When it comes to the Crossfit Games the men’s side has been dominated my Americans and the women’s side has been a battle between Iceland and Australia, but there’s a new country gunning for the top spot and if you’ve been watching closely it might not be that much of a surprise.
CANADA
With a population less than that of California, Canada has accomplished some amazing things in the competitive Crossfit world and it all started in 2016.
Canadian individual rookies Patrick Vellner and Brent Fikowski stormed into the Crossfit Games with Vellner finishing 3rd and Fikowski 4th, just 2 points behind Vellner.
Fikowski also happens to have the most event wins of any rookie in Crossfit Games history with 4.
From that point on they both proved that 2016 wasn’t a fluke.
Vellner ended up taking 3rd at the 2017 Games, 2nd in 2018, and 16th in 2019 where he was the recipient of a major penalty in his last event that resulted in him falling below the cut line to get into the top 10.
Since that time he also won the 2019 Wodapalooza, finished 2nd at the 2019 Rogue Invitational and won the 2020 worldwide Open, beating out the man who has won it 4 of the last 5 years and his biggest rival Mat Fraser.
Related: Fraser vs Vellner – 2019 Rogue Invitational Analysis
Fikowski as well has been on a hot streak. After taking 4th to his buddy and countryman by only 2 points Fikowski then leap-frogged Vellner and earned himself a 2nd place finish at the 2017 Games.
At the 2018 Games Fikowski once again narrowly missed the podium, he tied with Lukas Esslinger and Esslinger won the tiebreak, securing himself 3rd instead of Fikowski.
From there he went on to win the 2019 Asia Crossfit Championship, take 2nd at the 2019 Granite Games and take 23rd at the 2019 Crossfit Games.
These are the 2 predominant Canadians in the sport, but they are not the only ones we have our eyes on in 2020.
Besides Vellner there are also 3 other Canadians that finished top 10 in the worldwide 2020 Open and 7 total that have already qualified for the 2020 Crossfit Games through the Open:
- Jeffrey Adler: 5th (qualified)
- Jean-Simon Roy-Lemaire: 8th (qualified)
- Carol-Ann Reason-Thibault: 8th (qualified)
- Samuel Cournoyer: 12th (qualified)
- Alexandre Caron: 24th (qualified)
- Cedric Lapointe: 26th (qualified)
- Carolyne Prevost: 27th (qualified)
On the women’s side the athlete looking to make a push and finally crack the top 10 at the Games is Carol-Ann Reason-Thibault.
She has been to the Games for the past 5 years finishing 27th, 14th, 15th, 19th, and 16th always just on the outside looking in, but 2020 may be her year.
At last year’s Games she proved she was able to adapt to the new event cuts format and ended up finishing higher than both Sara Sigmundsdottir (19th) and past champion Sam Briggs (17th).
Related: Best Path For Fame and Fortune? Weightlifting or Crossfit
Newcomers on the Crossfit Games men’s side Jeffrey Adler (33rd in 2019), and Samuel Cournoyer (35th in 2019) did well in their rookie years and have a great chance to show what they’re made of in 2020.
Alex Vigneault is the last Canadian we want to mention. Although he finished 25th at the 2019 Games (just 2 spots behind Fikowski) he finished 9th in 2016 and 11th in 2015 showing that he has the ability to hang with the best 10 in the world.
Any or all of these athletes could have a phenomenal year and perhaps one may even stand on the 2020 Crossfit Games podium.
Where do you think they will end up?
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