DUBAI // International athletes dominated the podium at this year’s Dubai Fitness Championships.
None of the top three positions in both the men and women's categories were taken by UAE-based athletes on Saturday night.
Annie Thorisdottir, from Iceland, the CrossFit Games world No 1, took the top spot for women while Frederik Aegidius from Denmark, also a CrossFit professional athlete, was first in the men’s category.
They and others such as Kenneth Leverich and Tanner Shuck from the US were hosted in Dubai to compete in the competition, now in its second year.
Thorisdottir and Aegidius both took away more than Dh650,000 in prize money after the three-day event, also winning individual events in addition to the overall Dh200,000 prize money, double the first prize given last year.
Last year’s women’s winner, Eva Clarke, a mother of three who lives in Abu Dhabi, came fifth overall. She said she was disappointed with the result but said it was a positive learning experience to be up against top international talent.
“It’s disappointing,” she said. “Nobody comes to lose. It’s been a completely different experience this year. Being a three-day event rather than one last year, mentally it takes its toll too. I’ve never done anything like this. You see where you measure up though and know where you stand on an elite platform.”
Mark Botha, head of marketing for Fitness First which provided the judges and adjudicators for the event as well as hosted the qualifying events, said the competition had been thrilling from day one.
Since Thursday, athletes have competed across a number of heats with events including skills from sprints to kettlebell lifts, weighted runs known as the farmers walk and finishing with a day of cardiovascular endurance Saturday.
“The variety of the swim [on day two] really spiced things up,” he said. “Having a different discipline and location really added a unique element to the competition this year which highlighted some strengths and weaknesses in the athletes.
“Just seeing the international athletes on the stage was amazing and the local athletes have really raised their game. They were going faster and harder and getting better times so it’s raised the standards and the mall has seen so many spectators. The athletes have put on a spectacular show.”
He said the live streaming online and on Dubai Sport has also “helped open up the audience and raise the profile of the event” though Saturday’s big finale failed to show online to the disappointment of many family members eager to support from around the world.
mswan@thenational.ae
