Page 43 - RADC Bulletin 2018

judging the team handstand walks. Pretty straight forward - if they fall over or don’t pass the line it’s a ‘no rep’. After this it was straight onto the ‘worm’ clean and press. Team communication is key with this, all team members needed to be in sync and on point. The first two teams were not great, the third was amazing - well drilled, they all knew exactly what they needed to do.
I had some time off after this and wanted to take a look at the athlete area. I managed to inveigle one of the security team to let
me into the competitors warm up area. The place was quiet, mostly due to athletes warming up while wearing their oversized headphones to block everyone else out. This is in complete contrast to the arena where the crowd whoop, chant and cheer the competitors. The day continued with some spotting from the side. There are always secondary judges on the side-lines in case there is an error or an athlete wants to check something. Last event for me was the women’s deadlift. I’m pretty sure I’d struggle with this weight, however the competitors threw it around with very little effort. At 20:30 we were free for the night, and I went straight to the hotel and straight to bed.
DAY 2:
Almost as soon as I’d closed my eyes, my alarm went off and the same routine ensued, taxi at 05:30, brief at 06:00. It was a lighter day ahead for us. Judging consisted of
team deadlifts, spotting, two heats of the
men’s individual event 3 and two heats
of the women’s individual event 4. The team deadlifts were both male and female competitors paired up to deadlift a 200kg barbell.
Event 3 for the men consisted of 9 muscle ups, handstand walking over 2 obstacles, 36 single leg squats, handstand walk back, 9 muscle ups, hand stand walk, 45 single leg squats, handstand walk, 9 muscle ups, handstand walk and, finally, 54 single leg squats just to make sure their legs were completely burnt out. All this and they were only given 13 minutes to complete it.
Event 4 for the women consisted of two rounds of 10 snatches (with 56kgs) followed by 12 over the bar burpees and then two rounds of 10 snatches (with 35kgs) followed by another set of 12 burpees. With only 9 minutes to complete the workout they had to go full on right from the start.
At the end of day 2 you could tell the athletes were getting very tired. The number of ‘no reps’ were increasing even though the movement standards were straight forward. When the competition had finished for the day, at about 18:30, I headed up to the shop area. The mission was to get as many free t-shirts as possible. I managed 3! That, twinned with the free shoes you get given as a judge, meant I’d done quite well.
DAY 3:
This was the shortest day. All competition needed to be finalised by 15:30 for the
awards to be presented at 16:00.
I was down to judge the team Olympic
lifting, and both a male and female event 5 heat. The morning ran very smoothly indeed. Event 5 for both the men and women was: 50 handstand push ups, 50 toes to bar, 50 calories on an air bike, 50 box walk overs (males held 32.5kgs DB’s, women held 22.5kgs DB’s), 50ft right arm overhead lunge and 50ft left arm overhead lunge both with the same DB’s. We finished up the morning with a team brief.
Boz had asked the team captains to select the judges they felt had been the most consistent over the weekend. To
my amazement I had been picked. The amazement quickly turned to dread when
I realised that these were the final heats. These were the heats that decide, with fine margins, which athletes go to the Games.
Thankfully, with no time to spare we were whisked away to the judges holding area
- my stomach was churning, my mouth was dry! Here we go, the final 6 heats. The workout was: 4 rope climbs, 16 thrusters (men had 70kgs, women had 48kgs), 3 rope climbs, 12 thrusters, 2 rope climbs, 8 thrusters. 7 minute time cap.
With 2 men’s heats and 1 women’s heat completed we took our positions for the 4th heat. With a boom, everything fell silent in the arena. The Caja Magica had lost power. Enter our trusty stopwatches. Adapt and overcome. We cracked on and completed the heat. With the 2 finals to go the power was returned to a deafening cheer from the crowd.
Both final heats went quickly and the four teams, women and men going to the CrossFit Games were decided.
This was a very busy weekend and an experience I won’t forget. I am now looking forward to watching the competitors I judged compete again later in the year.
With the long travel back, made longer by the delays, I reflected on the fitness level of these competitors. Unfortunately I have concluded that I am not fit. But, inspired, I will now be working even harder in the gym.
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