Samantha Briggs

Samantha "Sam" Briggs (born 14 March 1982) is an English CrossFit athlete best known for winning the CrossFit Games in 2013.[1][2] She has qualified for the CrossFit Games six additional times: in 2010, 2011, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2019. She finished four of her seven appearances in the top 5 overall.[2][3][4] Briggs lived and trained in Miami, USA for the 2015 CrossFit season, but now resides in her native England.

Samantha Briggs
Personal information
NationalityEnglish
Born (1982-03-14) 14 March 1982
Manchester, England
OccupationProfessional CrossFit Athlete
Height5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Weight135 lb (61 kg)
Sport
SportCrossFit
Achievements and titles
World finals2013 CrossFit Games champion

Before she found CrossFit in 2009, she competed in amateur-level duathlons, triathlons,[5] and football in the Northern Premiership League (as a centre midfielder or centre-back).[6] She worked as a firefighter with West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service. Briggs then took a sabbatical to concentrate on CrossFit fulltime.

CrossFit Games career

Briggs first qualified for the CrossFit Games in 2010, finishing second at the 2010 Europe Regional behind soon-to-be twice Games champion Annie Thorisdottir.[7]

At the 2010 CrossFit Games, Briggs' highest finish was third place on "Pyramid Double Helen",[8] which she completed in 18:30. The only two women to beat her were the overall second and first place Games finishers, Annie Thorisdottir (17:53) and Kristan Clever (18:23). Briggs finished in 19th place overall.

By 2011, Briggs was a more developed athlete and improved to 4th overall. Briggs earned top 10 event finishes on 7 of the 10 events, including two event wins on "The End 2" and "The End 3".[3]

In 2012, Briggs was sidelined by a knee injury.[9] She officially withdrew from the competition in March, midway through the CrossFit Open, the first stage of qualifying for the CrossFit Games, citing maltracking of her right kneecap which had been an ongoing issue for a couple of years. She later learned she also had a fractured patella.

During her year off, Briggs changed her approach to training. The head trainer at CrossFit 3D, a CrossFit gym that Briggs attended in the past, described her approach to training in the early years as very high volume metabolic conditioning which resulted in her "smashing herself into the ground."[9] With awareness of her injuries, her coach, Steadman, and sports therapist, James Jowsey, were able to program workouts that would not cause further damage. As she laid off many workouts that involved her legs, she spent her time developing her upper body gymnastics skills on the pull-up bar, rope, and gymnastics rings, and also opened her own CrossFit affiliate, Train Manchester.

In 2013, Briggs returned to competition with the drive of an athlete who had been forced onto the sidelines for a year. She won the worldwide Open, the Europe Regional, and CrossFit Games in Carson. It was a decisive victory, though some critics argue that the decisiveness was a consequence of the fact that the two-time champion, Annie Thorisdottir (2011, 2012), was not able to defend the title that year because of a back injury in the winter,[10] and Julie Foucher, the previous year's silver medalist, did not compete since she chose to focus on medical school.[11] At the 2013 Games, Briggs put in performances that helped bolster her nickname of "The Engine" such as completing a half-marathon row of 21,097 meters on an indoor Concept 2 rower that Briggs finished in one hour and 27 minutes (1:27:47.9).[2]

The next spring, Briggs won the Open yet again but failed to qualify for the Games after placing fourth at the 2014 Europe Regional. Briggs finished in 26th place on the maximum distance handstand walk event, going only 65 ft (20 m), early in the competition[2] and even with three event wins and never finishing lower than eighth on any other event, Briggs was unable to close the gap between herself and the leading athletes. Briggs became the first reigning individual champion to be eliminated at the Regionals.

ESPNW named Briggs an "athlete to watch" at the 2015 Games,[12] however, Briggs had another rough year by injuring her Sacroiliac joint midway through the CrossFit Open qualifying stage, and then breaking her foot prior to the Regionals. Briggs still managed to earn 2nd overall at the 2015 Atlantic Regional (having moved to Florida during the year) with her broken foot,[13] thereby qualifying for the 2015 CrossFit Games.

At the 2015 Games, Briggs was able to climb to 4th overall despite the injuries that she had suffered earlier in the season. Her best performance was on Murph, in which the athletes completed in the over 100 °F (38 °C) temperatures in the afternoon. While other athletes, like Annie Thorisdottir and Kara Webb, sustained heat related injuries, Briggs ran to the finish line in 39 minutes, 10 seconds, seemingly unfazed and more than a minute ahead of the next closest female athlete, Alethea Boon of New Zealand, and quicker than all the male athletes but one, Björgvin Karl Guðmundsson of Iceland.[14] Eight athletes would not finish within the 1 hour time-cap, including eight-times Games competitor Rebecca Voigt, twice champion Annie Thorisdottir, and 2013 silver medalist Lindsey Valenzuela.[2]

CrossFit Games results
Year Division Games Regionals Open
2010[4] Individual 19th 2nd (Europe) —
2011 4th[3] 2nd (Europe)[2] 3rd[15]
2012 Did not compete due to injury
2013[2] 1st 1st (Europe) 1st
2014[2] — 4th (Europe) 1st
2015[2] 4th 2nd* (Atlantic) 82nd*
2016[2] 4th 4th (Meridian) 2nd
2017[2] Individual 9th 2nd (Meridian) 12th
Masters (35–39) DNP 1st (online qualifier) 1st
2018[2] Individual — DNP* 29th
Masters (35–39) 2nd 2nd (online qualifier) 1st
Year Division Games Qualifier Open
2019[2] Individual 18th 1st (Dubai)
1st (Australian)		 22nd (world)
1st (United Kingdom)
Masters (35–39) — — 1st
2020[2] Individual 5th (Filthy 150)
3rd (Dubai)		 135th (world)
6th (United Kingdom)
Team
(Team WIT)		 — 3rd (WZA)[16] —
Masters (35–39) — — 9th
*Injured during or prior to competition

References
  1. "THE FITTEST WOMAN ON EARTH: SAMANTHA BRIGGS". CrossFit Games. July 29, 2013.
  2. "CrossFit Games Leaderboard". CrossFit Games. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
  3. "2011 CrossFit Games Scoreboard". 2011 CrossFit Games. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
  4. "2010 CrossFit Games Finals - Overall Results (Women)". 2010 CrossFit Games. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
  5. "Athlete: Samantha Briggs". CrossFit Games. Retrieved 2015-10-15.
  6. "The Next Holmberg? An Interview with Sam Briggs : 2010 CrossFit Games". games2010.crossfit.com. Retrieved 2015-10-15.
  7. "Europe Regional Overall Results (Women)". scores2010.crossfit.com. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
  8. "2010 Games Events". games.crossfit.com. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
  9. "Behaving: Sam Briggs". CrossFit Games. March 15, 2015.
  10. "Thorisdottir Sidelined by Back Injury". CrossFit Games. March 28, 2013.
  11. "A Year Off, But Not Out: Julie Foucher". CrossFit Game. October 30, 2012.
  12. "6 CrossFit Games Athletes You Need To Watch". espnW. July 21, 2015. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
  13. "7 Interesting Facts From the Atlantic & South Regionals You May Have Missed". BoxLife Magazine. May 19, 2015. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
  14. "Murph Makes CrossFit Games Athletes Look Mortal". San Diego Union Tribune. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  15. "2011 Open Scoreboard". 2011 CrossFit Games. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
  16. "Wodapalooza Leaderboard". Competition Corner. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
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