The 2016 CrossFit Open came to an end, as athletes all over the world submitted their scores for 16.5 before the cut-off deadline at 5 p.m. PT. Speaking of 16.5, Castro surprised us yet again by announcing that it was going to be a repeat workout—which of course meant that we would be repeating a movement we had already performed in one of the previous four workouts. As it turned out, that movement was burpees (performed during 16.1), as our collective souls dropped when those of us who had performed 14.5 in 2014 knew what was in store for us. We could only grin and shake our heads at those poor souls who were about to get a taste of one of the toughest, if not the toughest workouts in Open history.
Josh Bridges posted the fastest time for the men worldwide with a score of 07:15, while Jamie Greene took the honors for the women at 07:23.
16.5 Top 3
MEN
1. Josh Bridges (07:15)
2. Mitch Wagner (07:32)
3. Ricky Moore (07:37)
Contents
WOMEN
1. Jamie Greene (07:23)
2. Sam Briggs (07:36)
3. Kristina Holte (07:41)
With the conclusion of 16.5, we now know who’s finished atop the leaderboard for the Individual Men and Women for the 2016 Open:
2016 Open Top 3
MEN
1. Noah Ohlsen (41)
2. Rich Froning (85)
3. Travis Mayer (87)
WOMEN
1. Jamie Greene (24)
2. Sam Briggs (30)
3. Kara Webb (48)
These are the first Open victories for both Ohlsen and Greene, but they are two vastly different competitors. Ohlsen, 24, had three top-5 finishes in the competition, and is a two-time CrossFit Games competitor who competes out of Peak 360 CrossFit in Miami, Florida.
Jamie Greene, 24, also had three top-5 finishes (never finishing lower than 11th). A New Zealander, Greene competed at the Australia Regional in 2014, finishing 21st. She’s now a trainer at CrossFit Yas in Abu Dhabi, and was a member of the CrossFit Yas team that finished 2nd at the Meridian Regional, but was later disqualified after it was a discovered that a teammate had moved to Abu Dhabi after the January 1st, 2015 cutoff. Despite her victory in the Open this year, she still intends to compete on the CrossFit Yas team again in 2016.
Looking at the rest of the leaderboard
How did the rest of the podium finishers from the 2015 CrossFit Games fare in the Open?
Katrin Davidsdottir (1st at the Games): 14th worldwide
Tia-Clair Toomey (2nd at the Games): 82nd worldwide
Sara Sigmundsdottir (3rd at the Games): 4th worldwide
Ben Smith (1st at the Games): 66th worldwide
Mat Fraser (2nd at the Games): 7th worldwide
Bjorgvin Karl Gudmundsson (3rd at the Games): 9th worldwide
It’s also interesting to note that veteran Games competitor Julie Foucher finished 10th in her region for the Open (Central East), which gives her a qualification birth for Regionals. Yet Foucher famously declared that 2015 would be her last competitive season as a CrossFit athlete before she tore her Achilles at Regionals. Foucher is training to become a doctor, but will her placing in the Open convince her to give the Games one last shot?
Other outstanding performances in the Open include those of Bill Grundler in the Masters 45-49 Division, who had three 2nd place finishes, a 3rd place finish and a 1st place victory. Cheryl Brost, in the same Division for the Women, racked up two workout victories and three 2nd place finishes. We should also be in awe of all the adaptive athletes who competed in the Open this year, including those who modified 16.5 and absolutely crushed it:
What’s next?
The Regionals, that’s what! Regionals are the proving grounds for each region’s fittest Men, Women, and Teams. Keep in mind that the number of athletes and teams to advance from the Open to regionals varies from region to region.
20 men, 20 women and 15 teams will advance from regions in the U.S. and Canada.
30 men, 30 women and 20 teams will advance from Europe and Australia.
10 men, 10 women and 10 teams will advance from Latin America, Asia and Africa.
Only the top five in each division from the Regionals will be invited to compete at the CrossFit Games in July.
May 13 – 15
Pacific Regional (Wollongong, Australia)
South Regional (Dallas, Texas)
California Regional (Del Mar, California)
May 20 – 22
West Regional (Portland, Oregon)
Atlantic Regional (Atlanta, Georgia)
May 27 – 29
Meridian Regional (Madrid, Spain)
East Regional (Albany, New York)*
Central Regional (Columbus, Ohio)
Jamie Greene photo courtesy of Vogue Fitness
