Road to the Games Ep. 18.04: Vellner & Wright—Regional Rollercoaster

Video by Heber Cannon, Marston Sawyers and Mariah Moore.

This episode of “Road to the Games” follows the highs and lows of Games hopeful Tia Wright and two-time Games medalist Pat Vellner as they prepare for and compete in the 2018 Regionals.

Wright knows the feeling of finishing just short of a qualifying spot all too well after placing seventh at Regionals in 2016 and sixth in 2017.

“Since last year, I’ve worked so much on my mind,” Wright says. “I’ll be ready when Regionals come.”

Despite that confidence, Wright struggles through the West Regional, finishing the weekend in 22nd.

“I’m confused that you can put in such good work and not see the outcome that you’re looking for,” says a disappointed Wright.

In the East, Vellner busts down the door to the CrossFit Games like a wild Canadian moose. With back-to-back third-place finishes at the Games, Vellner is now a seasoned veteran who knows what it takes to compete at the highest level.

“If you’re under-prepared for Regionals, you don’t go to the Games,” he says.

It’s safe to say Vellner is prepared this year. After placing third or better in every single event, Vellner takes the East and finishes first overall on a combined Regionals leaderboard—25 points ahead of two-time defending Games champ Mat Fraser.

“Even when it comes to my school or work or whatever, I want to do better than everybody else. I want to be the best version of myself that I can be,” says Vellner, a chiropractic student who works as an intern at the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College (CMCC) clinic when he’s not busy training.

Vellner hopes his winning streak will continue in Madison: “I would love to win. We work too hard to ‘participate.‘”

Watch the full episode and discover which of these athletes likes to knit and which has a house that’s constantly filled with strangers’ dogs.

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[sethscreativefilms]

The juxtaposition between Vellner's and Tia's mentality was very interesting

[jessifresh]

Tia's experience at Regionals is what most athletes experience there, give or take. It's not a story that gets told a lot by CrossFit Media, so I'm glad they put this together.

[rottekiwi]

seeing a games athlete in a shirt and tie is just bizarre

[jimnc]

I've seen many people do this overly positive self assurance and it often leads to mental and physical breaks. It's like playing make believe that the problems in life or competition can be dismissed with a smile. A better approach is to be flexible and realistic and allow yourself to have low days or reset times. Focus and be resilient.

[chrisconnor]

One appears to be more humble than the other. And the humble one's been on the podium twice.

[Vegaman]

I don't do a lick of crossfit, but I love watching these! Gotta respect their grind! Let's go!!!

[jhssuthrnmama]

Tia: "I'm not nervous at all."
Patrick: "I've got a little nerves going on."
Mat: (from the 20m documentary) "I was throwing up."

I would guess that maybe it's because Patrick, and especially Mat, know exactly what's necessary to win, and that's going deep in the pain cave, and staying there, and not leaving until you finish, no matter how deep, no matter how long. I sure don't have what it takes to do that, and I can imagine that if I did, and I knew what I was about to face, that I'd be more on the Mat end of things!

[tosh]

I liked that crossfit showed the other side of competition, the roller coaster that tia went through would resonate with so many other regional athletes.

[tylermoreland]

Last time I was this early Rich Froning was still competing as an individual!

[Bumzi]

Mat Fraser vs The World, I genuinely laughed in excitement . The fact that he has his own episode and his obstacle is everyone else, is amazing . Can't wait for Fraser's bit .

[Nickstyx]

I think Tia is drastically trying to force positive thinking...that doesn't make for a solid performance

[JeanGlaude]

I gave Tia a high five at the West Regional and she just about ripped my arm off.

[tomogorman]

I love so much how Vellner keeps talking about being careful, and not going unbroken, and staying within your capabilities. You can tell he really thinks about the workouts and knows his abilities!

[Ashley-iswj]

This paring of Patrick and Tia is very interesting. And the editing done on this video is done insanely well. Tia might not have deserved the highlight of her journey. But it helped demonstrate a winners mindset vs a participant mindset.

[quentingallea]

That was by far the most enriching crossfit documentary. Vellner, is a really impressive athlete, able to share his cold temper and calm approach to the competition. Above that, I found it particularly fascinating to follow Tia Wright. First, her approach and questioning on the mental/psychological side of competition is deep. Then, showing someone who is not top five at every event, show a bit more the truth of the sport. Winning is awesome, but competition day, winning day are nothing in sport, they are the 1% of the time or the people. Dealing with ups and down, failling, going back up, that's the big deal. Awesome, video! Thanks a lot to the athlete and producing team! Cheers

[harlemdeni]

Did they just shouted 'NO REP'?! :D :D :D That was the funniest ish I've seen all day hahaha.

[Bhanupratapsingh-jbnk]

Go Vellner! That starting facepalm though!

[thiswill]

Sports Psychologist lol
Like.."ok..answer your own question lmao"

[JayFriedrichs]

Love how this shows how much of this is mentality. The people who win are tough as nails. They have a strategy and they commit too it no matter how bad it they want to quit.

[Purveyorofawesome]

As always, great work guys! Vellner & Wright can help a lot of us remember to live life. So inspiring to watch those two push themselves, win or fail, and just keep going!