What to expect from the Dubai CrossFit Championship
As with several events in global sport. The Coronavirus pandemic cancelled our annual trip to Dubai last year forcing us to miss out an early viewing of that year’s elite standard, and forcing the athletes to miss out on one of the biggest paydays of the year. With CrossFit royalty including Mat Fraser, Brent Fikowski and Sara Sigmundsdóttir taking the crown in years gone by, here’s what you can expect to see between the 16thand 18th of December.
Ricky Gerrard will return with a vengeance
In 2017 a relatively unknown rookie, Ricky Garard, made a statement for himself finishing in third place while putting himself on notice to Brent Fikowski and Mat Fraser ahead of him. However, in the months that preceded the competition, Garard was band from all CrossFit sanctioned competitions for 4 years following a positive test of anabolic agents. As a result of this Garard also lost his Third-place medal to Pat Vellner along with his event wins in the Cyclocross and the Madison Triplet. The 2021 Dubai CrossFit Championship will be his first event back.
Regardless of his actions off the competition floor. In 2017 Garard proved that he will become a real threat in the future and eventually become a name we all associate amongst the top individuals. He attacked every event with no sense of fear or hesitancy. If he could show a sufficient display a well-rounded athlete at 23 years old, he should be near untouchable at 27. Expect Ricky Garard to put his name back on the map.
No Swimming but a Ski Resort?
Recently organisers of the Championship announced via social media that we will not see any swimming event at the competition. An event that has been a feature in every year prior. In recent years the safety of the athletes has been raised as a concern as they were often met with large and frequent waves on the Dubai beach. As an alternative to this, organisers have also announced that one event will take place at Ski Dubai, the indoor Ski-Slope located in the Mall of the Emirates. Although we do not know what this event will involve at this time.
A three-horse race on both sides?
Jeffrey Adler is a man often overshadowed by his fellow Canadians and serial podium finishers Brent Fikowski and Patrick Vellner. But the man has a very good record himself. To go with a win in the 2021 CrossFit Open and a best CrossFit Games finish of 5th, Adler came third in the Rogue invitational just a mere couple of weeks ago. With this amazing early season form already under his belt, Adler will go to Dubai with huge confidence of getting the win with the added bonus of the two gentlemen that place above him (Justin Medeiros and Patrick Vellner) not competing. As previously stated, Ricky Garard will look to take full advantage of the industries full attention once again being laid upon him. The combination of his confidence and raw ability to put in the work when it matters makes him a clear front runner as he appears not to be the type of individual to get flustered by the occasion. The difference between himself and Adler lay primarily on of he can match Adler’s strength in the Olympic lifts and if Adler can follow Garard on the runs.
Roman Khrennikov is an individual with an incredible record outside the USA and in the Open. However, Visa issues associated with getting into the States have always prevented him from showcasing his talent at the CrossFit Games. He has the blend of weightlifting to running ability and should be a cause for everyone on the competition floor.
Sara Sigmundsdottir is arguably the best female in the history of the sport not to win the CrossFit Games which speaks volumes about the dominance of Tia-Clair Toomey. After disappointing performances in 2019 and 2020, Sigmundsdottir missed the 2021 season through injury but will return to Dubai as a previous winner (2019) with the intention of making a statement. With victories all around the world and knowledge of being a huge fan favourite, Sigmundsdottir will look to reignite her career with glory and a dominant performance in the process. Laura Horvath continues to progress as an athlete and improve areas of her game that had previously prevented her from glory. Still at a young age for the sport, Horvath is always around the leaders of any competition, and we shouldn’t expect Dubai to be any different. Gabriele Migala is an individual who went relatively unknown for a fair amount of time before a strong effort at the 2021 games. This was backed up by an incredible 3rd place at the Rogue invitational against an athlete field packed with the worlds best. We can surely expect Migala to take her form and confidence from her recent efforts into another huge effort at the last competition of the year.