Roman Khrennikov

Roman Khrennikov is a CrossFit athlete Russian known in the early days for having visa problems in order to be able to participate in the CrossFit Games.

Once solved, Roman has become one of the most successful athletes in the world, with numerous victories and results in the most important events in the world.

2024

Hip injury

Just after the semifinals, he suffered an injury. At the time, he didn't think much of it and assumed it was just a mild muscle strain. He continued to train despite the pain throughout his preparation for the Gamess, although he could barely train his legs or core muscles.

He competed in the Games with that same pain, and after the event decided to rest and have an MRI, which showed no problem (although he does not know why). However, when he started preparing for other competitions, the pain did not go away. Therefore, he decided to seek a second opinion at another clinic, where he was diagnosed with a tear of the anterosuperior acetabular labrum, along with a cam morphology of the left femur.

He has announced that he will not be able to participate in ROGUE or Dubai due to hip surgery. A recovery period of 4 to 6 months is expected.

CrossFit Games 2024

He did not have the expected result as he suffered a hip injury. The Russian went from strength to strength and finished ninth overall.

After finishing the Games he dedicated a post to Lazar Djukic on Instagram.

Dear Lazar,

Stepping onto the competition field without you by my side was an immense loss. I felt as if a vital part of the experience had been stripped from me, leaving an unbearable void. On and off the field, you were an endless source of motivation, pushing me to push my limits. I am eternally grateful for the privilege of having you as my training partner and competitor.

Your understanding of Russian, my broken English and our shared jokes and cultural nuances have created an unbreakable bond between us. Your absence has left an unfillable void in my life and heart, a constant reminder of the immense loss we have all suffered.

Until we meet again, brother, your memory will be forever etched in my soul. Your spirit will continue to inspire me, reminding me of the unwavering determination and camaraderie we shared. You will never be forgotten.

Semifinals North America East

He made it to the Games with a third place finish in this Semifinalbehind Jeffrey Adler and Dallin Pepper.

Wodapalooza 2024

He was second in the 3-man team with Saxon Panchik and Jorge Fernandez.

2023

About Gui Malheiros

Andrew Hiller, king of the CrossFiteras controversies, shares a video clip in which they interview Roman Khrennikov and talk about Gui Malheirosprogramming partner.

Interviewer: What about Gui? He doesn't need to do anything and he earns money, and he doesn't care.
Roman: But no longer a Games athlete. If he goes on like this another year he will be kicked out, it may look different from the outside. The fans are not going to save him, because there are new people and the money will go to other athletes.
Why are you going to sponsor someone who doesn't go to the Gamess? I mean, yes, he posts his lifts on Instagram, but what's the point of that at Gamess? People talk about it between Gamess, between competitions, but the most important thing happens at competitions.
The whole world is not looking at your Instagram, you still have to bring something to the competitions, and when you are not there you slowly start to disappear, nobody talks about you.

Dubai CrossFit Championship

Second victory in Dubai for the Russian, who was returning to this competition after winning it in 2021. He was 3rd in 2019.

He destroyed the first event, which was a steeplechase, with a spectacular victory (4:34) in which he beat Chandler Smith (5:04) by 30 seconds.

Once he took the lead, he did not relinquish the position until he won the championship with a lead of nearly 100 points over the next place finisher.

You get an award of 50.000$.

Rogue Invitational

His participation in ROGUE was doubtful due to his recovery from the foot injury in the CFG2022.

Finally, three months after injuring his foot, he recovers in time and competes.

He managed to take the lead after the second day, just 20 points behind Adler. However, the first event included Ring Muscle Ups and Hspu, two of the worst moves for the Russian, who lost the lead to Patrick Vellner.

After the third day, he placed 3rd after being overtaken by Jeffrey Adler, with whom he We were able to see a friendly attitude, settling any disagreements that may have existed in the past.

He finally finished in 3rd place with a prize of 52.000$

Controversy with Adler

Roman Khrennikov sends a "message" to Jeffrey Adler and his female trainer in a publication on Instagram:

"Unsportsmanlike behavior.
Playing dirty 👎
Crossfit is a community of individuals where leaders have high standards. My professional career started in 2018. I have heard the head judges read the rules on many occasions, especially the general rules, section C, paragraph of the rules, which requires that "all athletes compete in a sportsmanlike manner." The fittest man in the world wins because he is the most physically fit. If you think you can get in my head with the "strategy" that you and your coach think will work, then I'm sorry to disappoint you. Next time I hope you pay better attention to the rule book and try to get in shape instead of playing "dirty games"! @adlerjeff @lambrayliving"

Jeffrey Adler reportedly said on some podcast that part of his strategy was to squeeze Roman in some events so that his overall performance would suffer.

CrossFit Games 2023

Khrennikov put on the leader's jersey after winning the 2nd event. And he would keep it after finishing the first day.

The second day began with a victory in the Alpaca Redux, an event very similar to the one that had been held the previous year, which he had also won.

He also finished as leader after the second day, 100 points behind Jeffrey Adler.

On the third day, Roman Khrennikov made a mess in Event 8. Box Jump Over and then skipped a station on box jump and went directly to the rowing. The judge yelled at him but the Russian had a hard time reacting. Finally he came back and this mistake cost him the loss of a lot of time. From then on, he lost his concentration in the rest of the wod and was 20th.

Despite this result, Roman remained leader after the third day, 13 points behind Jeffrey Adler. But the worst was yet to come for the Russian.

In the first event of the last day, Khrennikov sprained his ankle when he stepped wrongly down the log and broke his foot.

It should be noted that Jeffrey Adler won that event regardless of Roman's injury and snatches the top spot from him.

Despite this injury, the Russian decides to continue and appears limping in the penultimate event.

Event 11 included double unders and Roman did 120 double unders to one leg, receiving a standing ovation from the entire crowd.

He was last in the final two events and was able to hold on to 3rd place. Had he withdrawn he would have lost the 85,000$ prize money.

He was awarded "The Spirit of the Games" award.

At the opening ceremony both he and Russian athlete Arthur Semenov carried a flag with the CrossFit logo instead of the Russian flag.

Dave Castro said in one of his weekly videos, that it was by Khrennikov's own decision.

Semifinal

He is granted an exemption to participate in a Semi-Final in the United States.

From that moment on we would see Roman with an American flag in the live results or rankings.

Khrennikov manages to come in 4th and wins one of the 12 places that qualifies for the Games.

Open

Participate in the announcement of the Open 23.2 against Canadian Patrick Vellner. The workout consists of 2 parts and Khrennikov wins both.

He had previously achieved the world's best time of 23.1.

Wodapalooza 2023

The Russian never misses a competition and is also participating in Wodapalooza 2023 in individual.

The competition was a head-to-head between Khrennikov and Garard, which was finally won by the Australian by 46 points.

2022

Joins Mayhem

He officially becomes a Mayhem athlete and moves to Cookeville with his wife and son.

His coach is Facundo Etchecolatz, with whom he would have already had contact in 2018 when he worked in the Aerobic Capacity team with Chris Hinshaw.

ROGUE Invitational 2022

First participation in ROGUE Invitational finishing in 5th position.

CrossFit Games 2022

Participates for the first time in the Games, finishing in 2nd position, just 30 points behind Justin Medeiros.

He won 2 events and his worst result was 13th in the event of sandbag lifting.

Their U.S. visa has a duration of 5 years. and makes the decision not to return to Russia to ensure that he has no problems competing in future editions of the CrossFit Games.

He meets his son for the first time a few days before the Gamess begin, when his wife travels with the baby. On the podium, Roman celebrates with his son, a very representative image of all he had had to sacrifice to be there.

When he got his visa in the spring, he decided to travel immediately to the U.S. even though his wife was due to give birth to their first child in the coming weeks.

Far East Throwdown

Qualifies for the CrossFit Games in the Semifinal held in South Korea.

Roman requested to change Semifinal due to the risk of not being able to re-enter the United States. In the end, he had no impediment to re-enter the country.

Settles in Madison

Roman has arrived in the United States after securing a visa to enter the country for any competition for the next five years.

Unfortunately he moves without his wife, who would join him 5 months later.

He decides to move to Madison, Wisconsin, where he stays and trains with friends.

"After four years of trying, [and] finally receiving the visa, I didn't want to take any chances. I realized that the only realistic chance I had of saving my 2022 CrossFit Games season was to travel to the United States right away and stay there for the rest of the season. It was a difficult decision for me for many reasons," said Khrennikov.

Khrennikov gets visa

Roman announces on Instagram that he has achieved his visa to enter the U.S. after 3 years denied, 4 years of waiting, adding up the 2020 season which was held with only the top 5 athletes.

2021

Dubai CrossFit Championship

Wins the Dubai competition with nearly 100 points ahead of Lazar Djukic and Ricky Garard. With 3 event wins and Top 5 in all.

A test was performed anti-doping along with other athletes and tested negative.

Madrid CrossFit Championship

He is proclaimed winner of the Madrid CrossFit Championship ahead of Zack George and Belgian Jelle Hoste.

Win the Last Chance Qualifier

He wins a spot in the Games after winning the Last Chance Qualifier. However, his visa problems persist and he fails to arrange a timely interview with the U.S. embassy. It would be the 4th year without being able to participate in the Games.

He was 3rd in the CrossFit Asia Invitional and is playing for the pass in the Last Chance Qualifier.

2020

Participated in the online phase of the Games, but did not make it into the top 5. He finished in 13th position.

2019

Visa denied in 2019

Despite being qualified for CrossFit Games 2019, Roman posts on his instagram account that, for the second consecutive time, has problems obtaining a visa and will not be able to travel to Madison to participate in the top competition..

CrossFit Italian Showdown

In April 2019 he wins the CrossFit Italian Showdown. We saw the athlete very happy to have achieved this victory and achieves his qualification for the CrossFit Games 2019.

Strength in Depth

In February 2019, Roman participates in the London SiD where despite doing well, he is not able to achieve victory.

2018

Roman Khrennikov does not participate in the Games 2018.

Despite having qualified with the first place, Roman will not be able to compete this year due to administrative issues. As explained by Roman Khrennikov himself on his Instagram, the athlete had applied for a visa to compete in the USA and on two occasions the application has been declined, and this has caused him much indignation, as he is out of the competition for reasons completely unrelated to him.

The athlete himself explains that he has his sights set on 2019 and will do everything possible to prove once again that he deserves his place at the Games.

Regional Berlin

Until now no one had heard of Khrennikov, the Russian became known after surprising everyone by winning the Regionals in Berlin.

Curiosities

Communist tattoo?

Several hypotheses about the visa refusal were discussed in forums. One of them revolved around the hammer and sickle tattoo that Khrennikov has on his back, which he would later cover with another tattoo. A symbol used on the flag of the Soviet Union and communism that the athlete explains he inherited from his grandfather.

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A few years later we would see Roman with the new tattoo covering the hammer and sickle.

We can note that to date no Russian athlete had qualified to compete in the Games and in 2018 Khrennikov and Ganin who placed 4th in Berlin did. Later, they would announce that Ganin tested positive for doping and lost his invitation to Games.

Before CrossFit

Before learning about CrossFit, Roman competed in bodybuilding.

Irkutsk

Khrennikov was born in Irkutsk, a city in eastern Russia in the Siberia region, which was created in 1660 as a trade bridge between Russia and China. Its average summer temperature is 19 degrees Celsius while in winter it is -18.