The Names and Numbers Behind the Games

By Mike Warkentin

July 07, 2009

Mike Warkentin uncovers some of the interesting stories behind the CrossFit Games regional qualifiers and the athletes they produced.

Elite CrossFit athletes from around the world are now gathering in Aromas, California, site of this weekend’s CrossFit Games. As the excitement mounts, let’s take look back at the regional qualifiers.

The results are all online—every rep, every second, every pound. In the end, 61 WODs at 19 regional qualifiers produced 137 athletes, plus 11 who qualified on their past performances. The vital stats and PRs of these elite athletes can be found online on the 2009 CrossFit Games website.

But names and numbers don’t always tell the whole story....

Is OPT’s brother competing in Aromas?

Which woman can deadlift more than some of the men?

How did technical difficulties almost keep Linda Leipper out of the Games?

Which tunes will Chris Spealler be listening to on his signature headphones this year?

What did Peter Egyed do between Last Chance Qualifier WODs?

With the 2009 Games only days away, find out more about the athletes who will be competing for the overall title.

Free Download

Comment

Salo, Wagner Win 2009 CrossFit Games

By Mike Warkentin

Centers of Excellence—Part 2

By Mike Warkentin

Mike Warkentin reports that a Finnish firefighter and a Pennsylvania phys. ed. teacher are the Fittest Man and Fittest Woman in the world.

Mikko Salo and Tanya Wagner are the 2009… Continue Reading

Athletes from CrossFit Calgary and CrossFit Central did extremely well at the 2009 CrossFit Games. In Part 2 of this two-part series, Mike Warkentin talks to Jeremy Thiel and Mike Gregory… Continue Reading

Centers of Excellence—Part 1

By Mike Warkentin

On the Shoulders of Giants

By Mike Warkentin

Athletes from CrossFit Calgary and CrossFit Central did extremely well at the 2009 CrossFit Games. In Part 1 of this two-part series, Mike Warkentin talks to James (OPT… Continue Reading

A look below the top of the podium at the CrossFit Games.

Rich Froning was high-fiving volunteers on the evening of July 26.

It had been one of the longer days of competition, with… Continue Reading

11 Comments on “The Names and Numbers Behind the Games ”

wrote …

Am I the only one having trouble downloading the PDF article for this one? I've tried a couple times throughout the day to no avail.

Alicia Anthony Anthony wrote …

I can't get it to work either. I see the first page but then can't go to any other pages :(

Rob Barrese wrote …

A big hats off to Mariah Provost for challenging her husband. The stats were all impressive but her's really stuck out. Great job!

wrote …

I love the PDF files because it gives great reading material for the "business office".

wrote …

Is there video somewhere of Chris Spealler doing 106 pullups?

wrote …

I can't get to the pdf either - message says it is damaged and cannot be retrieved.

Ron Wilhelm replied to comment from Sean Dunston…

Download links are only good for one hour on premium articles/videos. If you get an error directly opening a file, trying reloading the page and re-downloading.

wrote …

This particular PDF file has never opened on my Firefox browser (multiple attempts, different days, clearing cache, etc.) but easily does so on Internet Explorer. Sounds like a bug to me.

wrote …

Cannot open PDF. I've tried several times over the last few days, and I've tried it on 2 PCs. I can open all other PDFs, so I'm confident that the issue is not my PC. The error I'm getting has to do with a strange font that's being used. Can CF please investigate?

wrote …

Incredible event to watch - nice summary by Mike! The performance by these athletes ... just amazing. The Games this year were a blast to watch. Can't wait to see where this thing goes.

Christopher Haley wrote …

New to Crossfit, This looks great, cant wait to implement some of these new exercises.