Europe CrossFit Regionals Day 1 Recap: Legs, Lungs, Strength and Heart

So to refresh your memory, here are the events for the Europe CrossFit Regionals.

Source: CrossFit Inc

The day was a combination of cardiovascular endurance and strength under fatigue.

Event 1 

On the Women’s side, 19-year old Gabriela Migala took the win with Laura Horvarth coming in second. The young athlete completed the event in 40:15.08. Kristin Holte made up an impressive amount of ground on the 3 mile run and finished in 3rd with a time of 40:52.18.

Sara Sigmundsdottir and Annie Thorisdottir raced neck and neck with Sara eventually beating her icelandic counterpart. Laura Horvath maintained a blistering pace throughout the entire event.

Annie Thorisdottir, Sara Sigmundsdottir and Thuridur Helgadottir  all gathered round Bjork Odinsdottir whilst she raced out the final metres on the trueform runner. They shouted encouragement to their fellow icelandic competitor as Bjork finished the run. She stumbled off the runner and collapsed from fatigue as the horn signaled the end of the event. 

In the Men’ event, PD Savage put in a hugely determined performance, and his fire and focus is clear to see when he competes. Roman Khrennikov also looked strong throughout the entirety of event 1, and sits in a well deserved first place after the first day of competition. Lukas Hogberg finished in third and looked confident and focused whilst competing. Event 1 winner Sigurd Prastarson put himself through a lot of pain to take the top spot. He established a lead and kept it throughout the 3-mile run, and the discomfort was evident on his face as he pushed his body hard to secure a convincing win.

Event 2

This was an epic event to watch. 

Starting with the men, Adrian Mundwiler was absolutely unstoppable. He flowed through all 10 rounds with a set tempo, perfect form and showcased his strength for the crowd. In his heat he finished a full minute ahead of the second place competitor and gave an elegant bow to the crowd. This performance looked set to take first place, until Andrey Ganin stepped onto the floor. The Russian athlete attacked this event with a frenzy and intensity that was completely unmatched by any other competitor on the floor. He did everything unbroken and exercised brute strength and incredible willpower to take the top spot away from Adrian. Towards the 6th and 7th round, he could barely run because he was pushing so hard yet was still minutes ahead of his competitors. The only way that Linda in Berlin could have been better, would be if Adrian and Andrey had gone head to head in the same heat!

One of the most fascinating aspects of the female event was the battle between Sara Sigmundsdottir and Annie Thorisdottir. They jostled for first place for several rounds before Sara took her pace up a notch and Annie was simply unable to stay with her. Sara also demonstrated her excellent abilities with a barbell, and how proficient she is when it comes to demonstrating strength whilst fatigued.

Laura Horvath also kept a strong pace and crossed the line behind Sara to secure her second place finish of the day. She looked impressive throughout both events, confidence and determined, and the fight for first place at the Europe Regionals is going to be an exciting one!

Bjorgvin Karl Gudmundsson has finished further down the leaderboard that expected, but as we all know, the tables can turn very quickly, and BK is an athlete that consistently proves his worth in competition.

So leat’s check out the leaderboards after the first day of competition.

Male Leaderboard

Source: CrossFIt Inc

Female Leaderboard

Source: CrossFit Inc

SCHEDULE FOR THE 2018 CROSSFIT REGIONALS

THREE WEEKENDS: MAY 18-JUNE 3

There have been some big changes made to the CrossFit Games Regional format in 2018. Get all the details here.

Week 1: May 18-20, 2018

East Regional: Albany, New York, Times Union Center
Europe Regional: Berlin, Germany, Velodrom
South Regional: Salt Lake City, Utah, Salt Palace Convention Center

Week 2: May 25-27, 2018

Central Regional: Nashville, Tennessee, Music City Center
West Regional: Del Mar, California, Del Mar Arena
Latin America Regional: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Arena Carioca 1

Week 3: June 1-3, 2018

Atlantic Regional: West Palm Beach, Florida, Palm Beach County Convention Center
Meridian Regional: Madrid, Spain, Caja Mágica
Pacific Regional: Sydney, Australia, Qudos Bank Arena

Source: CrossFit Inc

For more information about the CrossFit Regionals, the following text is from games.crossfit.com.

The fittest men, women and teams from each region of the world advance to the second stage of the CrossFit Games season: the Regionals.

CrossFit splits the world into 18 regions. There are eight regions in the United States (North East, Mid Atlantic, South East, Central East, North Central, South Central, West Coast and South West) and 10 international regions (Canada East, Canada West, South America, Central America, Asia, Australasia, Middle East Africa, Europe North, Europe South and Europe Central). Athletes are placed in their region during Open registration based on their residence as of Jan. 1 of that year.

To qualify, the Regional competitors have to prove they are their region’s fittest athletes by competing in the five-week, five-workout online Open and finishing well in the overall standings. The number of athletes who qualify from each region varies and the 18 regions feed into nine Regional competitions, as broken down below. 

East Regional

– North East (25 individuals, 20 teams to qualify from Open)

– Canada East (15 individuals, 10 teams to qualify from Open)

Atlantic Regional

– Mid Atlantic (20 individuals, 15 teams to qualify from Open)

– South East (20 individuals, 15 teams to qualify from Open)

Central Regional

– Central East (20 individuals, 15 teams to qualify from Open)

– North Central (20 individuals, 15 teams to qualify from Open)

South Regional

– South West (20 individuals, 15 teams to qualify from Open)

– South Central (20 individuals, 15 teams to qualify from Open)

West Regional

– West Coast (35 individuals, 25 teams to qualify from Open)

– Canada West (5 individuals, 5 teams to qualify from Open)

Latin America Regional

– Central America (15 individuals, 10 teams to qualify from Open)

– South America (25 individuals, 20 teams to qualify from Open)

Europe Regional

– Europe North (20 individuals, 15 teams to qualify from Open)

– Europe Central (20 individuals, 15 teams to qualify from Open)

Meridian Regional

– Europe South (20 individuals, 15 teams to qualify from Open)

– Middle East Africa (20 individuals, 15 teams to qualify from Open)

Pacific Regional

– Asia (10 individuals, 7 teams to qualify from Open)

– Australasia (30 individuals, 23 teams to qualify from Open)

Forty men, 40 women and 40 teams will advance to the 2018 Reebok CrossFit Games. Those spots are divvied up among the nine Regionals as follows:

• The top five men, women and teams will advance from the East, Atlantic, Central, South, West, Europe and Pacific Regionals.

• The top four men, women and teams will advance from the Meridian Regional.

• The top male, female and team will advance from the Latin America Regional.

All Regional competitors face the same workouts, whether they’re in Del Mar, California, or Madrid, Spain.

Competitors care about how they place relative to their peers at their Regional, since that’s what determines how many points they earn and where they’ll rank in the overall standings. Claiming first in an event earns an athlete 100 points, second earns 95 points, third 90, fourth 85, fifth 80 and sixth 75. The scale then drops by 2-point increments for seventh through 30th, and then by 1-point increments from 30th through 50th. The athlete with the most points will claim first in the overall standings; the top five athletes overall at the end of the weekend earn the right to advance to the CrossFit Games.

All Games qualifiers will receive a piece of the season’s prize purse. All cash prizes are paid in U.S. dollars.

Individual Division (men and women receive equal prize money)

• First Place: $300,000

• Second Place: $100,000

• Third Place: $75,000

• Fourth Place: $50,000

• Fifth Through Eighth Place: $35,000, $30,000, $27,000 and $25,000, respectively

• Ninth Through 20th Place: $23,000, $21,000, $18,000, $16,000, $14,000, $13,000, $12,000, $11,000, $10,000, $9,000, $8,000 and $7,000, respectively

Team Division (prize per team)

• First Place: $100,000

• Second Place: $60,000

• Third Place: $30,000

• Fourth Place: $20,000

• Fifth Place: $15,000

Drug testing is required for any individual athlete or team to advance to the Games or to collect prizes.