Granite Games: is this Chandler Smith’s moment to send message heading into 2021 CrossFit Games?
- The American has been close on a number of occasions and many think he could take next step to upper echelon of the sport
- Smith leads thin field at Granite Games where he can send statement to CrossFit world that he means business heading into 2021 games
Chandler Smith caught the attention of the CrossFit world at the Atlantic Regionals in 2016 during Event Five, a triplet of running on a Tru Form runner, GHD sit-ups and dead lifts at 405 pounds.
Defending CrossFit Games champion Ben Smith set the pace as athletes entered the final round, but Chandler Smith did everything in his power to chase him down. He ripped 405 off the ground seven times in under 10 seconds and finished just three seconds behind Ben.
Chandler Smith did not make the Games that year, finishing ninth in a competitive region, but he had made his mark in the sport and fans were clamouring to see how he would improve in the years to come.
The next year he lost part of his finger and was forced to take some time off and re-evaluate as some thought we had seen the last of him. It turns out that was not the case. Not only did he find a way to make it work, he’s been able to accomplish more post injury.
In the past two years, he has competed at three Sanctionals and finished in the top five in all of them (fifth place at Rogue in 2019, fourth place at Rogue – which was technically not a Sanctional – in 2020, and first place at the Mayhem Classic in 2020). He has also qualified for the games in the past two seasons.
In 2019, he was one of the last athletes cut on Saturday morning before the final 10 athletes were allowed to finish the competition on their own (he took 15th that year ahead of Patrick Vellner and Lukas Hogberg, who had both been podium finishers the year before). In 2020, Chandler was painstakingly close to again making it through the drastic cut (from 30 down to five) after Stage One. He took sixth place, missing the opportunity to compete live in California in Stage Two by just two points.
Earlier this year, Smith stepped away from the Army and moved to New England where he is training alongside two-time games champion Katrin Davidsdottir, reigning second fittest man on earth Samuel Kwant and three-time games athlete Amanda Barnhart, who, like Smith, barely missed Stage Two (by five points) of the games.
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“Outside of the Army I have less day to day stress and more time to commit to full-time training,” Smith said in an interview with the Post. “This has mostly come in the form of increased focus on recovery.”
He added that, “facing off with some of the best athletes in the sport every day is immensely challenging”, and acknowledges that “it forces me to pay attention to all lifestyle aspects in an effort to keep up” and “in that regard it is one of the biggest opportunities for growth I could ever hope for.”
The question surrounding Smith is now, how high is his ceiling? And, more specifically, can he win the games?
The 2021 season is just getting started for the elite athletes. Before we answer the question of whether he can win, he needs to get there. After the seeding process following quarter-finals, Smith found out he would be competing at the Granite Games in Eagan, Minnesota, from June 4-6. There will be 29 other men competing there, and all will be clamouring for one of five qualifying positions to the 2021 games.
The men’s field lacks some of the star power other North American semi-finals have. While the Mid-Atlantic boasted at least five top 10 games threats (Ben Smith, Scott Panchik, Samuel Kwant, Travis Mayer and Justin Medeiros) and the West Coast Classic has an incredibly deep field headlined by Noah Ohlsen, Cole Sager, Sean Sweeney, Will Moorad and Alec Smith, the Granite Games just doesn’t have the same feel when you look at the roster.
Aside from Smith (considered the favourite), other notables include Saxon Panchik (three-time games athlete, ninth in 2019), Tim Paulson (four-time games athlete, 14th in 2020) and Rogelio Gamboa (five-time individual games athlete, who also competed in the team division in 2019), there are some other good athletes in this field, but they just don’t have the pedigree and accolades we see at the MACC or WCC.
So, what does this mean for Smith?
“My focus is on performing to the best of my ability in each workout,” he said.
Getting too far ahead of oneself as an athlete can be detrimental, but if his intention is to win, then he needs to take advantage of the hand he’s been dealt.
Almost all of the champions have also had dominating performances in the stage immediately preceding the games. At least on the men’s side, the only exception in the last seven years in which Regionals existed (2012-2018) was Ben Smith taking fourth at Regionals before winning in 2015. Otherwise, all the champions in that time frame have also won their Regional, and it’s important to note those were all either Rich Froning or Mat Fraser.
Whether Smith wins, or wins in dominating fashion at the Granite Games, ultimately does not matter. All he needs to do is advance. However, if we’re trying to answer the questions of just how good he can be and whether he has what it takes to win the biggest prize of all, then his performance at the semi-finals could offer some insight.
