Pat Vellner vs Roman Khrennikov – 23.2 CrossFit Open Live Announcement

The 23.2 CrossFit Open live announcement will put face to face two of the strongest elite men athletes of this generation: Pat Vellner and Roman Khrennikov. The announcement will take place on February 23 (Thursday) at CrossFit Bison in Midland Park, New Jersey.

The 2023 CrossFit season has kicked off last week with a live announcement from Madrid, Spain. Scores were submitted and, unofficially, Roman Khrennikov and Emma Cary have come out on top.

Now that 23.1 is done and over, people begin looking forward to the next announcement. What is 23.2 going to be? While we don’t even have a clue for that yet, we know who will be the first elite athletes to do the tests.

Pat Vellner vs Roman Khrennikov at the 23.2 CrossFit Open Live Announcement

CrossFit has announced that we will see Canadian athlete Pat Vellner take on Russian powerhouse Roman Khrennikov at the 23.2 CrossFit Open live announcement in CrossFit Bison in Midland Park, New Jersey.

Source: Courtesy of CrossFit Inc,

Pat Vellner is an 8x Games athlete who always made it to the ultimate test of fitness since 2015. He came on short of winning the title of Fittest on Earth on 4 occasions, finishing twice in 2^nd and twice with a bronze medal.

Roman Khrennikov is the new sensation of the CrossFit Games. New, because he finally managed to get his Visa to enter the USA and compete in person in Madison last year. And he didn’t disappoint, going home with the title of 2^nd Fittest Man on Earth.

Here is a quick comparison between the two athletes who will face off this Thursday at the 23.2 CrossFit Open live announcement in New Jersey:

Pat Vellner:

• Last CrossFit Games placement: 6^th
• Best CrossFit Games placement: 2^nd (2018, 2021)
• CrossFit Games appearances: 8
• Worldwide Ranking System placement: 2^nd
• Best CrossFit Open placement: 1^st (2020)

Roman Khrennikov:

• Last CrossFit Games placement: 2^nd
• Best CrossFit Games placement: 2^nd
• CrossFit Games appearances: 2
• Worldwide Ranking System placement: 7^th
• Best CrossFit Open placement: 10^th (2020)

Both athletes participated in two major off-season tournaments after the CrossFit Games last year. Pat Vellner finished one placement ahead of Khrennikov at the Rogue Invitational last year. However, at Wodapalooza this January, Khrennikov got the better deal finishing one position in front of Vellner.

Are you excited for this matchup? Who do you think will win? To see the top 100 men and women in the newly created worldwide ranking system, click here.