It was there last Thursday the announcement of the Open 23.2 and, in the middle of the presentation, a controversy has conquered social networks: is Patrick Vellner's Thruster Rep or No Rep?
To understand what we are talking about, let's go back to the beginning. After the announcement of the second training session of the season this year, we had the demonstration of the two parts of the Open 23.2 A and Open 23.2 B training.
Index
The live announcement of the Open 23.2
The first part was performed by the students of CrossFit® Bison, venue of the presentation of the competition. Then in the sequence there was the great dispute between Vellner and Roman Khrennikov.
Part A of the WOD went smoothly and ended with the Russian leading the Canadian, even if Vellner remained in the lead for most of the race.
However, the big controversy came in the second part of the 23.2 Open when the athletes had to find thruster MAX rep.
As with all competitions, athletes were testing loads to ensure workout score. But in the moment which Vellner makes the 255-pounder run (about 115kg), the Canadian's legs shake and his knee bends. This causes him to move his left foot before fully extending his body.
many judges this would be a clear No Rep. However, the judge in question validated the move and Vellner continued to add weight.
A real wave of criticism of the athlete's movement has unleashed on social networks. News site Hugocross, wisely, has reported the same situation that occurred at the 2015 CrossFit® Games.
At the time the rules for the thruster were very clear: the athlete could not move his feet in any way once the movement had started.
And now? Now we don't know! All we know from CrossFit® itself is that the movement begins with a full squat (breaking parallel) and ends with the body and arms extendedin one fluid motion. A clean squat plus jerk is not allowed.
Also, in the course of the court we have the information that re-painting cannot be done during movementwhich, in our view, would mean that the lifter cannot get back under the bar once the movement has begun.
But can the feet move? According to the CF yes, but on the condition that there is no new dive under the bar. Isn't that a bit confusing?
When asked in posts, CrossFit® just mentions what has already been said. But avoid direct questions about this specific Vellner push (see video at 1h37m).
No Rep also for Roman Khrennikov?
Perhaps many have not seen or noticed it. The problem turned out to be more subtle, but the Russian also had one of his reps with foot shifting.
When Roman has lifted 295 pounds (about 133 kg) had to walk backwards to be able to balance the bar above his head. So, although the spotlight was mainly on the Canadian's movement, the Russian would also have deserved a No Rep if the rules introduced in 2015 had remained unchanged for 2023.
A point raised by the web is the lack of clarity on the rule to follow and validation of the movement standard. After all, can you or can't you move your foot in the thruster?… we'll never find out!
Videos of other athletes performing the 23.2
Noah Ohlsen
In part A, Noah hit 173 reps, better than both Khrennikov and Vellner in the live announcement. Then, in part B, he thrusted to 272 pounds after 20 minutes.
The Drs
Annie Thorisdottir completed the training together with Sara Sigmundsdottir and Sola Sigurdardottir.
All three women completed 30 burpee pull-ups and then finished the workout midway through that lap's shuttle run.
Their scores in Part A were as follows:
- Annie Thorisdottir: 160 repetitions
- Sigurdardottir alone: 159 repetitions
- Sara Sigmundsdottir: 157 repetitions
Thorisdottir attempted a 90kg thruster, but failed and then dropped to 85kg (187lbs) where she was able to lift it successfully. Sarah Sigmunsdottir brings up 176 pounds and Sola 200 pounds!!