Roman Returns: Khrennikov’s Consistency Puts Him in the Lead After Day One

Each athlete started the first day of the 2023 NOBULL CrossFit Games on August 3rd. Endurance, stamina and skill were tested on the first day. 3 tests.

Roman Vrenikov had a solid start to the day, finishing in all five places and entering Friday wearing the leader’s jersey for the first time in his career. What was most impressive about Khrennikov’s performance was how he demonstrated balance across his three vastly different fitness domains.

Engine beyond machine: Khrennikov is well known for being exceptional when it comes to the ability to work with cardio machines, and he showed off an amazing engine in Test 1 on Thursday. He traded punches with John Kosky, Jeffrey Adler and Jay Crouch through a grueling 40-minute AMRAP to finish his first test in 4th place. This was an improvement from his 6th-place result in the 2022 mountain biking “Bike to Work.”

Vrenikov quickly grabbed his first win of 2023. In “Pigchipper”, he won first place ahead of Lazar Džukić. Vrenikov was calculating the break for the pyramid chipper and took a short break to maintain power. It turned out to be the turning point as most of the fast-starters seemed to fall as Vrenikov found his rhythm in the second half of a disastrous test.

The final test of the day was all about handstand skills. And the transition from grit to grace did not falter Khrennikov.. The “Inverted Medley” followed a similar pyramid format to the “Pig Chipper” where the athlete went through a series of handstand skills, culminating in 16 pullovers before returning to the starting point. Khrennikov looked controlled and relaxed throughout the test, again taking deliberate breaks and running his own race, finishing fifth in the gymnastics specialist test.

A third straight win is unlikely for Justin Medeiros, but it’s possible. The 2023 CrossFit Games didn’t start as expected for the two-time reigning champion. Medeiros fell off the bike twice during the test and finished 29th in ‘Ride’. He followed this up with a 37th-place finish in the ‘Pigchipper’, where he didn’t look like the steady contender we’re used to seeing. To date, Medeiros’ career-worst finishes were 15th in 2021 and 18th in 2022.

Medeiros bounced back to finish Thursday with a strong performance, finishing second in the ‘reversal medley’ and back in the top 25 heading into Friday. Medeiros will start Friday 154 points behind Khrennikov and 100 off the podium. He has plenty of room to make up, but if there’s one thing we need to know now, it’s to never let a two-time champion count.