What Can't Fraser Do?

Anyone who once said there would be an asterisk after the name of whoever won the CrossFit Games after Rich Froning went team, stood corrected as Mat Fraser

Jul 24, 2016 by Paige Bayer

Anyone who once said there would be an asterisk after the name of whoever won the CrossFit Games after Rich Froning went team, stood corrected as Mat Fraser took dominance to a new level in Events 11, 12, and 13. He will go into the end of the day with a 195 point lead over second place, Ben Smith, further solidifying the reality that he may stand on the top podium spot for the first time.

Handstand Walk

Logan Collins set the time to beat in the first heat with a time of 2:12, but it ended up being good for an 11th place event finish after the final heat. Jacob Heppner took the lead in the handstand walk in that second heat, but Mat Fraser caught up to him in the final 40ft. Heppner was able to hold onto his lead for an event win, Fraser finished in second. Scott Panchik and Noah Ohlsen finished in third and fourth respectively. Ben Smith finished in seventh.

Suicide Sprint

Going into the sprint we expected to see strong performances by Cole Sager and Scott Panchik. However their times weren't able to touch Roy Gamboa's time from the first heat. Gamboa took the event win in the first heat with a time of just over 43 seconds. The real show was the foot race between Mat Fraser and Ben Smith. Fraser pulled passed for a heat win and second place finish in the event overall. The announcers and spectators didn't know how to react other than mind blown in what Fraser can do. "He did not do that last year!" The announcer said. "This should've been an event he was in the middle of the pack!"

The Plow

Garret Fisher made up some ground on The Plow after a poor performance in the first of the three events this morning. He paced himself at the beginning and was able to come back hard on the second half. Josh Bridges was out front early in the second heat, but the lead didn't last long. Mat Fraser and Patrick Vellner were even with each other, but it was Lukas Högberg who took the heat win. Fisher would take the event win, his best finish this year.

Leaderboard (Men):

(942) Mathew Fraser
(747) Ben Smith
(711) Patrick Vellner
(673) Brent Fikowski
(671) Jacob Heppner
(662) Scott Panchik
(649) Björgvin Karl Guðmundsson
(632) Alex Anderson
(626) Josh Bridges
(625) Cole Sager
(606) Travis Mayer
(589) Alex Vigneault
(569) Marcus Filly
(548) Lukas Högberg
(546) Noah Ohlsen
(505) Travis Williams
(501) Christian Lucero
(486) Samuel Kwant
(464) Garret Fisher
(463) Rasmus Wisbech Andersen
(459) Rob Forte
(443) Lukas Esslinger
(437) James Newbury
(405) Ben Stoneberg
(403) Albert-Dominic Larouche
(401) Lucas Parker
(393) Gary Helmick
(392) Zak Carchedi
(389) Jacob Anderson
(362) Sam Dancer
(354) Logan Collins
(344) Roy Gamboa
(340) Spencer Hendel
(324) Sean Sweeney
(319) Adrian Mundwiler
(310) Joseph Guesnier
(306) Khan Porter
(271) Mitchell Sinnamon
(203) Zeke Grove
(142) Jonne Koski

Continue to Event 14 Recap (Women)
Continue to Event 14 Recap (Men)

Related:
Fraser: 5th at Regionals To 2nd at Games In 1 Year
Mat Fraser: Full Time Student, NY Rhino, Granite Games Champ
Mat Fraser Battling Sickness to Top Granite Games Podium