Speal finishing off the last rep of the night.

2010 CrossFit Games Finals

Individual Event 1

Muscle-ups and squat snatches kick off the event.

With a pair of F/A-18s flying over the Home Depot Center, the 2010 Games officially kicked off with a roar moments after opening ceremonies including an address by Coach Greg Glassman. The first individual event was front and center in the tennis stadium and saw athletes faced with a 9-7-5 couplet of muscle-ups and 135-lb. squat snatches.

Shortly before the event started, the athletes in the warm-up area were planning for a workout that had just been explained only moments before.

Kristan Clever, fourth place in 2009, was confident about her chances in a workout featuring two movements right in her wheelhouse.

“I’d be surprised if I did badly in this event,” she said.

The SoCal athlete was also confident that most women would be able to handle a movement that has often tripped up female competitors.

“I think the level has definitely gone up a lot,” she said. “We’ll have a few (women) that will struggle, but most the field will complete the workout.”

Jerome Perryman is one of the biggest, strongest men in the competition, and he was unsure how he felt when asked about the workout.

“Good and bad. I’m bigger. I’m pretty good at muscle-ups, but they’re not my favorite. Because I have only a small concern with muscle-ups, I just want to stay competitive with the workout.”

Once the event started seconds after the fly-over, Canada’s Camille Leblanc-Bazinet crushed a set of nine unbroken muscle-ups on her way to a 7:02 finish that was exactly four minutes faster than that of Lauren Roberts of New Zealand, who was the only other athlete to complete all the reps in the 12-minute limit. Only one man failed to finish the reps in the first heat, which was won by Joey Warren in 5:04.

Several men beat that time in Heat 2, including Ben Smith, whose 4:01 stood only one heat as the top males made short work of the event. Neal Maddox was the first one under four minutes, and his 3:46 was one second faster that Rich Froning Jr.’s 3:47.

The top women were up in the final heat, which was preceded by a moving tribute to Amanda Miller, the 2009 Games competitor who was taken by cancer on died on April 23, 2009.

When Dave Castro said “Go,” Clever annihilated the WOD in 5:08, which was faster than anyone else by 58 seconds. Several top competitors, including Annie Thorisdottir and Alicia Connors, struggled with the muscle-ups, while Carey Kepler was slowed by the snatches.

All in all, the women were challenged by the gymnastic/Oly couplet, with only 11 finishing. Those athletes are not eliminated but will be ranked according to number of reps completed.

Lindsey Smith finished ninth overall with a time of 9:54.

“I would say muscle-ups are one of my worst movements, so to finish it, I’m pretty happy with that,” she said. “For me to have that quantity of muscle-ups behind me feels pretty good.”

The men’s final heat was blazing. It was won by CrossFit legend Chris Spealler in 3:29, which was good enough for first overall by 17 seconds. He traded leads with Jason Khalipa until Khalipa blew up on the last round and was falling down on snatch reps.

Peter Egyed finished sixth overall and gamed the WOD to prevent a disaster at the end.

“I watched the previous heats blow it on the nines, so I wanted to pace myself.”

Defending CrossFit Games champion Mikko Salo finished 15th overall (5:17) and was pleased with his first Games workout since Aromas.

“I’m quite satisfied,” the Finn said. “It wasn’t the best I could do but I’m OK. It was a good start to the Games.”

He added: “I’m feeling confident.”

And indeed, the Games have just started. Day 2 of the individual competition will spread out the field as more weaknesses are exposed, and Spealler and Clever will look to solidify their leads.

Current results after 1 event:

Top Five Males
1. Chris Spealler
2. Neal Maddox
3. Rich Froning Jr.
4. Matt Chan
5. Ben Smith

Top 5 Females
1. Kristan Clever
2. Camille Leblanc-Bazinet
3. Christy Phillips
4. Stacie Tovar
5. Julie Foucher

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Leblanc-Bazinet going unbroken on the first set of muscle-ups. Clever was all smiles. Khalipa came out of the gate hot, but paid the price later in the event.
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37 comments on this entry

1. Latham wrote...

Near-bodyweight squat snatches for Chris Spealler...amazing.

2. Terry Bruce wrote...

Watch Julie Foucher!....she will be in the top 5 at the end of it all. I am surprised that nobody commented on her before the games but I am not surprised at her being in 5th place!.....

3. Jordan D wrote...

I had to miss some of the action tonight. I noticed that they aren't posted in the archived feed. Will they eventually get posted or are they done because of the technical difficulties? I'd love to see the heats I missed.

4. CB wrote...

Great day 1 action and coverage. What were the standards for the squat snatch? It seemed that many men & women had feet moving when a rep was counted.

5. AP wrote...

Is anyone else having problems watching the archived footage? I have video, but no audio. I downloaded all the required software, so I don't know what's wrong. I know the speakers work because I just watched the videos posted on the main site. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

6. D wrote...

Watch out for Pat Burke. I feel he'll make strong push Sat.

7. ranbir wrote...

Is anyone having problems with the feed on android phones? it works great with iphones but not so much with androids...

8. tj 123 wrote...

When will day 1 be available? I want to see spealler rip up that heat!

9. Jim Brikman wrote...

Spealler is simply amazing. Banging out nearly 21 bodyweight snatches in 3:29 is pretty damn impressive, let alone doing 21 muscle-ups as well. What happened to Khalipa?

@AP: I also have video but no audio. Upgraded flash to the latest, have sound in other videos, but nothing on live.crossfit.com

10. AP wrote...

Thanks Jim. At least I know I'm not alone! Hopefully it will all get sorted out Saturday.

11. Paul S. wrote...

I new I would see Rich Froning at the top of the list. Good luck on Saturday Rich.

12. Chris Saliba wrote...

Absolutely awesome. CrossFit will benifit in every way from this fantastic event. Go Aussies.

13. Tia McDougall wrote...

Chris well done you are inspiring!

14. Tracy Allen wrote...

Way to represent Canada Camille!!!

15. Latham wrote...

Yup I also have video but no audio on the archived footage.

16. Bzy wrote...

Julie Foucher is a quiet beast. I've watched her CrossFit journey since day 1 at our affiliate. I am not surprised to see her in 5th and can't wait to see what comes next.

17. nick@williamsinternational.com.au wrote...

massive respect to chris spealler for killing that WOD. Kristan Clever too.

the new guys Maddox & Froning are looking good. Can Mikko come back?

18. 2POOD.com wrote...

Awesome first day of competition. Hats off to the CF team on delivering on the much anticipated broadcast. The announcers (we really like the guy from CF radio) are solid and the technology is really cool. Huge thumbs up on the programming so far. WOD 1 was a humbling and unforgiving WOD...we cannot wait to try it today! Go Rich!

19. inez wrote...

Kristan Clever you ROCK!!!!!

20. Nate wrote...

Speal and Clever were amazing, my wife and I had to stay up until midnight to get that last heat in! Khalipa looked almost "punch drunk" on his last set of snatches, but like Justin said, he likes to come from behind!

21. CFRK wrote...

Jim - Khalipa was doing great and was in the lead for a bit, but he struggled toward the end and it took him a long time to get his final rep of both movements. He was probably a little too pumped up and went out too fast, even for a stud like him.

22. Dustin wrote...

gooooo Ben Smith!!!! Kid is only but 20 years old and a total animal.

23. Joseph Cucuzza wrote...

My two cents .Hind sight is 20/20 but I feel programing 5/3/2 In the muscle ups would have been more realistic for the ladies. In gymnastics the rings are a male event.for a reason. The snatch weights were scaled ,why not the muscle ups? It would not have changed the outcome,but would have been more exciting to watch.That said hats of to Kistan and the rest of the girls Awsome efforts all ! Neal Maddox Rich Froning areBeasts !Last heat was increadable Speal vrs Khalipa had me screaming at the computer screen @ 12:30 am eastern time! Of course in retrospect some level of pacing would have better served Jason , however that effort was freakin scarry! Love this guy, truly the heart of a lion. Congrats to Speal !

24. Mike F wrote...

Joseph,

Because there was no penalty for DNFing the workout, the scaling doesn't come into play. They are still in the hunt.

25. Deborah wrote...

Is a webmaster checking these comments? Just wondering if the audio will be up and running on the archived feeds any time soon. As well, if we'll get to see the feeds from last night. I'm on Canada's east coast so was only able to get the first two heats. Was hoping to watch it this morning before today's events got started. Great job athletes!!

26. RIchard wrote...

Same here. No sound on the archive files. Had sound on the live streaming... Wierd :(

27. Patrick wrote...

Watch for Erik Szakaly to rebound today. He's a strong kid and will go for redemption today.

28. Tonya K wrote...

We are proud of you Christy and all of us at District CrossFit are pulling for you!

29. Bob R wrote...

Kris is amazing and so is Beca! Working out with them several times a week is a privilege and I'm not surprised at the results! Go Kris and Beca!

30. bill c. wrote...

looking good chanman!

31. mk wrote...

i don't even see where you can view the archived video... can someone please post a link?

32. mk wrote...

ah, i found it... callout beneath the video window. sorry.

33. dp wrote...

mk,

where is the link to the videos?

34. Michael wrote...

Way to represent for the little guys Speal!!! Keep kicking ass

35. Corina wrote...

You need the latest version of Android 2.2 in order to play it on your phone, and if you have the Droid, it isn't available until the end of the month/aug. Go Graham Holmberg! A great start last night!

36. Tommy Phillips wrote...

trying to find out how my son is doing - Brandon Phillips - can you give me an update. We are in Georgia.

37. andrew Stemler wrote...

inspirational.

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