By Lincoln Shryack

Welcome to the first weekend of Regionals! Nine total regions will be contested across the globe over the next three weeks to determine which five athletes per region (Meridian Regional will have four qualifiers, Latin America will get one) are fit enough to move on to August’s Crossfit Games. Everybody who’s anybody will be testing themselves over the next month in a grueling series of six events to try to punch their tickets to Madison, Wisconsin, for the Games in early August.

Of course, we’re always focused on the cream of the crop, so we’re going to be highlighting the top male and female athletes to watch for each upcoming weekend. The three regionals up first will be: East (Albany, New York), South (Salt Lake City, Utah), and Europe (Berlin, Germany).

Sara Sigmundsdóttir, 25, Europe Regional

It doesn’t matter which Regional she has competed in — Iceland’s Sara Sigmundsdóttir has left victorious in each of her last three Crossfit Games qualifiers. A two-time winner of the Meridian Regional, Sigmundsdóttir surprised the fitness community a year ago when she competed in the Central Regional while living in Tennessee. She kindly introduced herself to the Americans by crushing the region by 55 points and breaking the Event 6 record. 

Now the 25-year-old — who has twice finished as the third-Fittest Woman on Earth — has landed in Berlin for this weekend’s Europe Regional. There she’ll go for her fourth-straight region win, albeit in her third different qualifier. Things likely won’t be easy for Sigmundsdóttir, however. Fellow Nordic athlete and two-time Fittest Woman on Earth Annie Thorisdottir, aka Iceland Annie, will be in Berlin as well, which should make this Regional the toughest yet for Sigmundsdóttir. Iceland Annie beat her rival in the Open this past March, but Sigmundsdóttir did get the best of her in 2015 and 2016 when the pair matched up at the Meridian Regional.

Whoever wins this weekend in Germany is really going to have to earn it, but the Europe Regional champ will exit Berlin with a huge swell of momentum heading into the Games. This should be fun.

We’ll bring you the top man to watch this weekend tomorrow.