CrossFit Games 2021: Day one leader board dominated by Tia-Clair Toomey, on course for fifth straight title
- Tia-Clair Toomey wins three events, cruising comfortably into a lead that is reminiscent of her domination in 2020
- Brent Fikowski of Canada leads the men, followed by American Justin Medeiros and Finland’s Jonne Koski
Tia-Clair Toomey has stormed into a commanding lead at the CrossFit Games 2021, and it feels like déjà vu, given the Australian athlete has won the past four editions.
In 2020, she was so far ahead of second place that she was out of sight with a day to spare. If Toomey continues as she has done on day one of 2021, it would be a repeat of her utter domination.
The opening event was a one-mile (1.6km) swim with fins and a three-mile kayak. Toomey was forced to work hard, competing near neck-and-neck with Kristi Eramo O’Connell of the USA and ultimately they finished within 10 seconds of each other, with Toomey in the lead. Emma Tall finished third.
It was during event two where Toomey really began to show her class. The athletes were faced with a 126-foot sledge drag, five flips of a huge “pig”, which is a fridge shaped weight. They then had to do 12 muscle ups on rings, 24 bar muscle ups, 12 more on the rings, then back to the pig and finished with the sledge drag again.
Toomey was so far ahead, she was able to coast, stop and rest on the final sledge drag, and still win the event by over a minute. Emma McQuaid of Ireland and Laura Horvath of Hungry came second and third, respectively.
The third event of the day was a 460m sprint. Toomey took the honours again but was made to work for another victory. She beat Brooke Wells of the USA by 0.26 of a second. Haley Adams finished in third.