View From The EdgeCrossFit Games 2020: Sara Sigmundsdottir chokes again, but there is hope for her as she unwittingly practises for pressure

There is so much expectation on the Icelandic superstar and yet she finishes 21st, but there is hope for Sigmundsdottir as her routine will pay dividends

The CrossFit Games 2020 leg one concludes as the top five men and top five women progress to an in-person final in California

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Sara Sigmundsdottir has the perfect training module to turn around her choking tendencies without even knowing it. Photo: Facebook

Published: 5:00pm, 21 Sep 2020Updated: 6:11pm, 9 Oct 2020

Death, taxes and asking “is this Sara Sigmundsdottir’s year?”. In the build-up to every CrossFit Games since the Icelander arrived on the scene, fans and commentators alike profess that this time Sigmundsdottir will deliver on her early promise. But once again, Sigmundsdottir was far down the rankings and never in contention for the top five.

Sigmundsdottir burst onto the CrossFit scene in 2015 with a third-place finish at the Games. She then backed up her performance with another third place in 2016. She was just 23 at her inaugural Games and everyone wondered how far she could go, but instead she dropped down the rankings, finishing fourth, 37th and 19th, with different reasons ranging from injury to format changes.

This weekend, during the first leg of the CrossFit Games 2020, she finished 21st and therefore did not qualify for the in-person final in October.

But these results do not suggest she is getting worse at CrossFit or her fitness is failing her. In the years that she has slipped down the Games rankings, she has also won three Regionals and the Open three times, including this season’s Open. The first leg of the Games was online as athletes competed remotely, so if her Open success is anything to go by then the format should have suited her.

In addition, Sigmundsdottir has won two of the Sanctional events this season, fuelling even more speculation that this could have been her year at the Games. So why has she come up short again?