Dubai: The Seven Gym in Al Manara, Dubai, held their first official mixed CrossFit Competition last night and it featured 44 elite category athletes in top shape and ready for action.
Split into teams of 2, the 22 pairs then endured a night of blood, sweat and tears as they gave it their all to claim the winning prize of Dh10,000 as the packed venue watched them compete in a variety of intense exercises against each other.
These included barbell squats and presses, running, rowing and punishing spells on exercise bikes with little or no recovery time between sets. The goal was for each competitor to finish each drill as quickly as possible and they were awarded points for the speed and accuracy by the judges who were watching closely.
Good show
CrossFit coach Mohamed El Omda, ranked the fittest man in Egypt for the past seven years, was adjudicating the event sponsored by Adidas, Genejack, and Unbroken and he was impressed with the effort and dedication he saw being displayed. “It was better than I expected – it was organized, the contestants were raring to go and the management helped out with the event and ensured to make it a rousing success.”
CrossFit, which originates in the US and uses the main elements of gymnastics, is one of the fastest growing high-intensity functional training modes in the world.
Omda, the only Arab amongst 39 athletes to qualify in the Dubai Fitness Championship in 2019 added, “These elite athletes have competed in worldwide tournaments and they gave their very best efforts tonight. It was very impressive.”
First place
As the night wore on the lowest scoring participants were gradually eliminated. After the all penalties and score adjustments had been issued it was the dynamic duo of Oleg Lascenko and Evie Hollis (team Seven and a Half) that won the event after a punishing evening. Cathy Rezk and Denis Catana (The WOD guys) came second they won Dh5,000 and Lucas Rosa and Luiza Marques (CrossFit AlAin) took third (Dh2,500).
Omda, who began CrossFit training in 2015 and represented the Egyptian National team and participated in many rowing competitions held on the Nile added, “We will be holding more CrossFit Competition at the Seven Gym in the future. CrossFit is gaining popularity all over the world and there are some very good athletes here in the UAE who can achieve major goals.”
