This post will be discussing only the MEN’S side of competition. Women’s post is HERE
Instead of Regionals and instead of Sanctionals we now have Quarterfinals and Semifinals. Although it is a slightly newer format Semifinals closely resembles Regionals in many ways.
Depending on your citizenship and your current location, each athlete that moved on from Quarterfinals was placed in their respective Semifinal competition, and this seeding makes for some interesting matchups.
Below we have included the “rivalries” or best matchups to watch in each competition based on past performances and recent Quarterfinals. Semifinals start May 28th.
Brent Fikowski VS Jeffrey Adler VS Patrick Vellner
All 3 of these Canadian athletes finished in the top 15 at the 2020 Games last year, but only Adler made it into the final 5 where he finished 5th overall. (Vellner – 9th, Fikowski – 15th)
The recent format changes to the Games these last 2 years have not been kind to Fikowski and Vellner, where in the previous 2 years they stood on the podium consecutive years.
- 2018: Vellner – 2nd, Fikowski – 4th
- 2017 Fikowski – 2nd, Vellner 3rd
Whereas Adler has only continued to improve, going from 33rd in 2019 to 5th in 2020, as well as winning the 2021 Open. Vellner won the 2020 Open.
This battle of Canadians is definitely going to be interesting to watch, and we think you’re looking at your Semifinal podium right now.
Related: This Is The Next Man Expected to Win The Crossfit Games (Poll Results)
Samuel Kwant VS Justin Medeiros VS Scott Panchik VS Travis Mayer VS Ben Smith
This is the most stacked with talent Semifinal out of all ten. Kwant and Medeiros might be the slight favorites here, but honestly we can’t choose a clear winner, because any of these athletes could take it.
Kwant and Medeiros went 2nd and 3rd at last year’s Games, but Travis Mayer recently won the North American Quarterfinal, beating both Kwant and Medeiros and beating other top athletes like Ohlsen, Vellner, and Adler.
Only 2 points behind Mayer finished Scott Panchik, returning to individual competition after being with Team CrossFit Mayhem and training with Rich Froning.
Whenever a past Crossfit Games champion, such as Ben Smith is in a competition they have to be watched closely as they know what it takes to win at the highest level, and could win any contest regardless of recent performances.
We believe these will be the top 5 finishers, but in what order we have no idea.
Saxon Panchik VS Chandler Smith
Chandler Smith barely missed out on being in the final 5 at last year’s Games where he finished 6th overall and had his best finish ever.
He also is a part of the Comptrain program and has been training under Ben Bergeron and alongside top athletes like Katrin Davidsdottir, Samuel Kwant, and Amanda Barnhart.
Saxon Panchik trains year round with consistent top 10 Games finisher brother Scott Panchik, and thus he has been improving year over year. He also just recently finished ahead of Chandler Smith in the recent North American Quarterfinal.
One of these athletes will most likely win this Semifinal apart from any surprises.
Noah Ohlsen VS Cole Sager
Ohlsen is definitely going to be the favorite here, after he just finished his 4th straight Crossfit Games inside the top 10. Although he just turned 30, he also PR’d many of his lifts, showing that he’s not going anywhere yet.
- 2020 – 4th
- 2019 – 2nd
- 2018 – 6th
- 2017 – 4th
In 7 straight years at the Crossfit Games Cole Sager has never finished below 20th, and that includes 3 top 10 finishes.
He also trains under the leadership of Ben Bergeron, and that has not failed him yet. He is sure to give Ohlsen some issues in this contest.
Related: 2021 Battle of The Coaches: Shane Orr Vs Ben Bergeron
Jonne Koski VS Lukas Esslinger
These two athletes have been flying under the radar for the past couple of years, but Koski has just recently placed 3rd in the Europe Quarterfinal, beating out fellow top athlete Bjorgvin Karl Gudmundsson.
Another fact about Koski that not many have noticed is that he finished 7th at the 2020 Games, and he has finished in the top 10 twice before (2015 – 9th, 2017 – 9th).
Koski will be the absolute favorite here and should have no problems apart from Lukas Esslinger.
Esslinger has 4 years of experience at the Games, and although his highest finish was 17th in 2018 he could be looking for an upset here.
Bjorgvin Karl Gudmundsson VS Adrian Mundwiler
Gudmundsson finished 8th at last year’s Games, and that happened to be his 6th straight finish inside of the top 10, so he’s definitely going to be the favorite here.
- 2020 – 8th
- 2019 – 3rd
- 2018 – 5th
- 2017 – 5th
- 2016 – 8th
- 2015 – 3rd
The one man who could potentially give him the most trouble is Adrian Mundwiler, who finished 8th at the 2019 Games. Mundwiler didn’t place high in the Open or in the Quarterfinals, but he has said himself that he doesn’t aim to win those events, he’s only focused on advancing to the Games where he will peak.
Related: 3 Reasons Why Crossfit Athletes Build So Much Muscle
James Newbury VS Khan Porter VS Royce Dunne
All three of these Australian athletes have been to the Games multiple times, but Newbury has had the best finish of all when he finished 5th in 2019 and so he will likely be the favorite.
Khan Porter recently finished 2nd in the Oceania Quarterfinals and Dunne behind him in 10th.
Porter and Dunne have been competing on teams at the Games the past couple years, so we will see how strong they make they return to individual competition.
Roman Khrennikov VS Ant Haynes
Khrennikov is the sure favorite here. He performs well in every competition he takes part in and has been improving each year.
He finished 13th at the 2020 Games, and the year before that he qualified but was unable to compete due to visa issues.
In 2019 he made his way through a few Sanctionals against top Games athletes:
- 2019 Italian Showdown – 1st
- 2019 Filthy 150 – 2nd
- 2019 Dubai CC – 3rd
Ant Haynes might not be someone you’re familiar with, but he has also been to the Games before, where he finished 27th in 2019.
We think Khrennikov will take this Semifinal, but Haynes could steal an event or two.
Guilherme Malheiros VS Augustin Richelme
At the 2019 Games these two athletes finished right next to each other and were separated by only 8 points.
- Malheiros – 48th (74pts)
- Richelme – 49th (66pts)
And then AGAIN at the recent South American Quarterfinals they were separated by just 2 points.
- Malheiros – 4th (85pts)
- Richelme – 5th (87pts)
This is truly one of the best unknown rivalries in Crossfit and we’re expecting these two to fight for the top spot during this Semifinal.
Related: The Ultimate Mat Fraser VS Rich Froning Debate (All Stats)
Jason Smith VS Kealan Henry
In 2017 Jason Smith blasted onto the scene when he earned the Rookie of The Year award at the Crossfit Games when he finished 10th overall. He also happened to do this when he was already 33 years old.
His next time at the Games was in 2019 when he finished 29th. He’s been quiet since up until he just won the Africa Quarterfinal.
He will definitely be the favorite going into this Semifinal, but if anyone can give him problems it looks like it might be Kealan Henry. Henry has never been to the Games, but finished just 2 points behind Smith during the Quarterfinal where he actually won the first 2 events.
And there it is. That is the full list of all 10 Semifinals that begin May 28th. We hope you enjoyed this article, and if you did, please share it and give us a follow on Instagram for more content like this.
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