Three Countries, One Podium

Three Countries, One Podium

8 min read

There were a lot of surprising moments during the 2017 Reebok CrossFit Games, but one thing that wasn’t a surprise was the man standing on top of the Men’s podium—defending champ, Mat Fraser. Last year, Fraser won in an impressive fashion, putting over 150 points between him and Ben Smith who Fraser fell short of in 2015. This year he was determined to defend his title and he knew exactly what he needed to do.

photo: CrossFit Games

Fraser cashed in on four event wins over the weekend, slowly but surely branding points, putting significant distance between him and the rest of the field. It worked. Not only was Fraser named The Fittest Man on Earth once again, but made history doing it. Fraser was more than 200 points ahead of the second fittest man, Canada’s Brent Fikowski when the last buzzer sang. At this rate, he’ll be chasing down Rich Froning’s record of four back to back Games’ Championships.

After narrowly missing the podium during his rookie year in 2016 by two points, Brent Fikowski wasn’t going to let that happen again. “The Professor” proved that by starting the weekend by coming out swinging, securing himself a first place finish in Event 1, Run-Swim-Run. That set the tone and though he had two finishes outside the top 15, he made up for it with an additional event win. It may have been a battle, but it was one he was prepared to face. He managed well and earned himself a silver medal, 82 points ahead of the last spot on the podium.

photo: CrossFit Games

Rounding out the podium representing Australia was Ricky Garard, the rookie who caught everyone’s attention after his first career event win in Event 2. The former professional rugby player attributed his success in Cyclocross to growing up on a farm and riding his bike to school. Moving through the weekend, Garard only found himself outside of the top 15 in two events. Maybe the experience of his brother Games’ athlete Ben Garard gave him a leg up. Regardless, Ricky Garard is going to be a name you want to remember. Now with two event wins and experience of his own under his belt, he’s shaping up to be a force to be reckoned with. But only time will tell.