It’s 18.5! If you’ve survived every Open workout up until this point, this final test is nothing you can’t handle. Or at least that’s the way I’m choosing to look at it… 

Anyway, CrossFit is wrapping up announcement season with a legendary trio that barely needs any introduction. The Dottirs of Iceland will show us how to tackle this final workout by facing off on their home turf. I can’t wait to watch this matchup in Reykjavik, Iceland:

Annie Thorisdottir, 28, Reykjavik, Iceland (CrossFit Reykjavik)

2017 Open Finish: 7th

2017 Games Finish: 3rd

Best Games Finish: 1st (2011, 2012)

2018 Open After 18.4: 4th

Sara Sigmundsdottir, 25, Reykjanesbaer, Iceland (CrossFit Sudurnes)

2017 Open Finish: 1st

2017 Games Finish: 4th

Best Games Finish: 3rd (2015, 2016)

2018 Open After 18.4: 17th

Katrin Davidsdottir, 24, Reykjavik, Iceland (CrossFit New England)

2017 Open Finish: 10th

2017 Games Finish: 5th

Best Games Finish: 1st (2015, 2016)

2018 Open After 18.4: 8th

Analysis: Dave Castro has saved the best names for last in this final Open announcement of 2018. The three famed Dottirs—Iceland and CrossFit’s most feared female trio—will each square off for 18.5 at CrossFit Reykjavik in the Icelandic capital on Thursday, March 22. Between them are four Fittest Woman on Earth titles and an incredible 11 top-five Games finishes. These Nordic ladies are icons in the sport and will kick your ass if you say otherwise. What an epic way to end the Open!

Thorisdottir is as OG as they come, as she was the 2011 and 2012 Fittest Woman on Earth. The 28-year-old has been at it the longest of the three athletes and even finished highest among the trio at the Games last year, taking third for her first top-five finish since 2014. Iceland Annie finished first in the Open in 2015 and enters 18.5 ahead of Sigmundsdottir and Davidsdottir in this year’s standings. Thorsisdottir is going to be awfully tough to beat with her extensive experience, plus the added benefit of that she literally owns the host gym CrossFit Reykjavik. That’s a lot for her two competitors to overcome.

But the younger Dottirs won’t roll over. Sigmundsdottir won the Open in 2017 and seems to have rebounded nicely from a broken rib that forced her to rest in late November. With three straight top-four Open finishes, the 25-year-old clearly knows how to operate in these hyper-intense workouts.

If there’s anyone who can hold a candle to Thorisdottir’s Games resume, it’s the young gun of the group, Davidsdottir. The 24-year-old already has two Fittest Woman on Earth crowns, and she narrowly beat Sigmundsdottir in 17.5 last year. Those facts will be crucial as she tries to take down both ladies on Thursday.

Prediction: These announcements are always super competitive, and that makes picking a winner without even knowing the workout so tough. But with Thorisdottir competing in her own gym and having so much extra experience over the other Dottirs, I’m taking Iceland Annie for 18.5. 

By Lincoln Shryack