What a weekend! The placings below don't come near to describing the experience we were lucky enough to be a part of. We have uncovered three incredible athletes that will represent the European region at the Crossfit Games in Aromas, California this July. That was the primary goal and no doubt we were successful here.
Mikko Salo is a professional fire fighter and rescue diver with Pori Fire Department. After winning the "Heavy Helen" event in a blistering 7:49 Mikko went on to dominate the remaining events with a controlled and crisp performance. Mikko was joined by fellow fire fighter Juha Kangasniemi who had planned to support Mikko but decided on Friday that he would take part. Juha tied for 4th place after a consistently strong performance in all three workouts.
Brian Bowen serves in the US Air Force and is a head Trainer at Crossfit Ramstein in Germany. Brian was consistently strong across all events with a particularly impressive performance in the clean and jerk/ HSPU workout. The boy has some serious pressing power!! Brian took second place overall. The US presence was swelled by fellow Ramstein competitors Kari Kundert and PJ Menagh and a lively cheer squad that had enough volume and enthusiasm for all competitors, Air Force blue or not.
Completing the European trio was Manchester student Jamie Crichton. Under the tutelage of Karl and Mark at Crossfit Manchester and Dom and Simon at Crossfit Central Manchester Jamie has developed athletic capacity that surprised even himself. Jamie completed the last HSPU rep with only seconds to spare. By finishing the WOD he did what a number of other athletes couldn't manage. This effort combined with strong performances in the other two earnt him third place.
Although the field of athletes was only small the quality was extremely high. Three challenging workouts probed each athlete's fitness looking for weakness. Some facets of fitness were found wanting but there was no such lack of passion, commitment or sportsmanship.
Approaching the end of any workout it was hard to believe that there were less than 80 people in the building. The Crossfit Northern Ireland facilty seemed to be bursting at the seams. The first time most of the athletes, volunteers and supporters had met but I have seen no finer example of Crossfit community than this weekend's event.
A final thank you must go to Jonny and Helz, owners of Crossfit Northern Ireland, and their crew whose hospitality and hard work helped to ensure the success of this event. Aided by a crew of volunteers who had travelled from across the region no detail was left unattended.
Hope to see all my new friends and a whole bunch more at the Euro Qualifier next year!
Workout 1:
3 rounds for time,
400m run
21 Kettlebell Swings (m:32kg, w:20kg)
12 Chest-to-Bar Pull-Ups
Results - Workout 1
1. Mikko Salo (Time: 7:49)
2. James Crichton
3. Will Walshe
4. Brian Bowen
5. Juha Kangasniemi
6. Adam Shackell
7. Jami Tikkanen
8. Richard Vanmeerbeek
9. Scott Jenkins
10. Simon Jones
1. Kari Kundert
Workout 2:
15-12-9 reps for time,
Clean & Jerk (overhead anyhow) - m:60kg, w:40kg
Handstand Push-Ups
Results - Workout 2
1. Mikko Salo (Time: 8.14)
2. Brian Bowen
3. Jami Tikkanen
4. Juha Kangasniemi
5. Scott Jenkins
6. James Crichton
7. Adam Shackell
Overall Scores after Day 1
Mikko Salo - 20 points
Brian Bowen - 16 points
James Crichton - 14 points
Juha Kangasniemi - 13 points
Jami Tikkanen - 12 points
Adam Shacknell - 9 points
Scott Jenkins - 8 points
Will Walshe - 8 points
Richard Vanmeerbeek - 3 points
Simon Jones - 1 point
Workout 3:
As Many Rounds As Possible in 20 mins of:
250m row
10 Burpees (8ft target)
10 Ring Dips (shoulder below elbow)
Results - Workout 3
1. Mikko Salo - 10 rounds
2. Brian Bowen
3. James Crichton
4. Adam Shackell
5. Scott Jenkins
6. Will Walshe
7. Simon Jones
8. Juha Kangasniemi
9. Jami Tikkanen
10. Fergus Lally
11. Richard Vanmeerbeek
12. PJ Menagh
Final Scores After Day 2
1. Mikko Salo - 30 points
2. Brian Bowen - 25 points
3. James Crichton - 22 points
4. Juha Kangasniemi - 16 points
4. Adam Shackell - 16 points
5. Scott Jenkins - 14 points
5. Jami Tikkanen - 14 points
6. Will Walshe - 13 points
7. Simon Jones - 8 points
8. Richard Vanmeerbeek - 3 points
9. Fergus Lally - 1 point
10. PJ Menagh - nil point
What a brilliant weekend! Great atmosphere, great competitors, judges, support and crew. The top 3 will do Europe proud at the CF Games. No disrespect to anyone else, but the degree to which Mikko dominated each event indicates that he really is one to watch in the US. He's probably coming in under the radar and I cannot WAIT to see how he does. He's part-cyborg!
Well done to absolutely everyone who took part. It was a real pleasure to see every single one of you perform. The effort and ability was humbling but I left feeling inspired. In '09, I took part in the spectators' WOD. In '10 I'd love to compete myself! Now, if I could just crack those elusive "Zone, sleep, train hard, compete with devilish intensity" elements, I might be in with a chance.... ;)
GOOD LUCK GUYS!
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