Tia and Loewen Go Head-to-Head in 24.3

Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up.

In today’s edition:

• Week 5 of The Open Report with Mike Halpin from Known and Knowable drops today. Halpin not only provides a weekly update on current 2024 Open registration numbers but also digs into the history of Quarterfinals and what it might take to qualify this year

• Get to know HWPO Australian athlete, Jake Douglas

• Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr and Arielle Loewen will go head-to-head and take on 24.3 in just a few weeks. Get our predictions now

Editor's Note: The Morning Chalk Up has moved its content to BarBend, which you can find here going forward. We have also moved our newsletter to a new mailing platform. Please bear with us through the transition and know that some things will look different temporarily, but rest assured, we're still here to deliver all the best news and highlights from the sport and community of CrossFit.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“This season is all about making myself proud and leaving no stone unturned.” - Jake Douglas on his plans for the 2024 CrossFit Games season

CROSSFIT OPEN

The Open Report: Week 5 

Days until the 2024 CrossFit Open: 7
(Register for the Open now)

Qualifying for Quarterfinals

For most of us, the Open is the beginning, middle, and end of our CrossFit competition season. 

Outside of a local comp, it’s a worldwide annual check-up to see what our fitness looks like, possibly see how our New Year's resolutions are paying off, or what we need to work on from March to February to prepare for next season.

For the top 10%, the fun doesn’t have to end after 3 weeks, you can go on to Quarterfinals. 

Wait, it's 25%?!

Remind me: From 2011-2020 the Open consisted of 5-6 workouts over 5-6 weeks (only the first year, 2011, had 6 weeks). From 2011-2018, the Open would qualify athletes into a live competition, Regionals or Super Regionals, and then on to the Games. 

For the sake of clarity, we are going to ignore the 2019 and 2020 seasons.

Starting in 2021, CrossFit removed the final two weeks from the Open and added online competition for the top 10% of the Open called Quarterfinals (QF). 

The online QF would qualify athletes for a live competition, Semifinals, and on to the Games.

• In basic terms, the season isn’t that much different from one system to the other (if we leave out the “asterisk years” of 2019 and 2020). 

CrossFit took the 5-week Open from 2012-2020, and changed that to a 3-week Open and a 1-week Quarterfinals, limiting Quarterfinals to only the top 10%.

• 2012-2020: Online Open (5 Weeks) →  In-Person Regionals →  Games

• 2021-present: Online Open (3 Weeks) →  Online Quarterfinals (1 week) →  In-Person Semifinals → Games

For the “bring back Regionals!” commenters online: I see you. Regionals still exist, they are called Semifinals, there are only 7 of them vs 17, and they are after the online portion of the season finds the top 40 of each region.

Where were we? Right… 

Now, in 2024, the Games team is expanding Quarterfinals to be a ‘Quarter’ of the field, as Dave Castro explained in his 11/13/23 Week In Review - “Quarterfinals / 25%, CrossFit for Health Summit, Chad workout.” 

• Castro goes on to explain that “widening the gate for Quarterfinals is really about more opportunity for athletes to compete that want extra testing and extra events” and that as the Games team reviewed what percentage to add, 15%?, 20%?, they landed with “Quarter-finals, why not just open it to 25%”.

So, how many is 25%?

Prepare to Wake Up (Less) Sore This Open Season

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TRY it during the Open for as little as $19 using code MCU24.

SPEED READS

The Pit Fitness Ranch, host of the 2024 Teen CrossFit Games and the Professional Fitness Athletes' Association unveiled their new mentor program for the 120 teenagers who will compete this summer.

• These CrossFit Games athletes will work with 2024 CrossFit Games teens starting in June through their championship event Aug. 29-Sept. 1 in Southwest Michigan. The mentors will guide cohorts of six to eight athletes, offering advice, movement and workout evaluations, and more.

• From Pit Coach Brock Yost: “The program will provide athletes with plenty of learning and leadership opportunities as well as the chance to lean on some pros with high-level experience in the CrossFit Games.”

• Experienced CrossFit Games athletes may apply to be mentors by contacting Adam Paulsen, 2024 Pit Crew Athlete Development Coordinator, or send them a DM and they'll provide a link to apply.

Fan Favorite and CrossFit Legend, Kara Saunders is making her return to the competition floor at the Expo Games Australia, happening in Melbourne, April 13-14.

🎟️ 🎟️ Syndicate Crown / North America East Semifinal Spectator Tickets: Want to check out the top 40 men and women, and top 30 teams in the North America East region early this summer? Spectator tickets are available now.

✍️ 💪 Need to get your L2 for affiliation? The Affiliate University will pay for your L2 when you enroll with them.

• Affiliate University is a comprehensive and results-based Business Mentorship program.⁠ They seek to help you create a thriving business and develop your coaches at the same time.

Help Katarina Fight Leukemia: The Morning Chalk Up's Julia Papworth has organized a GoFundMe campaign for her friend Maddy Curley, a former CrossFit Games team athlete. Curley's daughter, Katarina, was diagnosed with a particular form of Leukemia called "B-Cell ALL" and is undergoing heavy chemotherapy.

Working with Larger Bodies Seminar and PRVN Fitness: Athena Perez and Scaled Nation will be joining PRVN Fitness at their new headquarters in Nashville, TN to present the "Working with Larger Bodies" seminar. The event will occur on April 21, 2024, beginning at 9 AM. Register now!

ICYMI: Check out part three of Athena Perez's year-long journal, "My Hiller Challenge," and learn about how she confronted her fears, meeting her coach for the first time in person.

MEMBER EXCLUSIVE

HWPO’s Jake Douglas is “Leaving No Stone Unturned” 

As he took to the podium at last year’s Torian Pro, Australia’s Jake Douglas, with daughter Frankie in tow, beamed as he was finally granted what he’d been working so hard for, for over five years. 

With a third-place finish at the Oceania Semifinal, the 32-year-old had punched his ticket, for the very first time, to the 2023 CrossFit Games.

CROSSFIT OPEN

CrossFit Open Announcement 24.3 Head-to-Head Matchup: Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr vs Arielle Loewen

The final CrossFit Open Live Announcement athlete match-up of the year has just been revealed, and it looks like they may just have saved the best for last. 

We will be watching six-time CrossFit Games champion Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr go head-to-head against 2023 CrossFit Games bronze medalist Arielle Loewen in a battle that should set the tone for the beginning of the season.

For this matchup, we will be doing just as we have done with the 24.1 and 24.2 matchups and break down each athlete’s strengths and weaknesses, as well as our final predictions on who will come out on top.

Since we don’t yet know what the workout will be, we will provide insights on potential movement advantages based on historical data.

Let’s begin.

Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr vs Arielle Loewen

Anytime a six-time champion is competing, they are going to be heavily favored to win, and 24.3 will be no different.

After a season away from competition due to pregnancy, Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr is no doubt hungry to compete and show the world that she is still the top dog.

And, following the 2023 Rogue Invitational where she just barely finished in second place, 10 points behind 2023 Games champ Laura Horvath, Toomey-Orr is coming into the season with even more fire.

Just because all eyes will be on Toomey-Orr, doesn’t mean Arielle Loewen can’t surprise us with a victory here.

Loewen’s performance has been on an upward trend ever since her rookie year at the Games in 2021 and she is not planning to go backward anytime soon.

Many people also forget that Loewen was the fourth-place woman on the 2023 Worldwide Open leaderboard.

Although Toomey-Orr will be favored no matter which movements are involved, let’s take a look at her last three Open years to see where she performs best:

THINGS TO…

…BURN

Chris Harris' Ab Finisher

Try this ab routine to finish out your next workout, demonstrated by Games athlete Chris Harris. It's sure to leave your core on fire. 

GIVE IT A GO.

The Book on How to Train Like Tia Toomey

Take it from the Fittest Woman on Earth: The body can do incredible things. But the mind and heart determine how far you’ll go. In her new book, The Heart Is the Strongest Muscle, Tia Toomey shares how she reached elite levels by focusing on her “why”—and how you can harness this power, too.

BUILD YOUR UNSTOPPABLE MINDSET.

…TRAIN

Toe-to-Bar Progressions

Try these scales for toe-to-bar, or if you're a coach, share them with your athletes striving to link them. These progressions help with the movement, timing, and cadence of the toes-to-bar, while developing strength as well.

THE OPEN IS COMING.

…STRENGTHEN

Strict Handstand Push-Ups

Check out these tips from Jump Ship Training on how to master the strict handstand push-up. Small details can make all the difference, so make sure you're taking into account hand and elbow positioning, and head placement. Try the EMOM for added practice.

TRY IT OUT.

…TRY

Naked Nutrition Supplements

Stripped of all the marketing gimmicks and junk ingredients, Naked products use no artificial sweeteners or colors. From U.S. and Canadian farms, Naked offers some of the cleanest supplements on the market. 

GET NAKED.

HIGHLIGHTS

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

• ⭐️Congratulations to Australian weightlifter Chloe who just qualified for Junior Worlds with a 160-kilo/352-pound total. 

• Congratulations to Hadeer of RX Fitness in Egypt on the 125-pound/56-kilo snatch PR.

• Congratulations to Mantangiroa of The Movement NZ in New Zealand on the 100-kilo/220-pound clean and jerk. 

• Congratulations to Cameron on the 152 kilo/320 pound clean PR.

• 🙌Congratulations to 69-year-old Dick of CrossFit Invictus of San Diego, CA on his first bar muscle-up.