Recap of the first CrossFit games, line by line

The first day of the 2020 CrossFit Games opened on a cool, cloudy morning in Aromas, CA. It was 59 degrees when event one started and several athletes put on long sleeves, pants and hoodies. On one of the most brutal days in the history of the CrossFit Games, the last five men and women took part in five events totaling 500 points, and ended the day off with a classic and diabolical twist from Dave Castro. Here’s how the action went.

View the workouts and plan the second day on the Morning Chalk Up CrossFit Games portal.

Ranking list, end of the first day

1. Mathew Fraser – 475 | Tia-Clair Toomey – 370
2. Justin Medeiros – 255 | Haley Adams – 295
3. Noah Ohlsen – 235 | Katrin Davidsdottir – 260
4. Jeffrey Adler – 220 | Kari Pearce – 255
5. Samuel Kwant – 215 | Brooke Wells – 220

Event 1: 2007 Reload – Herrenabteilung

Event details:

• 1,500 m row
• Then 5 rounds:
• 10 bar muscles
• 7 shoulder up (235/145 lbs or 106 / 65kg)

• The first to look at Event 1: 2007 Reload were the men with all eyes on Mat Fraser, who is known to start off strong.
• Jeffrey Adler was the first rower with Noah Ohlsen and Mat Fraser just seconds behind.
• Ohlsen hit the rig first for the first round of bar muscles, but Fraser opened up a head start on the first set of push jerks and did 4 reps before anyone else made it to their dumbbells.
• Fraser opened up a considerable lead after the first lap and increased it to 30.5 seconds at the beginning of the fifth lap.
• Rookie Justin Medeiros was the only athlete who put pressure on Fraser, who appeared calm and serene, taking measured muscle breaks on the fourth and fifth laps.
• One notable misstep: Fraser held all of his push-jerk rounds unbroken until the fifth when he failed his seventh and final rep, and while Medeiros was unable to capitalize, he closed Fraser’s lead to just 8 seconds.
• Fraser finished the event in 13: 07.02, connecting the winning time of 2007 and beating Aja Barto’s time of 2013.
• Ohlsen, who seemed to be coming out of the gates a little too hot, struggled with the barbell and finally finished fifth, almost three minutes behind Adler, who was fourth.

Event 1: 2007 Reload – Women’s Department

• Nineteen-year-old Haley Adams was the first rower at 5:42.6 with Tia-Clair Toomey right behind her.
• Toomey moved smoothly on the pull-up bar and was the first on her barbell. After the first round she had opened a seven reps lead over Adams.
• Toomey ran through all five rounds unbroken until, like her training partner Fraser, she received no repetitions on her last push. She crossed the finish line at 12:47.98 p.m. and took her 16th career event victory. Adams finished second at 1:17.79 p.m., her highest event finish to date.
• Davidsdottir, who went through most of the event last, overtook Brooke Wells on the final lap of the push idiots.

Event 2: Corn Sack Sprint, Herren Division

Event details:

• For the time:
• 320 m mountain sprint with a corn sack (50/30 lbs or 22.6 / 13.6 kg)
• Time limit: 8 minutes

• After the first climb and the flat stretch, Fraser made a move and took the lead on the second climb.
• Fraser took a direct line as the pace slowed to a shuffle. When they crossed the mark for the Hill Sprint finish line in 2009, Kwant put pressure on the leader.
• Fraser crossed the finish line with 2: 51.54, Kwant finished second with 3: 07.9, 16 seconds back.
• Adler in particular slipped past Justin Medeiros at the finish line and cost the rookie 20 points. Ohlsen was third at 3:18:24 p.m.

Event 2: Corn Sack Sprint, women’s section

• Toomey took a similar move to take the lead on the second incline and hit a direct line like Fraser. Brooke Wells swung wide, adding unnecessary distance and effort.
• Haley Adams tried to find a comfortable position to carry the sack of corn and pushed it around on her shoulder and upper back. This became a concern on the final climb before the finish line when she dropped the bag and created a jam that prevented either Pearce or Wells from getting past her. She carried the bag over the line at her waist.
• Toomey was second 3: 05.55, Katrin Davidsdottir 8 seconds after the leader 3: 13.18. This was Toomey’s 17th career event win that put her second on the all-time event winners list after Rich Froning.
• Adams, Pearce, and Wells all finished in that order, 4 seconds apart. 30 seconds separated the first and fifth place.

Event 3: The CrossFit Total, Herrenabteilung

Event details:

• For the total load:
• 1-rep-max squats
• 1-rep-max Schulterdrücken
• Deadlift for a maximum of 1 repetition

• The athletes worked in order from fifth to first, which gave Fraser the advantage of his placement. He could watch everyone lifting and then adjusting their weights accordingly.
• Each athlete had 2 lifts, one with a rack for the rear squat and press and a separate one for the deadlift.
• Starting with the back squat, Fraser positioned himself well, recording a lift of 492, 12 pounds more than Justin Medeiros, who hit 480 and 22 pounds more than Adler, who hit 470. Kwant finished with a squat of 460, Ohlsen hit 455.
• It was a similar result in the press, Fraser took advantage of the last lift to card the highest weight at 210 pounds, 3 more than Kwant and Adler, who finished second at 207. Ohlsen finished the race at 205 while Medeiros lifted 175.
• Fraser was at the top of the deadlift with a total of 702, his closest competitor was Adler with 677. However, Adler PR deadlifted twice and ended with a lift of 567, earning him the event win and 1,244 total. Ohlsen hit 540, Medeiros hit 437 on his second lift and missed his last, Fraser carded 535 and Kwant, who also missed his last try, finished on 529. Fraser finished second in the event with a total of 1237, 7 pounds behind Adler.
• With a total of 45 lifts, the men only missed 4.

Event 3: The CrossFit Total, women’s section

• The women hit the lifts for the rear crouch, and Tia-Clair Toomey enjoyed the same advantage as Fraser on the men’s side. Brooke Wells and Toomey seemed ready for another battle similar to the one they had in 2018.
• Toomey struck first, listing the heaviest squat at 335 pounds, followed by Wells at 315, Pearce at 272, Davidsdottir at 269, and Adams at 260.
• Kari Pearce took the press with an impressive lift of 157 pounds, 2 pounds more than her 2018 press, followed by Toomey at 140 and Wells, who missed their second attempt at 137. Davidsdottir raised 137 and Adams raised 127.
• Toomey deadlifted with a total of 475 in the lead, Wells was 23 pounds back at 452. Wells, the best deadlift on the field, carded a lift of 432 but it wasn’t enough to overtake Toomey who lifted 415 in the end , Toomey’s total of 890 displaced Wells by 6 pounds. It was Toomey’s fourth consecutive event win at the 2020 Games (between the first and second stages).

Event 4: The Handstand Sprint, Men’s Division

Event details:

• For the time:
• 100 yard handstand on foot

• The second event at the Morgan Hill Soccer Complex on the first day included a 100 yard handstand walk. For comparison, the 2016 Games tested the walking speed of the handstand with a sprint of 280 feet. This year’s event was 20 feet longer.
• The men came first, and Justin Medeiros surprised everyone with the unorthodox strategy of coming down at almost every 5 yard mark and stepping back into his handstand.
• Mat Fraser won the event with a time of 1: 20.85. Medeiros finished second, just 6 seconds back at 1: 26.19. Ohlsen took third place with 1: 39.45, Kwant fourth with 1: 43.77. Adler rounded off the heat with 1: 54.39.
• This was Fraser’s 22-year career event win at the CrossFit Games.

Event 4: The handstand sprint, women’s section

• The Frauenfeld shows very talented athletes. Brooke Wells took the event victory in a time of 1: 21.22 after falling twice during the event. Kari Pearce finished second at 1:23:32 p.m. and Haley Adams finished third at 1:24:25 p.m. Both remained unbroken.
• Toomey finished fifth in her worst event of the day. Katrin Davidsdottir, the winner of the Handstand Walking Event in 2016 and the Handstand Hold in the first leg of the 2020 Games, finished fourth with a time of 1:40 p.m.

Event 5: The Ranch Loop, beide Divisionen

Event details:

• For the time:
• Run a 3 ++ course through varied terrain

• All ten athletes took part in one run in the last event of the day. Commentators on the live stream, dubbed a “3 mile +/- run,” teased a “twist” that the athletes would learn at the same time as the audience.
• Mat Fraser and Justin Medeiros took off at a breakneck pace, challenged each other and flipped the lead.
• In the women’s race, Tia-Clair Toomey and Haley Adams took the lead early on, with the teen challenging the three-time games champion.
• After 25 minutes of tough run in rough terrain, Fraser and Madeiros made it to the finish line to learn from Sporting Director Dave Castro that they were actually only halfway through and had to turn around and finish the entire course in reverse order.
• Toomey and Adams took the lead at just under 29 minutes. Davidsdottir, halfway third, was unaffected by the turn, took advantage of it and finished first in the back half of the event.
• Fraser opened a big lead in the last few hundred yards while Medeiros fell back. The couple finished first (Fraser, 57: 47.45) and second (Medeiros, 58: 17.48). Ohlsen came third, followed by Adler and Kwant.
• Davidsdottir won the women with a time of 1: 00: 53.98. Adams finished second at 1:02:16:23 PM, followed by Toomey and Pearce. Wells ended up at the back of the field after getting lost in the first half of the race.