2024 Dubai Fitness Championship Preview: Podium Picks and Athletes To Watch
This weekend, 30 men and 30 women will descend upon Dubai for the final major competition of the calendar year.
- This year the Dubai Fitness Championship moved its invitation process to be nearly entirely based on the online qualifier, so the composition of the field is different than previous years.
Overall, three men and four women who competed as individuals at the 2024 CrossFit Games will step onto the competition floor in Dubai. In total, there are eight men and 11 women who have been to the CrossFit Games as individuals in the field this weekend.
Women’s Division
The battle for the podium will likely come down to five women, three Games veterans, a Games rookie, and a young gun.
Karin Freyova
Freyova has won back-to-back Dubai Fitness Champions and is the favorite to win her third in a row.
- She also had the top finish out of the field in the Semifinals this year after taking fourth in the French Throwdown.
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Matilda Garnes
Garnes was a member of Team Peak 360 and finished third at the CrossFit Games this year.
- In her first competition as an individual after the CrossFit Games, she had a dominant victory at the Belgrade Games, finishing in the top two in all six events.
In her last appearance in Dubai, Garnes finished second in 2022.
Elisa Fuliano
The Italian finished fifth in her first appearance in the Dubai Fitness Championship last year.
- At the Belgrade Games last month, Fuliano won the final four events on her way to a second-place finish behind Garnes.
Linda Keesman
The 2024 CrossFit Games rookie earned a 19th-place finish in Fort Worth, TX this summer.
- Looking back at Semifinals, her seventh-place performance at the French Throwdown would have been good enough for ninth on a combined, global Semifinals leaderboard, ahead of all other Dubai competitors except for Karin Freyova.
Anikha Greer
The young Canadian missed the CrossFit Games by 1 point in 2024 and 3 points in 2023 at the North America East Semifinals.
- Those close calls have overshadowed the successful off-season campaigns she’s had in recent years.
In 2023, Greer had second place finished in both the Down Under Championship and the Madrid Championship beating several Games athletes along the way.
Other Women to Watch
Kristin Holte and Jamie Simmonds, 2019 CrossFit Games podium finishers, are back on the individual floor together this week.
- Holte announced her retirement after her fourth-place finish at the 2021 CrossFit Games.
Simmonds’ last individual Games appearance was in 2023 when she finished 17th. 2023 CrossFit games rookie, Emily De Rooy is back on the individual floor after winning the CrossFit Games team competition with Mayhem Thunder.
Podium Picks
- Karin Freyova
- Anikha Greer
- Matilda Garnes
Men’s Division
The men’s field is not as deep as the women’s when it comes to elite competition experience.
- It does however have a number of athletes on the upswing of their careers, which will make all the action on the competition floor interesting.
Moritz Fiebig
Fiebig took a big step forward in 2023 with his 21st-place finish at the CrossFit Games. Fiebig withdrew from the 2024 Games following the tragedy in Event 1.
- Last month, Fiebig won the Belgrade Games impressively by taking first in four out of the six events.
In 2022, Fiebig finished second in the Dubai Fitness Championship. That year, he had the same number of points as the winner, Fabián Beneito Sellés, but lost the tiebreak for the top spot.
Luka Đukić
Ðukić was on his way to a career year until tragedy struck and he lost his brother Lazar at the 2024 CrossFit Games.
- Đukić won the UAE Storm Games earlier this year before an impressive fifth-place finish at the French Throwdown.
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In his first competition back since the Games, he finished third at the Belgrade Games. Đukić earned his invitation to this year’s Dubai Fitness Championship by winning the online qualifier.
Calum Clements
The Spaniard is one of only two athletes in the field at Dubai to finish in the top 20 at the CrossFit Games after finishing 20th earlier this year.
- From an offseason competition perspective, in 2022, Clements finished sixth at the Madrid Championship. The field at Madrid that year included seven other athletes who have since competed at the CrossFit Games.
Spencer Panchik
The Panchik twin has the best CrossFit Games career finish among all the male athletes competing in Dubai this year. He finished 17th in 2023.
- His 20th place showing in 2022 is tied with Calum Clements as the second-best finish at the Games among this Dubai field.
While Panchik has had a disappointing 2024 so far, he has the proven ability to finish the year off strong.
Bronislaw Olenkowicz
“Big Bron” is the oldest man in the field in Dubai, but can still throw down with the youngsters.
- He is only one year removed from his career-best 26th-place finish at the CrossFit Games.
Last month, Olenkowicz finished second at the Belgrade Games, behind Moritz Fiebig.
In his first year as a Masters athlete, Olenkowicz finished third in the 35-39 division at the Masters CrossFit Games by Legends.
Podium Picks
- Moritz Fiebig
- Luka Đukić
- Calum Clements
The Prize Purse
While the field makeup might be different, the competition will be fierce.
The Dubai Fitness Championship has one of the top prize purses in the sport. With podium finishers taking home $50,000 for first, $30,000 for second, and $20,000 for third, there is plenty of reason for athletes to go all out.
- Even the athletes who aren’t in contention for the podium have a reason to go for broke on their wheelhouse events.
The top three finishers in each event will receive a cash prize of $1,500, $1,000, and $750.
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Featured image: @dxbfitnesschamp / Instagram
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