Sunday’s Final is all that remains for two likely new champions.
And then there was only one. Three days of Individual competition at the 2023 CrossFit Games are in the books, with a clear race for both respective champions starting to take shape.
For the Women, sophomore competitor and 2022 Rookie of the Year Emma Lawson holds the pole position before Sunday’s Finals. Laura Horvath, in second place, does not trail far behind. On the Men’s side, Roman Khrennikov continues to successfully avenge his runner-up finish from 2022 by maintaining his stranglehold of the leaderboard. Current 2023 runner-up Jeffrey Adler might be the only athlete who can stop him.
2023 CrossFit Games Individual Leaderboard
Here is the current top 10 for the Women heading into Sunday’s Finals:
Women
Emma Lawson (Canada) — 729 points | Leader
Laura Horvath (Hungary) — 681 points
Arielle Loewen (United States) — 668 points
Alexis Raptis (United States) — 626 points
Gabriela Migała (Poland) — 593 points
Alex Gazan (United States) — 576 points
Annie Thorisdottir (Iceland) — 531 points
Emma Cary (United States) — 521 points
Emma Tall (Sweden) — 518 points
Katrin Tanja Davidsdottir (United States) — 516 points
Here is the current top 10 for the Men heading into Sunday’s Finals:
Men
Roman Khrennikov (United States) — 716 points | Leader
Jeffrey Adler (Canada) — 703 points
Chandler Smith (United States) — 628 points
Patrick Vellner (Canada) — 612 points
Brent Fikowski (Canada) — 606 points
Jay Crouch (Australia) — 588 points
Bayley Martin (Australia) — 559 points
Bjornvin Karl Gudmundsson (Iceland) — 545 points
Lazar Dukic (Serbia) — 531 points
Jelle Hoste (Belgium) — 530 points
Event 7 Results — Cross-Country 5K
The “Cross-Country 5K” did not aim to reinvent the wheel or spark a caveman-style fire. This was a simple and straightforward 5K run for time, with no window dressing, purely favoring speed and endurance.
Emily Rolfe cruised ahead of the rest of the Women with a 17:48.62 run. That was over 30 seconds faster than second place. On the Men’s side, Jelle Hoste (16:39.68) just edged out Jeffrey Adler (16:46.48) for the victory. Hoste is a CrossFit Games rookie, with the Cross-Country 5K acting as his first-ever event win. Roman Khrennikov was not far behind in third place (16:57.08) as he continued to cement his strong position as the overall Men’s leader.
Event 8 Results — Intervals
Power and short-term endurance were the name of the game during “Intervals.” Here was the athletes’ complete docket during this event.
Two intervals for total time with a 12-minute time limit, two rounds:
21 box jump-overs (20-inch box for Women, 24-inch box for Men)
15-calorie row
Nine burpee box jump-overs (36-inch box for Women, 48-inch box for Men)
Rest until the six-minute mark before the final two-round push:
Nine burpee box jump-overs (36-inch box for Women, 48-inch box for Men)
15-calorie row
21 box jump-overs (20-inch box for Women, 24-inch box for Men)
Emma Lawson separated herself from the pack with a time of 7:48.64 for the Women as the only woman to complete the course in less than eight minutes. As for the Men, Patrick Vellner (7:21.36) had roughly 24 seconds of separation from nearest contender Jonne Koski (7:45.38).
Event 9 Results — Olympic Weightlifting Total
The “Olympic Weightlifting Total” was the respective athletes’ final opportunity to earn points before Sunday’s Finals. As the name suggests, every competitor had two attempts at a one-rep max snatch and two attempts at a one-rep max clean & jerk. The total between both would act as an athlete’s score.
To put herself within striking distance of Lawson on the leaderboard, Horvath recorded a 470-pound total and the Women’s event win. Meanwhile, another CrossFit Games rookie, Jack Farlow, scored a 701-pound total for the Men’s victory.
Sunday’s Finals Await
With the roster cut now officially made, the stage is set for an epic Individual CrossFit Games Finals in Madison, WI. Just 48 points separate Lawson and current runner-up Horvath in a run at the Women’s ultimate throne. The margin is even thinner for the Men, with Khrennikov holding just a 13-point lead on Adler. Any slip-up or terrific performance in the final slate of events can mean all the difference.
While the actual champions remain to be decided, there will assuredly be two new Games winners when the dust finally settles.
Featured image: @emma.lawson_5 on Instagram