Crossfit Games Semifinals Week 2: Comin’ in Hot

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Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up.

In today’s edition:

• Can 22-year-old Zac Thomas punch his first-ever ticket to the CrossFit Games at the Oceania Semifinal this week?

• Live CrossFit competition is back and Week 1 of the CrossFit Games Semifinals gave us plenty to analyze. We start today by nerding out on impressive stats out of Europe.

• Are you heading to Carson, CA, for the North America West Semifinal? Check out our spectator’s guide for the best places to eat, drink, train, and get caffeinated while watching some of the world's most elite athletes throw down!

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“The proof is in the pudding and I know I can trust him.” - Australian Zac Thomas on his relationship with coach Rob Downton

PROFILE

Semifinals Spotlight: Could Australia’s Zac Thomas Be a Dark Horse Podium Pick in Oceania?

Australia’s Zac Thomas will take on the third Semifinal of his young career this week at the Oceania Semifinal by Torian Pro. 

The 22-year-old has had an impressive 2024 season so far, finishing 13th in Oceania in the Open and fifth in the region in Quarters.

• Thomas lives and trains in Wollongong, Australia, home of the former CrossFit Regionals and the current location of Australia’s largest off-season competition, the Down Under Championship. 

Thomas first started at CrossFit Wollongong when he was 15 years old to improve his basketball strength. Within six months, the youngster ditched the hardwood for the barbell and found himself training with Games hopefuls Jake Sole and Luke De Jonge.

• “Luke was starting to train for the Games in 2017 (as a teen),” Thomas told the Morning Chalk Up in an interview.

• “I was a swimmer so I had a good fitness base from that,” he continued, “Luke saw it in me that I was fit and I could keep up on some of the ergs and stuff like that. He got a push from me there, and I also did some swimming with him to get him ready for the Games.” 

The Early Days in Wollongong

The trio trained every day Thomas remembers, but things took a turn in 2021.

• “[Early on] we pretty much did what Luke did. We’d rock up and Luke would write something on the whiteboard,” he said. 

“Up until 2021, it was all sunshine and rainbows; no one got injured. We were teenagers. We thought we were all unbeatable, and then Luke got hurt in 2021. That was his last Semifinals (until this year).”

SPEED READS

💪🔥 Basque Sports x CrossFit: The CFHK Championship, a CrossFit-licensed event, is coming to Barakaldo, Spain, on June 29-30. Check it out now and learn more about the history of this region and the connection between Basque Sports and CrossFit.

• About the competition: Mixed teams of four will compete in workouts that combine CrossFit skills with traditional Basque Sports events like farmer’s carries and stone lifts.

🥇🎟️ Week 1 of the 2024 CrossFit Games Semifinals is done and dusted in Europe and Asia. In case you missed the action, get caught up with event-by-event results and overall leaderboards for Asia and Europe.

🏳️‍🌈💛 Reebok Unveils “Unity by Reebok” for 2024 Pride: The collection, according to Reebok, “features expressive and colorful graphics inspired by the traditional tie-dyed garments seen within Pride parades across the globe, plus apparel featuring the collection’s mantra: ‘For Anybody and Everybody.’”

• Check out the full line and grab some new kicks and other gear as Reebok also pledged to donate $10,000 to The Boston Alliance of LGBTQ+ Youth (BAGLY)!

🤬🤔“Who the F*** is Victor Hoffer?: That’s what the European potential Games rookie titled the first video of his new YouTube series, the “Hoffer Project.” Check it out and give the French young gun a follow.

• In the video, Hoffer said: “I can see so many changes every month, like a pace I can hold [now] or some [more] weight. Just to see the little things in training; it makes me happy, and…I have a smile [on my face]. I’m proud of what I do.”

🏆 TYR Wodapalooza Drops TYR Cup Details: The team at Loud and Live is dropping more info about the inaugural event this Fall. Stay in the know below:

• With more details out in the world, the TYR Cup crew posted this hype video laying out everything you need to know. Check it out now!

• The prize purse for the event will be $250,000, broken down as follows:

  • TYR Cup Champs: $160k per team

    Runner-ups: $40k per team

    MVP: $10k - Awarded to the individual with the greatest singular positive impact on their team’s success.

    The remaining $40k will be shared across the remaining division champs.

🏋️‍♀️📋 Training Camp Semifinalists: Several prominent training camps have dropped full rosters of their Semifinal-qualifying athletes. Check out the lists now:

• Underdogs Athletics | PRVN Fitness | HWPO Training

• Brute Strength | Training Think Tank | Invictus Masters

• Mayhem Athlete | Drop us a note and we’ll add yours.

🏋️‍♀️🎓 Pit Collegiate Throwdown: Designed to help fill in what some have described as the “lost years” for athletes aging up from the Teen to the Individual division, the Pit Collegiate Throwdown offers the opportunity for athletes 18-22 to throw down against their peers.

• The online qualifier runs June 9-30, and the in-person finals will take place concurrently with the Pit Teen Throwdown from August 27-30. Learn more and get registered now!

ICYMI: Head Lifting Coach at HWPO Training, Aimee Anaya Everett, has some advice for you: Start taking your warm-ups more seriously.

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MEMBER EXCLUSIVE

Nerding Out on the 2024 CrossFit Games Semifinals: 12 Impressive Stats from Europe

Over the weekend, the 2024 CrossFit Europe Semifinal went down in Décines-Charpieu, France, with Laura Horvath and Lazar Ðukić coming out on top.

• Although there are surprises and big moves every year (and maybe this is just an example of recency bias), this year seemed to have some of the wildest swings on the leaderboard that we’ve seen over the last few seasons.

For example, seven rookies are coming out of the region (four men and three women), while 15 Games veterans failed to qualify (list below).

With that being said, let’s look at some more of the numbers that defined the weekend:

1. If Uldis Upenieks had finished Event 6 just 1.11 seconds faster, he would’ve qualified for the CrossFit Games.

• On the final leaderboard, Upenieks finished in 11th overall with 367 points, just one point behind Moritz Fiebig in 10th with 368 points. On Event 6, Upenieks finished 14th with a time of 2:59.76 for 61 points. 

If he had finished 1.11 seconds faster, he would’ve beat the 13th-place finisher, Luka Vunjak, who had a time of 2:58.87. Upenieks would have received 64 points on the event, putting him ahead of Fiebig on the final leaderboard.

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CROSSFIT SEMIFINALS

The Semifinal Spectator Experience: A Guide to North America West

Competitive CrossFit returns to Carson, CA, as the North America West Semifinal by West Coast Classic heads to Dignity Health Sports Park from May 24 to 26. The facility previously hosted seven CrossFit Games from 2010 to 2016 and was originally known as the Home Depot Center and then the StubHub Center.

If you’re heading to Carson to watch the action in person, we’ve got a rundown of the gyms, restaurants, coffee shops, and other activities in the area that you can enjoy this weekend.

Get Fit

Regenx Fitness and Nutrition – Check out their traditional class schedule, but Regenx also has some extra stuff planned around the North American West Semifinal.

• Drop-In Rates: 

  • $20 per class or open gym session

  • 5 sessions for $75

  • There will be a 30-person cap for each class 

• Open Gym Schedule: 

  • Monday, Wednesday, Friday — 8:30 a.m. — 11:30 a.m.

  • Tuesday, Thursday — 1 p.m. — 4 p.m. 

• Classes: 

  • Monday — Friday: 5 a.m., 6 a.m., 12 p.m., 4:30 p.m., 5:30 p.m., 6:30 p.m.

• Other Info: Regenx will be hosting the crew from HWPO Training the entire weekend.

  • Learn more about the up-to-date schedule. Due to these special events, the gym's usual class schedule will vary on the weekend.

• HWPO Class Times: Friday 7 a.m., Saturday 6 a.m. and 7 a.m., Sunday 6 a.m., and 7 a.m.

• TYR Sports and NOCCO will also be dropping by: TYR will have a booth set up with gear on hand, Wednesday (5/22) through Sunday (5/26). 

If you have any more questions, you can email or message them on Instagram.

HIGHLIGHTS

Celebrating a PR, hosting a fundraiser, this, that, or otherwise? Send us a tip.

• ❤️Happy anniversary to Caroline and Austin Spencer.

• Congratulations to Lucas from Valhalla CrossFit in Mexico on his first bar.

• Congratulations to Bronislaw Olenkowicz on setting the new world record on Semifinals Event 5, Snatch Ladder. He finished the event in 5:25.

• Nice work to Joamir, who competed at the WodFather event at CrossFit 817 in Fort Worth, Texas, on completing the clean ladder.

• 🏆Congratulations to the winner of the Asia Semifinal, Ivan Kukartsev, who is headed to the CrossFit Games as a rookie.