26 year old Hungarian Laura Horvath is currently ranked as the #1 overall favorite to win the 2023 CrossFit Games, and with good reason.
Horvath has finished inside the top 3 at the CrossFit Games on 3 separate occasions, including the last two years in a row:
- 2022: 3rd
- 2021: 2nd
- 2018: 2nd
But that is not the only reason why Horvath is the athlete to beat this year. Below we have outlined 3 reasons why she will most likely win this year’s CrossFit Games.
1. She is the strongest female athlete in the field
Throughout the past five years at the CrossFit Games the champion on both the men’s and women’s sides has not finished lower than 9th place in any event that is a test of max strength.
This incredible stat shows that the champions are always among the strongest in the field, if not the #1 strongest.
This is because a handful events at the CrossFit Games include tests of max strength including 1 rep max tests such as a max snatch or clean and jerk, as well as odd object carries (sandbags, pig flips, yokes).
Being stronger than everyone else also makes the lighter movements easier, because less muscle fibers are needed to complete the movement, therefore requiring less energy and prolonging time to exhaustion.
Laura Horvath is 2023’s strongest woman in the field based on performances in recent events, meaning she already has an advantage in multiple events over her competitors this year.
Related: The Top 10 Strongest Athletes at the 2023 CrossFit Games (Ranked)
2. Her biggest rivals are not competing
The only 2 athletes to beat Horvath at the CrossFit Games last year are both not competing this year:
- Tia-Clair Toomey: due to pregnancy
- Mallory O’brien: due to injury/mental health
Other top athletes that could have taken points away from Horvath that are also not competing include:
- Haley Adams
- Kara Saunders
- Brooke Wells
That is 5/10 athletes from the 2022 Games that are not competing this year.
If Horvath does what she did last year, she should easily win the Games this year.
3. She wins events, not just top 10 finishes
In order to win the CrossFit Games you need to be strong in every event and have no weaknesses. You likely need to have an average event finish of 10th or better.
Laura Horvath not only consistently finishes well, but she also wins events outright which is another thing that helps solidify a championship. Sometimes she even has more event wins than the women ahead of her, such as last year where she had 2 event wins and Mallory O’brien in 2nd had none.
Unfortunately last year Horvath had 5 event finishes outside of the top 10, but if she can shore up those weaknesses – a victory is all but guaranteed.
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