The Crossfit Games Season 2018 is almost upon us, and it’s looking to be the biggest Open yet.
Last year’s competition boasted 380,000 entries, an amazing 41% of entries were masters athletes. That meant more than 148,000 masters signed up and half of these fell into the 35-39 category.
This growing popularity has been recognised by Crossfit HQ and the 2018 masters categories have all had their prize purses increased. The most noticeable increase is in the 35-39 category, now offering $25,000 for first prize.
So we’d expect this year’s competition to be the most competitive yet. Here are some of the masters athletes we’ll be keeping our eye on over the next five weeks.
Masters Women 35-39
Samantha Briggs
Last year Sam was eligible to compete in the masters category. Her performance in the five Open workouts meant she qualified for the Rxd Regionals competition as well as the Masters Online Qualifiers.
Sam finished in the top spot in the female 35-39 Masters Online Qualifier, but eventually declined her chance to compete in the 35-39 category at the Crossfit Games as she qualified as a Meridian Regional Rxd Athlete.
Will Sam be competing in the masters division this year? Anyone with a keen eye may have noticed that #Masters35 has cropped up on her last few social media posts running up to her facing off against Kristin Holte for the live announcement of 18.1 in São Paulo, Brazil. We’ll be watching this space for sure.
Follow Sam on Social Media: @BicepsLikeBriggs
Masters Men 35-39
Liam Holborn
During last year’s open Liam set out his stall early with an impressive 1st place worldwide in 17.1 (35-39), he carried his momentum through and finished the Open sitting in 19th place among the 35-39 men. An even more impressive achievement considering he was struggling with an abdominal tear through the entire competition.
Unfortunately the workouts in the Masters Online Qualifiers affected this injury more than during the Open, which saw Liam slip out of the top 20 and miss out on a place at the Crossfit Games.
If Liam is able to stay injury free he could well manage to book himself a spot in Madison. Follow Liam on Instagram at @TheDogOfTheNorth
Gregory Hung
Greg has been to Regionals before as part of Team Turicum. In the 2017 Open he came 38th Worldwide (35-39). Even managing a long term elbow injury Greg climbed to 17th in the Masters Online Qualifier and booked his space in Madison.
At the Games Greg came 15th place overall, with 3 top 10 finishes and an impressive 4th position in the opening Run Swim Run event.
“GLC2000 definitely helped me recover from a Golfer’s Elbow that had been bugging me for a while throughout the CrossFit Games 2017 Season”
Looking forward to watching Greg in action again this year. You can follow Greg on social media: @GregHung
Spencer Whiteley
Spencer qualified comfortably for the masters online qualifiers finishing in 70th position and a similar placing in the Masters Online Qualifiers. After narrowly missing a podium at The European Championships we know Spencer is in great form and will be looking to beat his 2017 performances.
Keep up with Spencer’s progress @Spencer_Whiteley
David Long
David qualified for the Masters Online Qualifiers in 71st position with a remarkable performance in Open WOD 17.4 of 293 reps earning him 2nd place. This year David is moving up to the 40-45 category and will be looking to put in some competitive scores.
“GLC2000 has been a career saving product. About 3 years ago my knees were so bad I could only run about 400m, last year I ran 100k in an Ultra Marathon.”
Follow at Crossfit Cirencester on instagram: @CrossfitCirencester
Masters Women 45-49
Cathy Wilson
In 2016 Cathy finished in 49th position in the Masters Online Qualifiers, in 2017 she secured a place to the Crossfit Games with a 14th place finish.
Cathy had said that she was aiming to finish in 14th or higher in Madison, and achieved that goal. Last year she said that she didn’t think a podium was a possibility, but with another year of training and a trip to the Games under her belt we’re excited to see what the 2018 Crossfit Games Season brings.
Cathy confessed that the Wilson household ‘take GLC2000 like tic tacs’ (obviously within the stated dose).
Follow Cathy’s journey here: @Jemlewka1
“I’ve had shoulder and elbow issues for years, these are brought on by my job which involves lots of repetitive gripping and hammering. This affects my training and my work, so I used to spend £160 a month on chiropractor visits.
GLC2000 costs me less than £25 a month for better results! I know I’ll be able to follow my training programme after a busy day at work, and be certain that the following day I will be able to work again”
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“Like most Crossfitters I don’t have the luxury to train full time. I have a 9-5 office job, family responsibilities plus I also coach at Crossfit Blockhouse.
With all this going on, I don’t always have to time for as much recovery and mobility work as I’d like. This is why a quality joint supplement like GLC2000 is so important, it gives my joints and connective tissue everything they need to repair the daily wear and tear I cause them.
If you’ve got joint issues, use GLC2000 consistently for a few months, believe me you will notice a big difference.”
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“My main job is mum to four kids. A tough but very rewarding job! Plus I work part-time for my husband doing the admin stuff he hates.I had a shoulder impingement for years that I just tried to control with anti-inflammatory meds. Now I can manage my shoulder and other aches with just GLC2000. I would say GLC2000 is a must for masters athletes.”
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“Training has always been a big part of my life. I’ve trained twice a day, around my physical 8am-5pm day job, for as long as I can remember.
I’d get used to dull aches, I thought it was just par for the course. Not anymore, I train just as hard but by adding GLC2000 into my recovery routine I hardly ache at all. If you put in the work, this stuff is an absolute must.”
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