The best Czech crossfitter, Martin Feiferlík, has qualified for Wodapalooza in the USA!
Author: Our current best Czech crossfitter, Martin Feiferlík, recently applied for one of the biggest crossfit competitions - Wodapalooza 2022. Martin not only qualified for the competition, but also made it to the best group of 20 top athletes from all over the world! Martin proved that the title of the best crossfitter in the Czech Republic was not just awarded to him and now he even has the opportunity to compete against the best crossfitters in the world, with whom he will compete side by side. And in this interview with Martin, we'll take a look at how the whole qualification process went, his feelings about it and how he assesses his upcoming time in the USA.
Hi Martin, I would like to congratulate you very much on your progression to the Wodapalooza 2022 main race.
Thank you for your congratulations. For me, this is probably the biggest achievement as far as qualifying workouts (qualifying races) go, as Wodapalooza is one of the biggest sporting festivals in CrossFit and some people even value this race a lot more than the CrossFit Games themselves under the new set rules, so for me this is a huge achievement.
What category did you enter and how many athletes entered to qualify? How many athletes were selected for the main event?
In terms of qualifying, I had previously entered the elite category with the understanding that the rules had actually changed this year. Last year it was that the first 40 athletes went into the elite category and 30 athletes went into the rx category (lower level than elite). This year it was a lot harder under the covid situation (organizers wanted to reduce the number of athletes). 40 athletes advanced to the main event - 20 elite / 20 rx. So I entered the best race group that the race has to offer.
At the beginning of qualifying, I had no idea where I stood health-wise, as I had made it to the quarterfinals of the CrossFit Games and Open races, which I raced off with an illness (strep throat), and as far as the overall season was concerned, it was all up in the air within the covid. The last race I did was The European Championships in the Elite category, which I went to with a bad health condition after a vaccination and somehow just finished, so honestly within that Wodapalooza qualifier I didn't know what to expect. I took it more as motivation to get into that 40 athlete range to race any way I could.
How was the qualification process?
The qualification consisted of five wods with the fact that I had to run them in nine days and several thousand people registered for the race itself. This race is popular in that it is one of the largest and most popular single event races right here in the US (Florida, Miami) so it goes without saying that there are top athletes from all over the world in the race. The race is valued at a large amount of money and a large number of quality athletes from all over the world - Australia, Europe and especially the USA - sign up to qualify.
As far as the competitors are concerned, the qualification was really tough and difficult. Unlike the Crossfit Games itself, where only a few athletes from each continent can advance, the Wodapalooza qualifier pits you against athletes from all over the world.
What was the hardest wod for you and conversely, what was the easiest?
As I said. There were five wods in qualifying. The first wod I completed was wod number three, that was also the one I liked the most. It was a strength workout that was built and confirmed on hand walking. The challenge was to lift as much weight as possible for five C&Js within six minutes and confirm each C&J with a 16m HSW (standing walk). The sum of the five weights won. I finished in the top 10 in this event, which made me decide to try and fight for a top 20 finish in the qualifiers.
One of the other wods was a classic pyramid down 10-9-8-...1 combined with T2B and devilpress. This wod I decided to just go with no break. I managed to go around 7 minutes, which I was very happy with, and combined with the powerlifting, I was starting to feel confident that I could move into that elite 20. But there was a big fight within the first wod which was really tough. The way it was set up was that there were four rounds in which the competitor had to do eight angles over the bar, eight hang power snatches and eight thrusters with fifty-five kilograms. If the athlete completed the four rounds within 8 min. they moved on and had to do it within seven and then within six min. This wod was truly the most brutal.
This wod was also tough in that every rep really made the difference because in the end no one made it to the fourth round, everyone ended up in the third round and so it was decided on individual reps. I think I had two hundred and fifty-one reps after the first attempt. I then decided to try and rectify that and I even got to two hundred and sixty-one reps, which moved me up sixty to seventy places in the overall standings, which then decided the overall result in the final .
Honestly, I think this qualifier was probably the worst qualifier I've ever done. A lot of other athletes in the Czech Republic tried this qualification, including guys from our guild who entered the sport or masters category. However, it was obvious that it was a really tough and challenging qualification within the combinations of both heavy axis, gymnastics, etc. I'm honestly surprised to have advanced, as I didn't want to believe it until the last minute, as when the last results were posted I was in something like 12th place. It's just that in the US there's a time delay, so I preferred to wait until they checked the results overall.
Will you be going to the races alone or will you have an escort?
I have already called the consul in Miami in advance to see if it is possible to get there, how to get there, or how many of us can go. I definitely wouldn't want to go alone. I hope it doesn't turn out that way, because these races are huge and you need to have someone responsible with you in terms of background and organics of preparation on the day itself. You just have to work as a team, so I'm definitely not going alone.
When you compare the different types of CrossFit races that take place around the world, what level are the Wodapalooza races?
I think this race and sports festival is one of the biggest and most popular crossfit races in the world. Not only in terms of the prize money, but especially in terms of the athletes - Wodapalooza is a very well respected race in the US. What I'm really excited about is that my dream was to race alongside some of the best athletes in the world, and this is what happens. I'll be starting alongside the current CrossFit Games winner Medeiros, top athletes like Noah Ohlson, Travis Maner, etc. Obviously it's going to be a great experience and I hope my health holds out and the covid situation allows us to do it.
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