Last year rookie Laura Horvath almost pulled off the upset by finishing in 2nd place at the 2018 Crossfit Games, coming only 65 points short of de-throning now 2x defending champion Tia-Clair Toomey.
To many that weren’t paying close enough attention it seemed as though Horvath came out of nowhere, but in reality the signs were all there.
Horvath started off the 2018 Crossfit season with an 18th place worldwide finish in the Crossfit Open. She followed that up with a strong performance at the European Regional finishing 2nd place, beating Sara Sigmundsdóttir and barely missing out on 1st to Annie Thorisdóttir.
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She rode that momentum into the Crossfit Games and came up just short of the championship, so where did she lose it?
This post will be comparing the performances, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of Laura Horvath and Tia-Clair Toomey to determine what separated 1st from 2nd.
Where Did Tia-Clair Toomey Beat Laura Horvath In 2018?
Out of the 14 events at the 2018 Crossfit Games Toomey and Horvath split them down the middle winning 7 each with Horvath actually starting off strong and beating Toomey in the 1st event as well as finishing strong by beating Toomey in the last 3 events.
What happened during the mid point of the competition proved to be the difference maker and display that the Crossfit Games truly does reward the most consistent overall athlete.
As you can see in the chart above going into event 6 Horvath had beaten Toomey in 3 of the first 5 events and had a 36 point lead going into the event thanks to a 14th place finish by Toomey in the Marathon Row.
After a brutal 21st place finish from Horvath in the Clean & Jerk Speed Ladder Toomey leap-frogged her to take control of 1st place overall and then would widen that gap in event 7 (Fibonacci) where she would take 4th and Horvath would finish in 17th.
AFTER EVENT 5:
- LAURA HORVATH – 438 points
- TIA-CLAIR TOOMEY – 402 points
AFTER EVENT 7:
- TIA-CLAIR TOOMEY – 580 points
- LAURA HORVATH – 522 points
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In just two events Toomey was able to increase her point total 178 points while Horvath only increased her total by 84 points.
These 2 events were the difference maker. These 2 events were the main reason why Horvath finished 2nd instead of 1st.
What about these 2 events caused Horvath to trip up?
In event 6 (Clean & Jerk Speed Ladder) Horvath literally tripped up!
In the first round of the Clean & Jerk Speed Ladder Horvath tripped over her 2nd barbell costing her a full second and eliminating her from moving on to the next round in which the top 20 athletes advanced.
Horvath finished 21st, missing the next round by a single spot and less than a second behind 20th place Dani Horan.
In event 7 (Fibonacci) Horvath simply struggled with the parallette handstand pushups. While all other top females were either going unbroken or completing large sets Horvath was noticeably struggling on every rep and had to break up the reps into many sets.
Other than event 6 and event 7 Horvath never finished more than 6 places behind Toomey, keeping her as close as she was.
As a rookie her capacity to keep up with the competition throughout the week and onto the last day was impressive. She beat Toomey in 4 of the last 5 events and almost made a comeback to take #1.
A small trip and one weak movement turned out to be all that was needed to separate Laura Horvath from the gold.
Considering she probably worked all this year on improving her handstand pushups it is likely going to be another hard fought battle between Toomey and Horvath.
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Laura Horvath really did not display all that many weaknesses at last year’s Crossfit Games and after qualifying for the 2019 Games early through the Open as the Hungarian national champion she has many months to prepare.
Which female do you think will stand on top of the podium this year?
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