The inaugural TYR Cup competition featured one exciting moment after another as fans watched some of the best CrossFit athletes in the world compete in this unique team competition.
It was a weekend filled with pure joy and camaraderie among the contestants. And while Team North America beat Team World by a final score of 7-6, that doesn’t tell the whole story.
We pulled together some numbers from the weekend to get a bigger picture of what happened in Huntington Beach, California. Here’s what stood out.
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5 – The number of times Arielle Loewen PR’d during the Spotlight Lifting Event.
Arielle Loewen set all-time highs twice in the deadlift (195 and 200 pounds) and three times in the deadlift (235, 245 and 250 pounds).
Afterwards, her team rallied around her and celebrated in a moment that summed up the electric weekend in SoCal. The team knew they probably weren’t going to win the event, yet they couldn’t be happier to see their teammate put on a show.
- “I don’t max out, so it makes events like this fun. I feel the hype of the crowd,” Lowen said in her post-event interview.
Close to the champion: Going up against the seven-time Fittest on Earth might have helped too. Five was also the number of kilograms separating Tia Clair Toomey-Orr’s total lift.
685 – Gui Malheiros’ TYR Cup Olympic Weightlifting Total.
Speaking of heavy lifting, Gui Malheiros grabbed the 305 and rocked the 380. With book form and incredible speed, he made those massive lifts look effortless.
- “People ask me what I’m going to lift. I say, ‘Brother, whatever the world wants’.” Malheiro said in his post-event interview. “I just put the plates in and let them fly.”
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Strong and tough: Both Malheiros and Toomey-Orr had done the previous two TYR Cup events within two hours and were the only athletes to compete in all three events on day one.
23 – The number of Ring Muscle-Ups Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr completed in two minutes.
During the Spotlight Gymnastics Event at the TYR Cup, Toomey-Orr knocked out the same as Gui Malheiros and Pat Vellner, two of the strongest gymnasts in the men’s field.
The event was a cumulative set of rope climbs, free standing push-ups and ring muscle exercises.
Toomey-Orr’s opponent, Alexis Raptis (also known for his gymnastics skills), posted a very impressive score of 59 total reps.
Vellner collected 67 total reps, followed by Tia with 66 and then Gui with 65.
- “Should I go race with the boys?” Tia once joked in the 2022 documentary “Fittest on Earth: Retro/Active.” It turns out the answer might be yes.
83 – Team World Win Rate on Bar Muscle-Up/Clean Ladder.
Team World shocked fans by convincingly winning the clear ladder, taking five out of six head-to-head matches.
Seher Kaya and Aniol Ekai scored big and unexpected wins over Danielle Brandon and Justin Medeiros respectively.
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Under the lights on Saturday night, the event was a big swing in Team World’s favor and the score was tied 4-4 going into the final day of competition.
- “It was so great, and I felt the energy. I gave it to the team and set the standard for that event. It was great,” Kaya told Morning Chalk Up after the event.
1.3 – Number of calories Dallin Pepper and Brent Fikowski fill per second on the Echo Bike.
Fikowski held his own on the ‘King of the Echo bike’ and their race to top 50 calories was over in an astonishing 38 seconds.
It was only the first part of Event 9, which was a one-on-one showdown in style. The selected athletes then had to complete 50 burpees facing the bar for time, followed by a 500m sprint on the attack runner.
They had enough rest in between to give 100% effort in all three tests.
- “I knew I would have to go fast, but Brent surprised me on the Echo Bike.” Pepper told Bella Martin in the post-event interview. “But I knew if he was hitting the same pace as me, he feels a lot worse. I just had to hold on for the rest.”
11 – Difference in the age of the athletes selected for the event 9.
Both teams happened to select their youngest and oldest athletes for the event. However, they didn’t match up that way as the young guns took on the seasoned vets. That meant Pepper (22) battled Fikowski (33) and Walton (23) battled Rolfe (34).
The result was a win for Team North America’s Pepper and Rolfe.
The effort expended in a short period of time was not only impressive but also devastating. None of the four athletes competed in the next event and finished their performances at the weekend.
They were more than happy to do so after this grueling 100% by three power output test.
- “I’ve never come close to failing a burpee” said Rolf.
- “This was the worst workout I’ve ever done” Pepper was declared after the weekend.
2.1 – The total weight in tons of equipment carried and dragged to the sand and back in event 8.
The ‘All Hands’ event was a thing of chaotic beauty.
Both teams did 4,200 pounds up and down the beach. Equipment consisted of various sandbags, D-balls, worms and sleds, after a buy-in of 40 unbreakable pull ropes for each person.
- The North American team won the event with the help of Adam Neiffer, coach of Justin Medeiros and seven athletes of the Games team.
After the event, Neiffer shared a video he made of himself carrying the 322-pound worm into the athletes’ community warm-up area, out of Team World’s view. With the help of two others to lift it, he ran with it draped over his shoulders.
- “I knew if I could do it, they wouldn’t have a problem” Neiffer said. “I told them they can’t practice it in front of the other team. They just had to trust me.”
The one-man worm-carry proved to be the pivotal moment in the match to help the North American team secure victory.
Individual Win-Loss Records:
Team North America
- Justin Medeiros: 5-1
- Pepper Dallin: 5-1
- Emily Rolfe: 4-1
- Jeffrey Adler: 4-2
- Alexis Raptis: 3-2
- Patrick Wellner: 4-3 (Including the final event of the 2-point leader.)
- Ariel Lowen: 4-3
- Danielle Brandon: 4-4 (Including the leader’s final event of 2 points.)
Team world
- Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr: 6-4 (Including the 2-point leader’s final event)
- Gui Malheiros: 3-4
- Björgvin Karl Guðmundsson: 2-5 (Including the final event of the leader 2 points)
- Emma Tal: 2-3
- Seher Kaya: 2-3
- Aniol Ekai: 1-4
- Brent Fikowski: 1-5
- Grace Walton: 0-5
These win-loss records can be somewhat misleading because an individual may “win” their portion of an event, but the team took the loss. Like a quarterback who throws for five touchdowns and loses the game, it takes the whole team to pull off a win.
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Featured Image: Scott Freymond
