North America East and Africa: Who Goes to the CrossFit Games and Surprises of the Weekend

The first weekend of the CrossFit Semifinals is done and a total of 25 athletes will receive their invitation to compete at the 2023 CrossFit Games in Madison. Some old familiar faces made it through, but there were a couple of surprises along the way. The weekend was packed with adrenaline with athletes competing out of North America East and Africa for their invitation to the CrossFit Games in August. North America East started a day earlier than the Rebel Renegade Games. Here is how it all went down after 7 workouts. Did you miss out on the action? See the livestreams from North America East and the Africa CrossFit Semifinals here. Table of ContentsNorth America EastWho Qualified to the CrossFit Games?WomenMenTeamsRebel Renegade Games – AfricaWho Qualified to the CrossFit Games?WomenMenTeamsNotable Names Not Going to the Games North America East Who Qualified to the CrossFit Games? As we mentioned earlier, Semifinals will have different Games-qualifying spots depending on the strength-of-field. The North America East is one that provides the most invitations. Top 11 women will be invited to the Games Top 12 men will be invited to the Games Women Emma Cary – 607 points Danielle Brandon – 601 Amanda Barnhart – 577 Emma Lawson – 575 Alexis Raptis – 564 Pauge Powers – 557 Sydney Wells – 409 Feeroozeh Saghafi – 398 Shelby Neal – 397 Caroline Stanley – 395 Paige Semenza – 386 Full leaderboard here. Source: Courtesy of CrossFit Inc.Emma Cary Men Jeffrey Adler – 613 points Jayson Hopper – 598 Dallin Pepper – 586 Roman Khrennikov – 575 Samuel Cournoyer – 538 Will Moorad – 535 Noah Ohlsen – 521 Luke Parker – 513 Alex Vigneault – 507 Jack Farlow – 477 James Sprague – 460 Spencer Panchik – 439 Full leaderboard here. Source: Courtesy of CrossFit Inc.Jeff Adler Teams Unlike individual athletes, teams competing out of Semifinals did not see a difference in their Games-qualifying spot compared to last year. The top 10 teams were awarded an invitation to Madison after the weekend. CrossFit East Nashville – 573 points CrossFit Move Fast Lift Heavy 247 – 549 AB CrossFit Mayhem – 513 CrossFit Mayhem Independence – 489 CrossFit Krypton – 486 CrossFit CLT the Grit Haus – 486 CrossFit OBA – 471 TTT CrossFit Black – 450 CrossFit PSC Invasion – 450 CrossFit Milford Team Conquer – 402 View this post on Instagram A post shared by CrossFit Games (@crossfitgames) Rebel Renegade Games – Africa Who Qualified to the CrossFit Games? Just like last year, in 2023 only one spot was awarded to the athletes from the African continent to go to Madison this year. Women Michelle Basnett – 613 points Michelle Basnett is #GamesBound! pic.twitter.com/xh7Y6go9YV— The CrossFit Games (@CrossFitGames) May 21, 2023 The other athletes who finished on the podium were Mariska Smit (596 points) and Gilmari Reyneke (580 points). Men Jason Smith – 596 points He’s still got it — Jason Smith is heading back to Madison! pic.twitter.com/YcQ59EdSPu— The CrossFit Games (@CrossFitGames) May 21, 2023 The other athletes who comprised the podium were Conrad Winnertz (500 points) and Ruan Potgieter (497 points). Teams CrossFit FBDV Mayhem Africa – 580 points The other teams finishing on the podium were Cape CrossFit Wolfpack (555 points) and CrossFit 10 Star Hybrids (530 points). Notable Names Not Going to the Games Although it was a weekend for all these athletes to celebrate, there were a couple of elite-level and past Games-athlete who did not make the cut after a few days of competition. In the North America East, the most notable is that Brooke Wells finished well below what was predicted. The 8x Games athlete finished 14th this weekend but showed happiness for her twin sister Sydney Wells for punching her first ticket to Madison in her career. View this post on Instagram A post shared by WOD Memes For Jacked Up Teens (@wodmemesforjackedupteens) Anikha Greer, another athlete we predicted to be a dark horse going into the race that didn’t make the cut. One surprise that also didn’t pass the cut line was 3x Games athlete Carolyne Prevost (she finished 15th). There were a couple of names on the men’s side that didn’t make it that we thought were sure to go through. Most notable was Saxon Panchik who withdrew from competition after the third workout – he did not specify the conditions as of this writing. Tyler Christophel went to the Games on 3 occasions (twice in a team), but also failed to make the cut this time. One last person who got a lot of attention this weekend for not making the cut was Alexandre Caron. The 5x Games athlete from Canada was pulled from the competition under weird situations (more on that later) as he did not put too much effort into workout 2 and HQ pulled him out of the tournament. In the Rebel Renegade Games, all eyes were on the battle between veteran Jason Smith and last year’s winner Kealan Henry. While Smith got his way to the top, Henry pulled out before the last workout due to “a week of food intoxication and other factors.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Kealan Henry (@kealanhenryiv) This weekend there is more action with athletes competing at Semifinals in North America West, South America and Oceania.

North America East and Africa: Who Goes to the CrossFit Games and Surprises of the Weekend

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