10 Takeaways from the 2023 CrossFit Open
The CrossFit Open is over. While I still believe that in general the Open doesn’t play a significant role in determining the Fittest on Earth as the elite athletes can qualify for Quarterfinals in their sleep, I do think there are story lines that emerge in the CrossFit Open that are worth following for year.
So with the Open being complete, here are 10 takeaways I have from the 2023 CrossFit Open.
Paige Powers is legit: Paige Powers earned her first ticket as an individual to the CrossFit Games last season from the Atlas Games, which was likely the weakest women’s field from the 4 North American Semi Finals. She finished 25th in her rookie year with a single top 10 event finish. Fast forward to Wodapalooza in January, where she takes home the individual title, and gains a ton of experience and confidence. That confidence was on display in the Open, where she finished 2nd overall. At this point in the season, Powers seems the likely favorite for Most Improved athlete in Madison this summer.
Samuel Cournoyer is back: You might remember Samuel Cournoyer, he finished 23rd in the 2021 CrossFit Open, his third appearance as an individual at the Games. Last year he joined Rich Froning and CrossFit Mayhem in their victory as the Fittest Team on Earth. Cournoyer is back as an individual, after finishing 6th in the Open. I’m sure he learned a great deal with Mayhem last season, however this 6th place finish isn’t enough for me to expect him in the top 10 in Madison this year. Prior to joining Mayhem, Cournoyer finished 9th, 12th and the 7th in the Open from 2019 to 2021.
What’s up with Gui?: Guilherme Malheiros finished 421st in the Open. Yes, I said the Open doesn’t matter, but it’s how he did it that caught my eye. He finished 85th in 23.1, 5364 in 23.2A, 636th in 23.2B and 9th in 23.3. The most explosive man in the CrossFit Games finished 636th in a one rep max lift. He also finished 33rd in South America. For Malheiros to be a podium contender in Madison, something needs to change. He trained at Mayhem last year, and we all expected a big jump in performance, but finished 3 spots worse and needed 2 event wins in the last 4 events to save his competition. Then admitted to not training much when his Visa was being worked out last fall. The talent is there, but something else seems to be missing.
North America East is stacked: Based off of the Open, North America East is going to be a battle to secure a games spot. 39 out of the top 100 men and 30 of the top 100 women from the CrossFit Open are from North America East. We’ll see what the Games ticket allocation is, as it might level out for the women (30% of the Games spots would be 12).
Back to Back to Back: 21 athletes have finished in the top 50 of the CrossFit Open. That level of elite consistency is impressive.
Teen Champions: 17 year old Olivia Kerstetter and reigning Fittest Teen (16-17) on Earth finished 82nd in the Open. 16 year old Lucy McGonigle and reigning Fittest Teen (14-15) on earth finished 84th in the Open. Will they follow in the footsteps of Mal O’Brien, Emma Cary and Emma Lawson and compete in the individual competition while still being eligible for the teen division? That trio finished 5th, 2nd and 102nd as 17 year olds in the Open before qualifying for the Games.
Men vs. Women: The elite women do better in the Open. The 7 women who finished in the top 10 from the 2022 Games and are competing this year averaged a 43 place finish in the Open, with 5 out of 7 finishing in the top 25. The men on the other hand averaged a 98th place finish, with only 3 athletes finishing in the top 25.
Teams will be fun to watch in 2023: Super teams are back. Mayhem Freedom is no more. And there are at least 11 confirmed team athletes who finished top 50 in the CrossFit Open.
Why Sara? Why?: Sara Sigmundsdottir used to dominate the Open, with three Open victories in 4 years. This year she finished 184th, not something I was concerned about, especially considering 185th was Laura Horvath. Sigmundsdottir did compete in the UAE Storm competition this week, which was surprising. Why would an athlete enter a competition in the week between the Open and Quarterfinals for a $2500 first prize? Given the endorsements she has and the two year road to comeback from a knee injury, there must be something else behind this choice. She dominated, winning all 8 events, but why risk the season for $2500?
A New Rule: CrossFit, can we have a new rule for online competitions please? If you don’t complete all the events, your score is invalidated and you score 0 points. There is lots of noise around the athletes who are at the top of the leaderboard for 23.2B but didn’t complete the rest of the Open. It skews the leaderboard and isn’t in the spirit of the Open. Can we have a rule for next year that would invalidate these scores, even to just eliminate another reason for people to complain about CrossFit.
Quarterfinals are this weekend, and we will be dropping some content as events are released so make sure to follow along.
Fantasy Fitnessing has launched their Quarterfinals box pick’em game. You can create your team for free for a chance to win some prizes if you finish at the top of the leaderboard. We created an athlete guide for the top athletes in Quarterfinals if you want to dig into the stats.