Sunday, December 21, 2014

Team of Champions: The Story of the CrossFit Invitational

The 2014 Reebok CrossFit Invitational, presented by HGST, took place on Sunday, Nov. 9, at the SAP Center in San Jose, California. In the third year of Invitational competition, all-star teams from the United States, Australia, Europe and Canada fought for the championship through five events.

Each year, the CrossFit Invitational invites the best individual athletes from around the globe to prove their fitness as part of a team, testing their communication skills as well as their fitness.

Last year, Team World emerged victorious in Berlin, Germany, after a tough fight with Team USA. The unanticipated loss left then-three-time CrossFit Games champ Rich Froning—a man unfamiliar with losing—hungry for redemption.

This year, teams were stacked with past and current CrossFit Games champions, as well as Games veterans and promising rookies, making the Invitational completely unpredictable. Everything came down to the final test of the two-hour competition.

After four events, which included synchronized muscle-ups, deadlift holds, 1-rep-max snatches and more, the teams were up against handstand walks, legless rope climbs, 950-lb. tire flips and work with the infamous Worm in Event 5.

Coached by seven-time Games athlete Becca Voigt, USA Team dominated the final event from the start to come from behind in the overall standings and take the win. Now known as the “Team of Champions,” the foursome finished out the competition strong, lunging the Worm to victory and bringing the title back to American soil for the second time in Invitational history.

Video by Marston Sawyers.

26min 27sec

Additional audio: CrossFit Radio Episode 302 by Justin Judkins, published Nov. 2, 2013.

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