Spectators expected big things from Europe at this year’s Reebok CrossFit Invitational. After all, they did take the first place price at 2016’s event. And with an all-star team made of athletes like Bjorgvin Gudmundsson, Sara Sigmundsdottir, Annie Thorisdottir and Jason Smith (and coached by Sam Briggs), of course everyone projected a positive outcome. But something looked off this year; and when Europe went home in last place, everyone knew something had gone wrong.

We had previously learned that Sigmundsdottir had felt under the weather leading up to the Invitational and had to miss some of their team practices as a result. While she thought she had bounced back in time, it turned out that whatever bug she caught came back to haunt her. In a recent post on Instagram, Sigmundsdottir went into more detail on her health and how it affected the team.

The Crossfit Invitational didn´t go as planned and I am very disappointed in my own performances? . I´m not one to be making excuses but i feel I need to do so now. I arrived in Australia a week ago. I felt great when I arrived but then on the second night I caught some kind of a bug and after that a good fever kicked in. I did not get out of bed that whole day. I missed my first team training and could not afford to miss another one even though I was far from being ok? . On competition day I felt reasonably fresh. I thought to myself that the worst was over and the adrenaline rush of competing would do the trick. That´s how I managed in the DBX competition in Dubai last year so I thought that I could do it again? . I was feeling ok in the first event but after that I just completely crashed. Nauseous, dizzy and shaking so much. I tried to push trough it but I was WAY OFF and my team suffered because of it. I am devastated to have let them down. We had such good team morale and would have given anything to be 100% and kicking ass with them. @BK_Gudmundsson, @AnnieThorisdottir, @J_Smithsa and @BicepsLikeBriggs; hopefully one day I´ll get the chance to compete with you guys again and make up for this. Thank you for being so supportive and understanding?? . Being a driven competitor has it´s ups and downs. I have learned that the hard way. This effectively being the start of the new Crossfit season is not ideal but it certainly serves as a great motivator to me. Next up is the DBX in Dubai and I´ll be fired up and ready to rock once that time comes? . . ?@crossfitgames . . #CrossfitInvitational #Melbourne #Australia @niketraining #NikeTraining #JustDoIt @FitAID #TeamFitAID #FitAID @RogueFitness #RYouRogue #RogueFitness @CompexUSA #CompexUSA #Musclestim @WowAir #WowAir #CFSudurnes #Crossfit #Bakland

A post shared by Sara Sigmundsdóttir (@sarasigmunds) on Nov 6, 2017 at 4:56am PST

Main image: Sara Sigmundsdottir/Instagram