Opinion | 2021 CrossFit Games: can Iceland’s ‘BKG’ bring glory to homeland with title win?

When it comes to the most dominating countries related to the sport of CrossFit, the US takes the cake. There hasn’t been a male champion outside of America since 2009 when Finland’s Mikko Salo won it.

On the women’s side, the US contingent isn’t as strong, largely due to Australian Tia-Clair Toomey’s dominance over the past four years, but outside of that the American woman are always gunning for the top spot. The same can be said for the team division as Rich Froning’s CrossFit Mayhem Freedom is an ongoing dynasty that does not look to be slowing down one bit.

Toomey doesn’t have many Australian counterparts, either man or woman, when it comes to the upper echelon of CrossFit competitors, so when you are looking at next in line for country domination, the tag has to go to the tiny Nordic island nation of Iceland.

Here you get two-time Games winners Annie Thorisdottir and Katrin Davidsdottir, along with Sara Sigmundsdottir, who found her way onto the podium twice.

On the men’s side, it’s a bit thin, but there is one man at the top who has a golden opportunity this season to change all of that. Bjorgvin Karl Gudmundsson, known to fans as “BKG”, has been one of the most consistent male competitors outside of now retired five-time CrossFit Games champion Mat Fraser. Gudmundsson has found his way onto the podium twice (2015, 2019) and finished in the top 10 six times, consecutively on top of that, dating back to 2015.

The problem for male competitors through the years is the sport has had two generational talents back-to-back in Froning and Fraser. In between there was the Ben Smith year in 2015. Now with Froning long gone to the team division and Fraser enjoying his retirement, the throne is wide open.