2023 CrossFit Video games Males’s Podium and Darkish Horse Picks
Photograph Credit score: Instagram @justinmedeiros34
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It’s lastly time to make a few of our most anticipated predictions of the yr because the 2023 CrossFit Video games at the moment are formally just some days away.
Under we’ve got outlined 3 males we consider have the very best probability to complete on the rostrum in addition to 2 males who might presumably shock us and steal a type of 3 coveted spots on the high.
Earlier than we spotlight these particular athletes, let’s check out how the boys’s podium has seemed since 2014.
Podium Appearances 2015 – 2022:
Mat Fraser: 6
Patrick Vellner: 4
Justin Medeiros: 3
Ben Smith: 2
Brent Fikowski: 2
Bjorgvin Gudmundsson: 2
Noah Ohlsen: 1
Roman Khrennikov: 1
Lukas Hogberg: 1
Ricky Garard: 1
Samuel Kwant: 1
Enjoyable Reality: Since 2019 there have been 2 new athletes on the rostrum annually that weren’t on the rostrum the yr earlier than.
Now let’s dive into our podium picks for this yr, making our selections based mostly on previous performances on the Video games in addition to occasions from this yr’s Quarterfinals and Semifinals.
Podium Picks
1st Place: Justin Medeiros
It’s by no means smart to wager towards the reigning champ in any sport, and CrossFit isn’t any completely different. From his first yr on the CrossFit Video games simply 3 years in the past Justin Medeiros confirmed that he was not there to merely compete, however to win.
After going head-to-head towards Mat Fraser in his last yr of competitors, Medeiros instantly took over as the brand new man to beat, whereas many people have been anticipating a veteran like Patrick Vellner or Brent Fikowski to maneuver into that high spot.
Medeiros and his coach, Adam Neiffer have clearly found out the important thing to profitable and the remainder of the sphere continues to be desperately making an attempt to catch up. There’s no cause to suspect that can change this yr.
There are nonetheless 2 latest observations we wish to point out that might presumably imply Medeiros doesn’t win his third straight championship.
He didn’t have the very best Semifinal efficiency, ending fifth on the North America West Semifinal. After all, he seemingly was not peaking for Semifinals, however he did have 4 occasion finishes in tenth or worse, together with a twenty fourth place end. One in all his fundamental rivals for the throne, Patrick Vellner seemed dominant at Semifinals, beating Medeiros by 93 whole factors.
No matter his Semifinals scores Justin Medeiros continues to be our total favourite to win this yr’s Video games and it might seemingly require every other athlete to have a mean occasion end of third or higher with the intention to beat him.
2nd Place: Patrick Vellner
You could have anticipated this spot to be reserved for Roman Khrennikov after his end final yr, however in our opinion Patrick Vellner is fed up with ending anyplace, however in first.
Sadly he nonetheless hasn’t appeared to have damaged his behavior of getting dangerous finishes in opening occasions of competitions (fifteenth in Occasion 1 at Semifinals).
Ultimately yr’s Video games he barely dissatisfied followers with a sixth place total end, however we’re anticipating the Patrick Vellner that gave Medeiros hassle in 2021 to indicate up in full power. He has already completed in 2nd two occasions and in third two occasions, now all he’s lacking is the championship.
If he appears like he did at Semifinals, he’s going to be very arduous to beat, particularly if he wins a number of occasions like he normally tends to do.
Until Medeiros makes a mistake and leaves the door open for Vellner nonetheless, Vellner will seemingly fall brief as soon as once more.
third Place: Roman Khrennikov
Let’s not neglect that Roman Khrennikov practically gained all of it at his first in-person CrossFit Video games, ending simply 27 factors behind Justin Medeiros.
The scary half for the remainder of the sphere is that he didn’t even appear like he had any evident weaknesses. Khrennikov had pretty much as good of a Video games efficiency as anyone might ask for, however Medeiros was merely higher.
Khrennikov goes to do properly in any occasion that includes machines, and now that he’s added some mass to his body he ought to have a better time within the heavy occasions.
Technically there’s not a lot that he must do in a different way from final yr with the intention to preserve his place on the rostrum, however he’s gotta be very cautious of the handful of athletes behind him.
With one other yr as a Mayhem athlete, we expect it’s fairly secure to say he’ll keep within the high 3 total.
Darkish Horses
The next athletes even have an opportunity to crack the rostrum, however are usually not as seemingly to take action in comparison with the athletes above.
Samuel Kwant
It’s all the time unusual to incorporate Samuel Kwant on lists like this, however he someway all the time manages to slide underneath the radar.
Kwant has already landed on the rostrum in 2020 because the 2nd Fittest Man on Earth and simply barely missed out final yr as he completed 4th.
All through his 5 years on the CrossFit Video games, Kwant has solely gained 2 occasions, however stays fairly persistently close to the highest of the sphere with most occasion finishes inside the highest 10.
So as to safe his spot on the rostrum this yr he’ll seemingly must win a few occasions and keep away from having three dangerous occasions (twentieth or worse) like he did final yr.
Lazar Djukic
Lazar Djukic has by no means positioned exterior of the highest 10 on the CrossFit Video games (2022: ninth, 2021: eighth) and this yr he appears poised to make a powerful push for the highest 3.
Though the extent of competitors was barely decrease on the latest European Semifinal than North America West or East, this could not take away from Djukic’s dominant efficiency.
He often is the King of Europe, however he positively nonetheless has some work to do if he’s going to grow to be one of many fittest three males on the planet. 4 finishes in twentieth or worse final yr did an excessive amount of injury and eradicated him from podium rivalry, but when he has managed to repair these weaknesses over the low season he might shock everybody this yr.
