After all the European Semifinals events, we already know the names of almost all the athletes from Europe who will compete in the CrossFit Games 2022, and we are waiting to know the remaining 2 athletes (M/F) who have a second chance to qualify by winning the Last Chance Qualifier.
Last weekend the second and last Semifinals competition in Europe took place in London. We saw well-known athletes such as Samantha Briggs, Jonne Koski, Katrin Tanja Davidsdottir or Willy Georges, but we also saw some of the new promises for Games 2022, such as Solveig Sigurdardottir, Guillaume Briant and Elisa Fuliano.
Who will go to the CrossFit Games 2022?
The CrossFit 2022 season is reaching its climax. From June 10-12, the last Semifinals competitions were held: CrossFit Strength in Depth (UK), CrossFit Atlas Games (Canada) and CrossFit Copa Sur (Brazil).
After a total of 10 competitions during the months of May and June, we have the names of almost all the athletes who will go to the Games 2022, which will be held August 3-7 in Madison, Wisconsin.
Athletes who did not make the top 5 of the leaderboard in their Semifinals event will have a second chance to fight for two extra spots (one male and one female) in the Last Chance Qualifier (online competition from June 29 to July 1).
Strength In Depth: second and last European Semifinal of 2022.
6 WODs in 3 days with a total of 28 male athletes, 27 female athletes and 19 teams participating.
The individual athletes who have qualified for Games are the following:
| Male category | Female category |
| 1st Willy Georges (France, age 29) | 1st Jacqueline Dahlstrøm (Norway, age 30) |
| 2nd Henrik Haapalainen (Finland, age 27) | 2nd Emma McQuaid (Ireland, age 32) |
| 3rd André Houdet (Denmark, age 28) | 3rd Thuridur Erla Helgadottir (Iceland, age 30) |
| 4th Giorgos Karavis (Greece, age 27) | 4th Sólveig Sigurðardóttir (Iceland, age 27) |
| 5th Guillaume Briant (France, age 28) | 5th Elisa Fuliano (Italy, age 26) |
The athletes who have a second chance in the Last Chance Qualifier and will be able to fight for an extra place for the Games 2022 are:
6th Jonne Koski /Katrin Tanja Davidsdottir
7th Alex Kotoulas /Samantha Briggs
8th Dumain Antoine / Tayle Howe
As for the team category, the top 5 is as follows:
1sr CrossFit Oslo Navy Blue (Norway)
2nd CrossFit Sarpsborg (Norway)
3rd CrossFit 8020 (United Kingdom)
4th CrossFit Trondheim (Norway)
5th CrossFit Aylesbury Team Tap (United Kingdom)
Summary of the competition
Below you will find a summary of all the WODs and their respective winners, both in the Individual and Teams categories.
DAY 1: EVENTS 1 AND 2
INDIVIDUAL
The competition started with a long Endurance WOD from which the English athlete Aimee Cringle and the Finnish Henrik Haapalainen, the only athlete to finish it in less than 17 minutes, emerged victorious.
It is worth mentioning the performance of Samantha Briggs, an icon of our sport: 8 times CrossFit Games athlete and Fittest Woman on Earth in 2013, at the age of 40 and about to retire, one more year she has decided to present herself in Elite Individual (and not in Master). With this first event “Copperfield” she started the competition winning her Heat and placed third ¡in the overall leaderboard.
The second event was won by Ireland’s Emma McQuaid even though she did not lead the WOD until the third round. The men’s event was won by the Greek athlete Giorgos Karavis, although it was really exciting to see the close race between Willy Georges, Guillaume Briant and Jonne Koski in Heat 3.
TEAM
The first day ended with three teams from Norway in the top 3 of the leaderboard. Both events were won by CrossFit Oslo Navy Blue, a team that placed second in Madison last year and has Nicolay Billaudel (3 x Fittest in Norway) among its members.
DAY 2: EVENTS 3 AND 4
INDIVIDUAL
Day 2: known as “Moving Day” because the leaderboard undergoes many changes from the previous day.
Event 3 was the Carol Complex, the same we have seen in all Semifinals events (3 Cleans + 2 Front Squats + 1 Jerk). In the men’s category there was a tie between Hungary’s Kristof Horvath and Denmark’s Andre Houdet with 150 kg on the bar. The women’s winner was the islandic athlete Sólveig Sigurðardóttir, who achieved the second heaviest lift in Europe with 103 kg (very close to the 106 kg that Laura Horvath lifted at the Lowlands Throwdown).
The fourth event of the day was an out-and-back Chipper (one of those WODs that get really interesting on the way back). It was won by Greek athlete Alex Kotoulas and Iceland’s Thuridur Erla Helgadottir.
TEAM
Event 3 for Teams was also one that has been seen in every other Semifinals competition, the favorite of many of us: Snatch Ladder. Although Team CrossFit Nordic Originals successfully lifted two bars from the last platform, it was the balanced strategy of the Norwegians from CrossFit Oslo Navy Blue that gave them the win with a total of 413 kg lifted.
CrossFit Oslo Navy Blue finished the day with two more wins to add to their two wins from the previous day.
DAY 3: EVENTS 5 AND 6
INDIVIDUAL
The fifth Strength in Depth event was also one we’ve seen at every Semifinals competition: “Twist,” a couplet of legless rope climbs and sprints reminiscent of Regionals Event 5 from 2014. Both Thuridur Erla Helgadottir and Henrik Haapalainen took their second wins of the weekend.
By this point in the competition, the top spots on the leaderboard were already known, but the final spots were fought for during Event 6: Katrin Tanja Davidsdottir managed to finish first, but her tenth place on the leaderboard only allowed her to make up enough points to finish sixth and earn her pass to the Last Chance Qualifier.
In the men’s category, PD Savage won from the second Heat. Jonne Koski, who was looking for his 8th qualification for the Games, finished third in this event and earned, like Katrin, his second chance at the Last Chance Qualifier.
TEAM
Teams also tasted Legless Rope Climbs on the final day, although in this category they combined them with Thrusters and in a pair relay format: the two female athletes had to complete the WOD before the two male athletes could start it. The CrossFit Oslo Navy Blue women finished 30 seconds before anyone else, and the team remained untouchable until winning the event.
While the top spot on the leaderboard was all but assured for CrossFit Oslo Navy Blue, the other teams were fighting for spots to go to the Games in Event 6. CrossFit Trondheim was looking to bounce back after placing 18th in the fifth WOD. They managed to come in second, which gave them a 4th place on the final leaderboard.
For more info on Semifinals, you can read our article on the Lowlands Throwdown 2022. Would you like to see a high level CrossFit competition live? Don’t miss the Fittest Freakest Challenge on July 9th and 10th at the Palau Olimpic in Badalona (Barcelona).