The 2018 CrossFit® Games: A Complete Guide

Welcome to your go-to guide for the 2018 CrossFit® Games. Below, you'll find a ton of facts, links and resources to help you keep tabs on all things Games-related. 

Let’s start with the basics, just in case...

What are the CrossFit® Games?

The CrossFit® Games are the top athletes (560 total) in the world, competing in a wide variety of events over the course of 5 days. The Games first started back in 2007, with about 70 athletes at Dave Castro’s family’s ranch in California.

In order to get invited to the Games, you must finish in the top 40 during the CrossFit® Open to then move onto Regionals. From there, the top 5 athletes (Individuals and Teams) in each Regional move onto the Games.

Here's a great summary of all of the athletes and teams who are at the 2018 CrossFit® Games.

Teens and Masters are a bit different. After the Open finishes, the top 200 masters and teenagers from each respective division get invited to compete in the Online Qualifier, and the top 20 finishers from there then get invited to the Games.

Here’s a video with more on the 2018 Master’s Field.

For the second year in a row, the CrossFit® Games are being hosted in Madison, Wisconsin. However, since most of us don’t live in Wisconsin, there are plenty of ways to watch remotely, which we will cover in a minute.

When Are The 2018 CrossFit® Games?

The Games began on August 1st, and will finish up on Sunday, August 5th. At that time, we will know who the fittest Men and Women on earth officially are for the next year!

In order to plug into your planner exactly when each event is, I recommend you download the 2018 CrossFit® Games Event Guide App to your phone (it’s free). It is somewhat easy to use, and you can use the drop down to check the specific events schedule. It will even send you push notifications, if that’s something you are interested in.

Something to keep in mind: All events are listed in Central Standard Time.

Here’s a clock to keep track of Central Time, in case you live across the ocean like I do. 

How to watch the 2018 CrossFit® Games:

The good news is, you have a few different ways that you can watch. CrossFit® covers your options here, and I’ll simplify:

Online:

• Games.crossfit.com
• CrossFit® Games Facebook Page
• CBSSports.com
• CBS Sports app 

If you’re interested in when specific events are going live, you can join this CrossFit® Games Facebook group to stay up to date with notifications.

TV:

• CBS Sports Network (August 2 - 5) - see full schedule here

Something worth noting: 

CrossFit® will keep the links to the livestreams of the events up on the website (as well as Facebook) once they have concluded, so you can watch them after the fact. Personally I’m grateful for this, as I’m 8 hours ahead of Central Time and am currently catching up on the Marathon Row event as I write this. 

If you happen to find yourself at a formal dinner party and can’t watch an event live, Twitter and Reddit will also be great resources to get text updates on the Games.

• CrossFit® Games Twitter Account
• Reddit

The 2018 CrossFit® Games: The Events

All of the events haven’t been announced yet, but we can already tell you that this year is going to be crazy. Day 1 was such a jam-packed day for the Individual and Team athletes that Thursday is actually a full rest day for them. For more on all of the events this weekend, check out the below links:

• Individual events that have been announced.
• Team events that have been announced.
• Masters/Teens events that have been announced.

WODS to Watch

Let’s take a minute to look at a few workouts that have already been announced...

Individuals: 

In case you missed it, the individuals wrapped up Day 1 by rowing a FULL marathon (yes, they each rowed 42,195 meters/26.2 miles/42.19 kilometers).

On Friday, the Battleground event will be a fun one to watch:

• Rescue Randy drag
• 2 rope climbs
• O-course run
• 2 rope climbs
• Rescue Randy drag
  

Men 20-lb. vest
Women 14-lb. vest

After watching the demo team run this course, it seems like the 'Rescue Randy' dummy is heavier than he looks. With a time cap of 11 minutes, I'm looking forward to seeing how the athletes handle this event.

Here's a link to the event teaser released a few days ago.

Teams: Synchro Worm

5 rounds:

• 12 synchro HSPUs (pairs)
• 12 syncrho GHD sit-ups (pairs)
• 15 worm squats

It's no surprise that the teams will once again see the worm this year, but what sounds slightly challenging to me are those synchro HSPU's. This one will be a fun event to watch on Friday.

Masters/Teens: AG Chipper

•    30 deficit handstand push-ups
•    40 deadlifts
•    50-cal. BikeErg
•    60 bar-facing burpees

For a few of the age groups, there will be some chipper action at the end of the day on Saturday. I’ve got to imagine that after spiking your heart rate on that BikeErg, 60 bar facing burpees are going to be zero fun.

But then again, when are burpees ever fun?

2018 CrossFit® Games: Who to watch

Most importantly, if there are athletes there who you know, watch them. If your gym happens to have an athlete competing - or a team - be sure to check out the event schedule and keep an eye on them!

Individual Men

Mat Fraser is considered to be the top male individual competitor; he’s won the past two years by a landslide. However, other notables who ended up in the top 5 last year were Brent Fikowski, Patrick Vellner, Noah Ohlsen, and Bjorgvin Karl Gudmundsson.

I've been told that Brent Fikowski has a pretty great blog that he updates often. It could be worth following over the weekend to see what updates he has on his end.

For more stats on the men’s field, check out the 2018 Athlete Guide from CrossFit®.

Individual Women

In my opinion, women will be once again a toss up. Tia Clair-Toomey ended up on the top of the podium by the skin of her teeth last year, beating out fellow Aussie Kara Webb (now married and known as Kara Saunders). Third place was Annie Thorisdottir who has impressively competed in five CrossFit Games, this year being her sixth appearance. 

Personally, I’m a Katrin Davidsdottir fan and will be keeping an eye on her. But the field is chock full of amazing, strong females who all inspire me.

For more stats on the women’s field, check out the 2018 Athlete Guide from CrossFit®.

Another great resource to catch up on some of the Games athletes for this year is the “Road to the Games” mini-series on Youtube. You’ll learn a ton about the athlete’s training regimens, eating habits, mindset going into Regionals and the Games, etc. Here’s the link to the six episodes for 2018. 

The 2018 CrossFit® Games: The Coaches

Behind every great athlete, there is a Coach (or several). Here are a few of the bigger-names in the CrossFit® community that could be worth following, if you’re interested in that aspect of the Games.

• Ben Bergeron: This guy has coached a few of the best Games athletes out there, and runs the well-known CompTrain programming. His website goes further in-depth around his coaching philosophy.
• Michelle Letendre: Head Coach of Deka Comp, and another coach to several stellar Games athletes. Was a past Games athlete herself a few years ago.
• Shane Orr: Head Coach at CrossFit® Gladstone, and coach of the 2017 CrossFit® Champ Tia Clair-Toomey (who is also his wife).

The 2018 CrossFit® Games Leaderboard

Keep in mind that throughout the weekend, most of the events are run in heats. The best heats (the athletes at the top of the leaderboard) will always be the last and final heat of the events.

Below are the direct links to each of the 2018 CrossFit® Games leaderboards, so that you can keep track of the athletes that you’re cheering for and see where they currently stand:

• Individual Men
• Individual Women
• Teams
• Men (35-39)
• Women (35-39)
• Men (40-44)
• Women (40-44)
• Men (45 - 49)
• Women (45 - 49)
• Men (50 - 54)
• Women (50 - 54)
• Men (55-59)
• Women (55-59)
• Men 60+
• Women 60+
• Boys (16-17)
• Girls (16-17)
• Boys (14-15)
• Girls (14-15)

CrossFit® Games 2018: Day 1 Updates

Day 1 has officially come to a close. Here's a quick recap:

• Mat Fraser leads the men (no shocker there). 
• Laura Horvath, a rookie from Hungary, is leading the women.
• CrossFit® Mayhem Freedom (Froning's team) is leading the Team Division.

Event 1

As Castro predicted, the Crit (the bike race) was full of action. Patrick Vellner's chain came off early in the race, setting him back to the point that he ended up getting lapped towards the end. Noah Ohlsen also saw issues when his pedal came off his bike mid-race.

Michele Fumagalli lost control and crashed on the final turn of the race, and ended up running across the finish line with her bike. Sadly, she dislocated her wrist and had to withdraw from competition. 

Kristin Holte won the bike event for the women, and Adrian Mundwiler crossed the line first for the men. 

Event 2

Logan Collins won the second event for the men (30 ring muscle ups) with a time of 1:46, nearly going unbroken. Fraser placed 3rd in this event, placing 1st in his heat after quickly recovering from a failed event right at the end.

Kristi Eramo led the women in this event with a final time of 2:32 (roughly the same amount of time it takes me to do two muscle ups).

Event 3

In Event 3 (The Total) Tia Clare-Toomey Toomey actually failed her first attempt at her 325 lb. backsquat, but then reloaded and nailed 330 lbs, going on to win the event. On the men's side, Patrick Vellner hit a deadlift of 595 lbs and made it look too easy, placing second in the event. Royce Dunne placed first for the men.

Event 4 

In the longest event in CrossFit® Games history - the Marathon Row - Lukas Esslinger led most of the way and ended up grabbing first with a time of 2:43:50.00.  Margaux Alvarez brought in the pack for the women with a final time on the rower of 3 hours and 42 seconds. My butt hurts just thinking about sitting on a rower for that long. 

For a full Day 1 Recap, check out the CrossFit® Game's post here.

CrossFit® Games 2018: Day 2 Updates

Here's where the leaderboard currently stands, going into Day 3:

Individual Men

1. Mat Fraser
2. Lukas Hogberg
3. Patrick Vellner

Individual Women

1. Tia- Clair Toomey 
2. Laura Horvath
3. Annie Thorisdottir

Teams

1. CrossFit Mayhem Freedom
2. Don't Stop
3. CrossFit Invictus X

Event 5

Anything titled 'The Battleground' is going to be a messy, and this event was just that. Both Mat Fraser and Patrick Vellner fell from the top of the cargo net (no injuries) yet took 2nd and 4th in the event, respectively. The Hungarian rookie Laura Horvath grabbed her first Games event win, finishing an impressive distance ahead of the rest of her heat.

Event 6

The Clean & Jerk Speed Ladder was announced to the athletes about an hour before they jumped into it. It was a fun, fast event to watch. Nicholas Urankar ended up taking the 1st place slot in the final of the men's heat, while Amanda Barnhart came in 1st for the ladies, making the final clean and jerk of 225 lb look like a piece of cake.  

Event 7

Fibonacci was programmed as the final event in 2017, so when it showed up again this year the athletes seemed to be ready for it. Katrin Davidsdottir flew through the course, beating out Annie Thorisdottir for her first event win of the weekend. On the men's side, Mat Fraser was able to snag his first event win as well, with Noah Ohlsen taking second.

Day 3 is looking to be an interesting one. The individual athletes will start out with a swim/paddleboard/run event, followed by an event called 'Chaos' that is yet to be announced. Knowing Castro, it certainly won't be boring.

CrossFit® Games 2018: Day 3 Updates

Leaderboard for the start of Day 4 (final day):

Individual Men

1. Mat Fraser
2. Patrick Vellner
3. Lukas Hogberg

Individual Women

1. Tia- Clair Toomey 
2. Laura Horvath
3. Kara Saunders

Teams

1. CrossFit Mayhem Freedom
2. CrossFit OC3
3. CrossFit Invictus X

Event 8

The Individuals kicked off Day 3 with the  Madison Triplus - a 500 m swim, 1,000 m paddle, and a 2,000 m run. On the women's side, Tia Clair-Toomey and Kristi Eramo stayed neck and neck for the majority of the race, distancing themselves from the rest of the pack. The last few hundred meters Tia was able to pull ahead on the run and take 1st, with Kristi close behind her. While the men didn't disperse quite as much as the women, the top male Dean Linder-Leighton blew away the rest of the field, finishing 1st by a good 20 seconds. 

Event 9

The event 'Chaos' was announced to the athletes shortly before they walked out onto the field, and it was just that: Chaos. A series of movements were thrown at the athletes who walked blindly into the workout, not knowing what the rep scheme for each particular movement was until they walked up to that station and their judge told them. Katrin Davidsdottir excelled during the women's heat, grinding through the workout with what looked like ease. Patrick Vellner was able to take first during this one (his top finish of the weekend) - finishing ahead of Saxon Panchik. 

Following this event, Sara Sigmundsdottir announced her withdrawl from the competition, stating she had sustained an injury to her ribs earlier in the week.

Events 10 & 11

The Bicouplet events were run back to back, and the audience was given the chance to vote on the order of the events the hour before the athletes kicked it off. 

Bicouplet 2 was first with:

12-9-6
Snatches M 135 lb./F 85 lb.
BMU's

Bicouplet 1 followed after the athletes had 1 minute of rest:

21-15-9
Snatches M 85 lb./F 55 lb.
Chest-to-bar Pull-ups
 
Grip seemed to be an issue at this point for the majority of the field, as we saw a lot of athletes having to break up the BMU and C2B pull-ups into smaller sets than normal. Willy Georges, a rookie from France, was able to place 1st and then 2nd (respectively) in the events, with Fraser taking 2nd in Bicouplet 2, and Rasmus Andersen grabbing a 1st place finish in Bicouplet 1.

Kara Saunders showed up on the women's side for both of the Bicouplets, finishing 2nd and the 1st in this event. Camille LeBlanc-Bazinet was the 1st place finisher for Bicouplet 1, looking strong with her BMU's. In Bicouplet 1, Katrin bounced back from her BMU struggles in the last event, finishing in 2nd place.

Enough talk about Bicouplets. We are now going into the final day, with seemingly three events left. Yet only one has been announced, with the "Two-stroke Pull" scheduled for 10:20AM CST. Looking to see some sled pulls? Then this event's for you. 

2018 CrossFit® Games - Final Results

Men:

1. Mat Fraser
2. Patrick Vellner
3. Lukas Hogberg

Women:

1. Tia Clair-Toomey
2. Laura Horvath
3. Katrin Davidsdottir

Teams:

1. CrossFit Mayhem Freedom
2. CrossFit Invictus X
3. CrossFit OC3

For a full recap on the final day of the 2018 CrossFit® Games, check out this article.