14.4 is history, and fittingly, the reigning fittest man and woman on earth earned the top scores. Samantha Briggs hit 256 reps, whilst Rich Froning managed an incredible 277 reps. But Briggs’ and Froning’s victories were appropriate for another reason as well. Ahead of the live announcement of 14.4 last week, the CrossFit Games site posted an article announcing that tickets were on sale for the live announcement of 14.5 at the Kezar Pavilion in San Francisco, CA. Sounds inconspicuous enough, right?
Well, accompanying that article was the news (later confirmed by Castro after the live showing of 14.4) that 5 champions of the CrossFit Games (past and present) would be competing at the live showdown for 14.5!
“Three-time CrossFit Games champion Rich Froning Jr. (2011, 2012, 2013) will take on Jason Khalipa (2008) and Graham Holmberg (2010), and reigning champion Samantha Briggs (2013) will face her predecessor, two-time champion Annie Thorisdottir (2011, 2012)” -CrossFit Games Site
This will be a unique and fresh finale to the 2014 Open season. Never before have we seen 5 athletes, all of them champions of the CrossFit Games, go head-to-head. When you add in the venue for 14.5 (a 4,000 seat venue in the Golden Gate park), it stands to reason that Dave Castro will have something special up his sleeve for the final workout of the Open. If trying to anticipate the previous four workouts wasn’t hard enough, will anyone be remotely on point with 14.5? Five athletes, all in the same space—will there be a lack of equipment and a focus on bodyweight movements? Or will Castro surprise us and present another couplet, a triplet or (gasp) another chipper?
Whatever it may be, 14.5 should be a brilliant spectacle that is symbolic of how far our sport and community has come, and where we still may go.
