4 French Throwdown Performances That Deserve a Second Look

While many of the sport’s top athletes competed at the World Fitness Project Tour Event I in Indianapolis, Indiana, over the weekend, a strong contingent of Europe’s CrossFit Games hopefuls gathered in Montpellier, France, for the French Throwdown — featuring 4 performances that deserve a second look.

This competition marked the fourth of 10 In-Person Qualifying Events (IPQE) this season. Consequently, two men’s and two women’s invitations to the CrossFit Games were at stake.

On the men’s side, Moritz Fiebig led the leaderboard. However, since he had already secured a Games spot during April’s Wodland Fest, the two qualifying invitations from Montpellier passed to Bronislaw Olenkowicz and Calum Clements, who finished second and third.

Similarly, Elisa Fuliano topped the women’s leaderboard. Yet, because she did not compete in the CrossFit Open, she was ineligible to qualify for the Games. Therefore, the two qualifying spots went to the second- and third-place finishers, Claudia Gluck and Lucy McGonigle.

4 French Throwdown Performances

2025 CrossFit Games Qualifiers from French Throwdown
Bronislaw Olenkowicz
Calum Clements
Claudia Gluck
Lucy McGonigle

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Bronislaw Olenkowicz

First, Bronislaw Olenkowicz proved his strength as a Polish powerhouse during the weekend. Indeed, he placed in the top five in five out of eight events. Moreover, he scored two event wins. One of those wins came on “Heavy Isabel,” a grueling event of 30 snatches for time at 225 pounds.

Next, “Heavy Isabel” features in every IPQE and the In-Affiliate Semifinals. Importantly, Olenkowicz clocked a time of 3:45 in this event. This ranks as the second-best time worldwide so far. Notably, only Jeff Adler’s unofficial 3:19 at the In-Affiliate Semifinals is faster. Furthermore, Olenkowicz had also won “Heavy Isabel” earlier at Wodland Fest with a time of 4:10.

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In addition, this marks Olenkowicz’s third qualification for the CrossFit Games. He previously finished 42nd in 2019. Later, he improved to 26th place in 2023.

Finally, the 36-year-old is no stranger to tough competition. Last season, he competed at the Masters CrossFit Games by Legends. There, he finished third, behind Will Moorad and Henry Matthews.

Calum Clements

Meanwhile, Spain’s Calum Clements finished just 14 points behind Olenkowicz. Also, he earned five top-10 finishes throughout the weekend. This includes a win on Event 6, which involved a 30 calorie Echo Bike, 30 bar muscle-ups, and another 30 calorie Echo Bike.

Moreover, this event win helped boost his standing overall. This achievement secured his second qualification for the CrossFit Games.

Previously, Clements made his Games debut last year as a rookie. He finished 20th that year.

Therefore, he enters this year with experience and motivation to improve.

Claudia Gluck

On the women’s side, Claudia Gluck stood out as the only French athlete to qualify from the French Throwdown. Additionally, she was one of only two women in the competition with individual CrossFit Games experience. The other was Elisa Fuliano, who topped the leaderboard but was ineligible for Games qualification.

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Competing at home gave Gluck an edge. Indeed, she finished in the top five in five of eight events. Notably, she also won one event.

Consequently, she earned her second invitation to the CrossFit Games. As a rookie last year, Gluck placed 12th.

With this strong performance, she looks ready to build on last year’s success.

Lucy McGonigle

Before the French Throwdown, Ireland’s Lucy McGonigle sat just four spots below the cutline at 15th place on the In-Affiliate Semifinals leaderboard. Hence, she needed a big weekend to qualify individually for the Games.

Indeed, McGonigle delivered. She earned five top-10 finishes in Montpellier. Moreover, she beat fourth-place finisher Aline Wirz by 20 points. This performance earned her the final Games spot.

However, on Monday, things shifted. After CrossFit penalized some athletes on the In-Affiliate Semifinals leaderboard, McGonigle’s ranking jumped from 15th to 11th. As a result, she unofficially qualified for the Games in two separate ways.

According to CrossFit’s Season Rulebook (Rule 3.01), since the French Throwdown happened before the In-Affiliate Semifinals leaderboard finalized, McGonigle will qualify officially via the French Throwdown. Meanwhile, her In-Affiliate Semifinals spot will be backfilled to the next athlete, currently Jennifer Muir.

An Update on Mirjam von Rohr

During the final event, Mirjam von Rohr — one of the frontrunners for an invitation to the Games — collapsed during the sandbag squats. Her body was visibly shaking, and numerous medical team members rushed to her side before wheeling her off the competition floor on a stretcher.

Then, on Monday, von Rohr explained in an Instagram post: “In the last workout, I got dizzy, my vision went dark, I started shaking, and I didn’t know where I was. Parts of that event are a complete blackout. It’s not the first time this has happened – but usually, in training, I stop before it gets that bad.”

Furthermore, she wrote that while she wasn’t yet sure what happened,

“I suspect my central nervous system was overloaded. I suffered a head injury two years ago, and since then I’ve had to be extremely cautious with heavy loads and high-intensity volume.”

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Although von Rohr did not finish the final event and dropped to ninth on the overall leaderboard, seemingly ending her Games hopes, her situation shifted. On Monday, Von Rohr jumped up the In-Affiliate leaderboard from 14th to 10th, meaning she will (unofficially) earn an invite to the CrossFit Games via the In-Affiliate Semifinals.

The Big Picture

With four out of 10 IPQEs and the In-Affiliate Semifinals behind us, the CrossFit Games field is starting to take shape. So far, 19 of the 30 men’s and women’s Games spots are unofficially accounted for.

Importantly, 12 of these 38 (unofficially) qualified athletes are Europeans: Gluck, McGonigle, Von Rohr, Siria Meha, Jennifer Muir, Lucy Campbell, Fiebig, Olenkowicz, Clements, Enrico Zenoni, Colin Bosshard, and Harry Lightfoot.

Since both of this season’s European IPQEs are complete, the opportunities for European athletes are dwindling. That is because three of the six remaining IPQEs are regionally restricted to other parts of the world.

Therefore, European hopefuls must rely on invitations to the Northern California Classic in Sacramento, the Torian Pro in Brisbane, or the Far East Throwdown in Busan. If those options don’t work out, the Last Chance Qualifier remains a possibility.

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Overview

While many top athletes competed in Indianapolis, a strong group gathered in Montpellier for the French Throwdown. This event was the fourth of 10 In-Person Qualifying Events this season. As a result, two men’s and two women’s CrossFit Games spots were available. However, the top men and women were already qualified or ineligible. Therefore, the qualifying invitations passed to the next highest finishers: Bronislaw Olenkowicz, Calum Clements, Claudia Gluck, and Lucy McGonigle. Consequently, these athletes secured their Games invitations through strong performances. Overall, the French Throwdown shaped a key part of the growing Games field this year.

Featured Image – 4 French Throwdown Performances That Deserve a Second Look– Credit: @frenchthrowdown (Instagram)