Pāriet uz galveno saturu

Hold your breath for "The Baltics Throwdown"

November for the Latvian CrossFit community will be important - a mayor CrossFit event will be held in Riga, the capital of Latvia. There had already beed a few competitions in Latvia that had CrossFit movement standards, one had even athletes not only from Latvia but from Estonia as well; however "The Baltics Throwdown" will make its mark in Latvian CrossFit history by inviting everyone but especially athletes from the Baltics to compete in this event.

You have to keep in mind one important thing about this event. It will be held between two dates, that are important for Latvians. First, 11th November is the day when Latvians honour their soldiers who had fought for the freedom of Latvia. Second, 18th November - the Latvian Independence day. Therefore by taking in to account these two important dates, do not be shocked if Latvians will show an outstanding performance at the Baltics Throwdown.

While we await for the beginning of the Online qualifier and the event itself, I would like to invite you to read this interview, that I conducted with one of the hosts Jose-Manuel Jordan. He gives a brief insight in what to expect, what is the origin of the competition and other interesting information, that I am sure none of you knew.

See you in CrossFit Teika at the 15th November.

LatvianCrossFit: CrossFit Teika will host “The Baltics Throwdown” on November 15th. Why then and why call it “The Baltics Throwdown”? 

Jose-Manuel Jordan: Why then? Because it is after all main CrossFit Games competitions and it helps the athletes to prepare for the Open, that is coming up in March next year. Why "The Baltics Throwdown"? Well, simply because we are located in the heart of the Baltic states. Riga is a great location for gathering the best athletes from Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia, and it is important to increase Latvian level of competition not only between local athletes, but with our neighbouring countries. 

LatvianCrossFit: Can you tell something about the hosts? Who are you and why are you suited to host such an event? 

Jose-Manuel Jordan: We are CrossFit Teika, a brand new Affiliated Box located in Ūdens iela 14, Riga, Latvia. You can also visit our website

We think we are suited to host such an event, because we have a great space of 1000 square meters as a playground for our athletes, and proper equipment for this competition.

LatvianCrossFit: On the Internet we have seen and read about many other Throwdowns and many athletes on my blog have talked about these events because they have been there. What will make your event stand out? 

Jose-Manuel Jordan: Well, it would be the first Throwdown in Latvia and in the Baltic states, where the best athletes would need to earn a spot through our Online qualifier, that starts on October. And after which the “The Baltic’s Throwdown 2014” in November is going to be. Additionally, different from other competitions in Latvia, we would be the first to provide an Online leaderboard system  that commonly is used in other major European competitions. It is called “WodCast”. But most important - we won’t announce the workouts in advance.

LatvianCrossFit: What can you disclose about the workouts? Will you keep them in secret like at the Reebok CrossFit Games? 

Jose-Manuel Jordan: Why? That’s the main essence of CrossFit, to be prepared for the unexpected inside and outside the box.

Workouts will be announced as follows:

For the Online qualifier. First WOD will be announced on the 12th October, leaving six days to the athlete to do the workout as many times as possible, and submit his or her best score in our Online leaderboard system. Second workout will be announced on the 19th October with the same principle for submitting the score.

For the Baltic’s Throwdown event day - there will be four total workouts for the RX category (three workouts for all athletes and one final for the best ranked athletes) and three workouts for the Beginner category with same principle. 

WOD 1 will be announced one day prior the event day, which will be characterized as an endurance event, WOD 2 will be announced three days prior the event day, and WOD's 3 and 4 (for RX) during the event.

LatvianCrossFit: In order to participate in “The Baltics Throwdown” athletes have to earn their spot through a qualifier called “The Battle of Livonia”; therefore in your event will compete only the best. Will you give the winners of the Throwdown a title like “The Fittest on the Baltics” or something like that? Why call the qualifier “The Battle of Livonia”? What is the origin?

Jose-Manuel Jordan: Indeed - The Fittest on the Baltics!

The Battle of Livonia, as part of the history of the Baltic states when the Livonian Crusades began. People at that time had to fight or protect their land, faith and dignity. In this case, athletes will fight to earn a spot in the competition.

LatvianCrossFit: What do spectators have to take into account, if they consider attending “The Baltics Throwdown” at CrossFit Teika? Will there be additional events for the audience? 

Jose-Manuel Jordan: What could be a better entertainment than watching the best athletes in this region competing to be the Fittest on the Baltics?

LatvianCrossFit: 2014 in Latvia has been very saturated with CrossFit events. Did CrossFit Teika participate in these events and if it did, how did it go?

Jose-Manuel Jordan: Saturated? Personally I think in Latvia we had relatively few events in comparison to the USA, England or other European countries. I believe the more the better for our athletes.

As we are a quite a new box, we are slowly starting to compete in local events. So far we earned a third place in "Pludmales spēks 2014"(Beach strength 2014) in Elite and Regular categories and a fourth place in "X-Power spēka un izturības spēles 2014" (X-Power strength games 2014) that were held in Ventspils. I competed in "Liepājas spēks 2014" (Liepājas strength 2014), where I finished third.

LatvianCrossFit: Will there be a team from CrossFit Teika in the near future that could compete in the Open and Regionals? 

Jose-Manuel Jordan: That is our goal - to be able to create capable athletes who can compete in the elite level, either in Individual or Team category.

LatvianCrossFit: Did you consider an option to participate in CrossFit Team Series? 

Jose-Manuel Jordan: Next year definitely.

LatvianCrossFit: Knowing that currently all eyes of the CrossFit community are on the Team Series. Have you reached out to any Games level athlete in Europe that could participate or just attend “The Baltics Throwdown”? Maybe something like that is planned for the future? 

Jose-Manuel Jordan: So far athletes from Finland, Norway, Spain and Poland with competitive CrossFit Open results have registered for the qualification stage. In the future we hope to have enough juice in terms of competition to invite Regional’s athletes.

LatvianCrossFit: The logo of your event is supplemented with a Latvian sign “Ūsiņš”. Why did you choose this particular sign? 

Jose-Manuel Jordan: This is a part of our Box logo. It provides strength to our athletes and it acts as well as a guardian and protector of our Box.

LatvianCrossFit: What do you hope to achieve with “The Baltics Throwdown”? 

Jose-Manuel Jordan: To find the Fittest on the Baltics. We hope to make it as an annual event and get recognition for our country and athletes. We want to prove that CrossFit in Latvia is growing every time more and more as a Sport and we also want promote this amazing lifestyle that we all love and endure.

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