrossFit Games for the First Time