The 2020 CrossFit Games have been split into two stages following the global pandemic. The first stage, which only includes 30 individual male and female competitors, will be held online. Athletes qualified to compete in this stage are those who finished within the Top 20 worldwide in the Open and the 10 Sanctional winners of the season (the remaining 18 were cancelled).
Since it’s inception in 2007, the CrossFit Open and subsequent CrossFit Games has attracted hundreds of thousands of participants, all hopeful of being declared the fittest man or woman on the planet. After an intense Open and Regionals, the Games are finally upon us. Read on for some insight into the 2018 CrossFit Games odds.
CrossFit is a high-intensity strength and conditioning fitness regime that requires strength, stamina, power, speed, agility, balance and flexibility through varied and challenging workouts.
The CrossFit Games is composed of three stages at various points in the year, with the first stage being the Open (Feb 22 – March 26), the second stage the Regionals (May 18 – June 3), all culminating in the third and final stage being the CrossFit Games themselves (August 1 – 5).
For a full list of all the Regional workout events click here.
The Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wisconsin will host the 12th annual CrossFit Games in what is sure to be a tightly fought contest, especially in the women’s division.
The Games workout routine has not been released at the time of writing – keep an eye out for when they are as different events suit different athletes and could be the difference between winning and losing.
Athlete | Odds* |
Matthew Fraser | 1.25 |
Brent Fikowski | 11.00 |
Patrick Vellner | 16.00 |
B.K. | 16.00 |
Noah Ohlsen | 18.50 |
Ben Smith | 26.00 |
Scott Panchik | 26.00 |
Roman Khrennikov | 26.00 |
Sean Sweeney | 26.00 |
Rasmus Andersen | 36.00 |
Matthew Fraser (1.25*) is looking to secure a third successive CrossFit Games championship and with a strong second place overall showing at Regionals, finishing first in three out of the six events and is
Fraser made his debut in 2014 and managed to achieve a second-place finish. He repeated the feat the following year before finally going one step further and becoming champion in 2016 and retaining in 2017. Fraser is strong in multiple disciplines and
CrossFit is a high-intensity strength and conditioning fitness regime that requires strength, stamina, power, speed, agility, balance and flexibility through varied and challenging workouts.
Patrick Vellner (16.00*) actually finished above Fraser at Regionals despite a third-place finish being his best placing across the six events. However, as all of his placings were in the top 20, his cumulative score beat Fraser who’s first round 81st place ultimately cost him
Fellow Canadian Brent Fikowski (11.00*) achieved
You can get odds of (16.00*) for someone else from The Field to make a late surge into contention, but it’s difficult to envisage anyone denying Fraser a third successive title.
Athlete | Odds* |
Tia-Clair Toomey | 3.40 |
Katrin Davidsdottir | 3.75 |
Kara Saunders | 4.15 |
Sara Sigmundsdottir | 5.21 |
Annie Thorisdottir | 5.25 |
32.29 | |
Jamie Greene | 32.29 |
Kari Pearce | 32.29 |
Camille Leblanc-Bazinet | 32.29 |
Kristin Holte | 32.29 |
With the men’s contest appearing to be a foregone conclusion, the race to be declared the fittest woman on earth is far from predictable with five viable candidates (all from either Australia or Iceland) tussling for the top spot.
Australian Tia-Clair Toomey (3.40*) comes into the Games as defending champion and displayed positive momentum in Regionals finishing second overall and securing a first-place finish in the sixth event. Toomey came runner-up in the 2015 and 2016 Games before finally reaching top spot last year.
The Field for the women is priced a lot higher than the men’s field at 21.00* as it seems highly likely that the winner will be one of the five favourites.
Fellow Australian Kara Saunders (4.15*) is priced as Toomey’s
CrossFit Games veteran Katrin Tanja Davidsdottir (3.75*) is a two-time champion in 2015 and 2016 (the Games where Toomey finished runner-up) and will be looking to become the first ever three times women’s champion after finishing first overall at this year’s Regionals.
Davidsdottir’s compatriot Annie Thorisdottir (5.25*) is yet another two-time champion (winning back in 2011 and 2012) and will look to make history of her own after a strong
Finally, Sara Sigmundsdottir (5.21*) rounds off our quintet of possible champions with two podium finishes in her last two CrossFit Games. She did finish in a disappointing 14th position at Regionals due in part to a nightmare event three where she placed 97th – effectively ruining her chances of challenging at the top end of the table.
Sigmundsdottir will be determined to reach the top step of the podium this time around and will no doubt want to be the best Icelandic woman at the Games at the very least. The Field for the women is priced a lot higher than the men’s field at 21.00* as it seems highly likely that the winner will be one of the five aforementioned women above.
This year’s games looks set to be yet another fascinating encounter and you can get the best odds with Pinnacle.
Rich Froning Jr. competed in his debut CrossFit Games in 2010, where he
finished in second place. The following year, Reebok became the primary sponsor
of the event and inflated the winner’s purse by ten times. Froning got over the
hump, winning his first “Fittest in the World” title. He became CrossFit’s first
repeat champion in 2012, a record he continued for an additional two years,
making him a four-time champ and all-time great. Rich’s success ran parallel with the growth of the competition, having his
best performances just as Reebok was getting involved and the contest began
being televised on ESPN. That makes Froning the CrossFit world’s Magic Johnson
or Larry Bird in a way (the premier talent just as the league or sport was
starting to gain widespread recognition).