REPS July/August coverman Rich Froning triumphs again at CrossFit Games
By the Editors
Rich Froning Jr. swam, ran, lifted and hammered his way to victory at the 2012 Reebok CrossFit Games in Southern California. The 24-year-old who trains out of Cookeville, Tennessee, became the first man to repeat as champion, holding the title of “Fittest Man on Earth” for two years running.
The CrossFit Games began with a surprise on Wednesday, July 11, with meet director Dave Castro shocking the athletes by scheduling a modified triathlon at U.S. Marine Base Camp Pendelton two days before the regularly scheduled events were set to begin. Competitors then faced an obstacle course contest at the camp’s school of infantry.
Froning, who told Reps in an interview for a cover feature in the Jul/Aug 2012 issue that he hates anything involving long-distance running, struggled in the opening endurance-event stages, but settled nicely into form once the traditional CrossFit events got underway at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Although Froning had established enough of a lead to almost guarantee a win by the time the final triple-WOD event rolled around on Sunday afternoon, he nevertheless blasted a record-setting run of the benchmark CrossFit WOD “Elizabeth” (21-15-9 reps of cleans with 135 lbs. and ring dips) in 2 minutes and 33 seconds. He followed that up with another win for “Isabel” (30 snatches with 135 lbs.) in 1:20 and then simply needed to finish the final killer workout, the classic WOD Fran (21-15-9 reps of squat thrusters with 95 lbs. and kipping pull-ups), to guarantee the overall win.
Froning powered through Fran methodically in 2:58 and collapsed onto his back. Once he got official word of his victory, he hugged training partner Dan Bailey (who finished in 6th place overall) and raised an arm in the air to give a thumbs-up to wild cheers from crowd in the packed stadium.
For a complete look at what makes Rich Froning Jr. so formidable, pick up the July/August 2012 issue, now on sale on newsstands or on tablets (iPad Newsstand or at Zinio.com).
