Jeff Evans: 23rd, Gretchen K: 36th, Chris Spealler: 21st, Tommy Hackenbruk: 23rd, Jenn Jones: 32nd, Alex Nettey: 24th, and Marcus Hendren: 107th

[dereklirus]

Notable former games athletes placing. The ones ranked 25th and above do have a shot at regionals if some people go team, but surprising nonetheless

 

[psalms119]

@dereklirus This was an open for hobbits: 40% burpees, snatches with a PVC pipe etc.

. Not a shock that evans and Hack had a rough time.

 

[nwmoose18]

@psalms119 As a small person who qualified, that stings

 

[psalms119]

@nwmoose18 Congrats on qualifying; it was not easy this year at all. I know a lot of guys who are damn fit and didn't make it. Good luck in the next round.

 

[dawn16]

@psalms119 Yup. If you were a normal size man 6 feet or taller - sorry you shorter "men" then life sucked in this open. All the damn ninjas at my gym loved this open. It's going to be a shit show at regionals when they throw in them big weights. lol.

 

[p92]

@dawn16 Such truth. They'll get their due reward for being little... (says the bitter 6'3" guy)

 

[psalms119]

@dawn16 I guess we'll see. My coach is a data nut and he is crunching some numbers to support or reject the "hobbit" assertion. But burpees twice is prima facie evidence imo.

 

[greg53]

@psalms119 I'd be interested to see what the data shows but aside from 16.4 where you could argue wall balls and rowing are in the bigger man's wheelhouse (although offset by HSPU and DL), the workouts were for little people.

16.1, small legs, less up and down movement required on lunging, plus burpees, plus pull ups

16.2, essentially a ttb workout for top athletes.

16.3, light snatches so shorter people smaller ROM, bmu

 

[dawn16]

@psalms119 I'd be interested in seeing the results.

 

[quicksand]

@psalms119 Please post the results of what he finds

 

[believer117]

@dawn16

normal size man 6 feet or taller

Is objectively above average height, at least in the United States.

 

[barryjones123]

@dawn16 Sorry mate, that's not the truth. Just scrabbled together some super quick analysis:

Average US height is about 5'9"
Average top 25 height is 5'9 1/4"
Got 12 athletes ranking above 5'9" and 5 below.

TL;Dr: Above-average height even seems to be a beneficial factor, you above-6ers are just so far off the average that you're above the benefit-threshold.

Same for 'hobbits' tho.

 

[krista123]

@barryjones123 People's listed heights are not their actual heights. Rich froning is at most 5ft7.5 and lists at 5ft9

 

[greg53]

@barryjones123 What others have said... when you meet the top athletes it's quite underwhelming (until you see them lift then you're impressed as hell).

Froning is 5'8" on a tall day, Bridges, Fraser, no more than 5'6", Ohlsen can't be much taller.

 

[dawn16]

@barryjones123 Y U do dis? Now I have no excuse to explain why I sucked at this years open. No but seriously. 5'8 to 5'10 seems to be the optimal height for CrossFit. Any taller and I think it starts to affect you negatively.

 

[brokenandconfused]

@dawn16 Yeah, short people love lunge steps, wall balls and rowing.

 

[javacups10]

@brokenandconfused The only three movements you could come up with?! I think that supports op's theory!

 

[brokenandconfused]

@javacups10 It's because there generally aren't many movements in CrossFit that favor taller people and most elite-level competitors are shorter than what the OP described. Ben Smith seems tall because of the average height of the top 30 competitors, yet he's only 5'11". The Rasmuses, Hacks, EZs and ZAs are outliers. Even someone people consider "huge", like Sam Dancer, generously lists himself as 5'10".

 

[leannec]

@brokenandconfused Did not know that. I legitimately thought Ben Smith was like 6' 2"

 

[psalms119]

@brokenandconfused EZ doesn't get ANYWHERE NEAR regionals if he stayed in the southeast. His 10:06 is in 16.5 was 30th in the southwest, not top 100 in southeast. His 240 in 16.4 is 50th in southwest, not even top 150 in southeast

this is of course a different topic but EZ barely made regionals in a weaker region