Czechoslovak athletes competed at the Berlin Throwdown!
Author: Throwdowns are crossfit multi-day competitions that bring athletes from all over the world. They are held throughout the year in different but very interesting locations. We also visitedAthens Throwdown, from which we brought you a report with interviews with Czechoslovak athletes!
During the weekend of 6-7 July 2019, theBerlin Throwdown crossfit competitions were held, which were only for teams. Even though these races are not as big in terms of space compared to others, Berlin Throwdown manages to keep the bar very high. Mainly because of thelevel of the races, the excellent organization, the specific but also very high quality and difficult wod's. This is also the reason why these races attract more and more athletes.
There are about 100 teams registered for these races, even in some categories, but as we have already written, the organizers are constantly trying to keep the races at a high level and so they play on quality rather than quantity. That's why in the end there were the following number of teams in each category: RX female 20 teams, RX male 20 teams, Intermediate femeale 18 teams, Intermediate male 19 teams, Masters 35+ female 4, Masters male 10, Teens female 2, Scaled female 10 teams, Scaled male 10 teams. Although it looks like there were not enough competitors, in total 226 athletes participated in the race !
Highlights from the races
Judge the individual wods for yourself if you find them too challenging or vice versa. As CrossFit standards are rising and everyone wants to see constant progression, higher performances and heavier weights, even wods at these competitions are subject to pressure from the outside, so they have no choice but to adapt.
Scaled & Teens wod's
RX, Intermediate & Masters wod´s
Czechoslovak athletes
CZECH GUNS -Marek VáchaandMartin Feiferlík 9th place RX Male
Hey guys, could you introduce yourselves?
Hi, I'm Martin Feiferlíkfrom Pilsen and I'm Marek Vácha from Prague.
Are you guys racing together for the first time or have you ever raced together before?
Martin: It's the first time we've raced together like this, we tried it. We prepared for it in two training sessions, so "for fun", we just wanted to get here and participate in these races, where there are actually quite top athletes at the Reebok CrossFit Games 2019 and we wanted to compare in a global perspective what kind of form we have.
How did you like the races?
Marek: Hale was awesome, me and Marty liked it a lot, the workouts here were really relatively hard. The level of athletes here was great, so it was a very nutritious two days. We really enjoyed it here.
Martin and his relocation with an incredible 177,5kg
Are you planning any more races together in this pairing?
Martin: I would be very happy and I hope that Mára was happy with me.
Marek: Yeah definitely, we'll do it again sometime, it was great. I really enjoyed it, there were some mistakes, some bad expressions, but it was good, we'll try again. (laughs)
As for your individual racing side, do you have any plans for the future?
Martin: I'm preparing for the Spanish Throwdown, where I've just qualified, where I'd like to finish in the top 3 and I'd like to try the Open Rebook CrossFit Games 2020, where I finished second last time, which was a bit disappointing.
Marek: I would also like to go to Spain to compete, like Martin. I want to prepare properly for the Open Reebok CrossFit Games 2020 over the summer now, to give it my best shot. The last one didn't go so well because of my knees, so hopefully it will be better now and then I'm thinking about the German Throwdown
HYPER HYPER! - Michal Ševčík and Jan Franců 2nd place Scaled Male
Hi guys, could you introduce yourselves to our magazine?
Hi, I'm Jan Franců and I'm from CrossFit Liberec . Hi I'm Michal Ševčík and I'm also from CrossFit Liberec.
Is this the first time you've competed together?
Michal: Exactly, for the very first time. We didn't really know what we were getting into. At first we thought we were going to train all the exercises together terribly, but we ended up having like two workouts, so we always told each other before the workout how we were going to break it down, but it was more of a feeling thing.
And how did you guys figure out that you were the two of you going to go to the races together?
Jan: So we're on a similar strength level. One of us is better at some things than the other, but we complement each other quite well. We figured we'd have a good time here and go to these European races for the first time.
How do you feel about the races?
Jan: The races are great, as I said, it's the first time we've been to European races and although we try so hard in the Czech Republic and it's great what the people there are doing for the community, we're not quite there yet for the European races. Here you could see how the whole race is sponsored by NIKE. It was a little bit different and it's definitely not our last European race.
Are you planning any more races together?
Jan: We will definitely come up with something else!
What about some individual races?
Jan: Definitely Bcross in August, I'm really looking forward to it. And I'll see if my health is good, so I'll race as much as I can. I enjoy racing and it's also a motivation for me to exercise.
Michal: I honestly don't plan anything yet, because I was in Brno last week and it's quite demanding. When you "crash" for two days, lick your wounds for a week and then go to the next race, like here in Berlin, it's quite demanding, but I'm not saying I'm not going to do anything. I'll see what comes up, but for now I'm going to rest.
MIDDLE SENIORS - Jakub Kobliček and Miroslav Holy 16th place RX Male
Hi Míro and Jakub, how did you like the races?
We liked the races very much - very good organization and competition. It was a great race
How satisfied are you with how you finished?
Míra.
Jakub: It could have been better, it can always be better.
Are you racing together for the first time as a pair?
It was the first time we raced together in a pair. A month ago we did the Roma Throwdown together, where we were in a trio with Lucie Kršková.
Are you planning any races on your own?
Míra: I'm not planning anything at the moment.
Jakub: I've already done a few races, now I'd like to rest for a while.
ALPHA PRIME TEAM - Pavel Frajdt and Martin Kružlic 6th place RX Male
Hi guys, could you introduce yourselves?
Hi, I'm Martin Kružlic. Hi I'm Pavel Frajdt and today we raced together as Alpha Prime Team.
Is this your first time racing together as a pair?
Martin: As far as this team is concerned, yes.
Pavel: We have raced together before, but mixed with girls.
What are your feelings after the race?
Martin: There was very strong competition. Satisfied with some of the waters, some we could have done better, but depending on how we feel already, it's hard to plan any tactics, but I'm happy.
Paul: I think Martin had a little bit of an advantage over me today, maybe even yesterday. So I hope he's not mad at me for screwing him up a bit... (laughs) . Some things surprised us a lot, but overall I think it's great. The final was very good, we were second there. It was a similar workout to the ones we often train.
Are you planning to go anywhere else in this pair?
Martin: In two weeks there will be a fours competition in Nové Zámky, which we will take part in.
And as for yourselves?
Martin: I'm planning the Austria Throwdown, the Spanish Throwdown and the Cyprus Throwdown.
Paul: I'm planning the Spanish Throwdown and I'd like to try to qualify for Dubai again in the winter, that would probably be my ceiling. After that, I'm preparing for the Open Reebok Crossfit Games 2020. That will be my goal, to qualify for the 2020 Reebok CrossFit Games.
Paul you are a friend of Kara Frey, how do you see her preparation for the 2019 Reebok CrossFit Games from a friend's perspective?
In terms of the relationship, it's very difficult at this time, Kara is only focused on the Games, she's going for her goal, she doesn't just want to be there, she wants to compete. I think she's definitely up to it, so in terms of the relationship it's complicated, but I like her a lot. Then on the sporting side - she's improving, she's in very good shape. She's started to tune her up now. I think she's 99% done with Crossfit as a sport and she's just fine-tuning the accessories. We're tailoring the whole relationship so that Kara can prepare herself as well as possible.
Guys, you are trained by a common coach Rado Ivan, how do you like his approach as a coach to you?
Martin: It's great. As for me personally in the two years I've been under him, he's pulled me up very high. I'm very satisfied so far, so we'll see what we can come up with next.
Paul: I've been training under Rad since my very beginnings in 2012 from a fat boy to some Elite athlete doing races like this. Rado has a very individual approach compared to some paid "programming". I'm not saying it's 100%, everybody has some quirks, by having many athletes, he does try different workouts on us at times, what will it do. Sometimes we feel like it's terribly hard to overdo it, but again today we found that some wod's made sense. For me, it's the best option. If I tell him he's crazy, we take off and if I feel good, we keep going. He adjusts us to the volume and the workouts and everything else.
ALPHA PRIME TEAM - Patricie Ježková and Lucia Kršková 2nd placeRX Female
Hi girls, congratulations for the second place. I suppose you are happy?
How do you feel about the race? The concept here was interesting in that the delays between wod's were sometimes long and sometimes very short.
Patricia: On the first day we had a break of up to 4 hours, that was quite long.
Lucie: Now towards the end I think they wanted to end it, so they reduced the delays. I was here last year, so it was in a different place, but I like these races very much because they are very well organized. Great judges and facilities for the athletes. They had proteins for us, energy drinks, different bars, we could visit the masseurs, so everything is great here.
Was it the first time you two raced together?
Lucie.
As for yourselves, do you have any races planned?
Lucie: Well, I'll see what comes up.
Patricia: I've got Bcross in August and then I'll see.
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If you decide to visit the Berlin Throwdown you won't go wrong. As far as the organizational aspect is concerned, the races went like clockwork. There were no or minimal delays. The judges worked great! There were also two head judges (head referees) on the course, who checked not only the athletes, but also the judges to correct the athletes correctly and fairly.
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