A Data Dive into the Crucible Games '25 Women's Doubles Podium

Published on November 06, 2025 at 15:51

The recent Crucible Fitness Games in Bangkok was a massive success, drawing a wave of positive feedback from athletes across the social media landscape. While I unfortunately wasn't able to make the trip this year, I was incredibly intrigued by the event and am hopeful it will make its way to Malaysia in the future.

One of the unique aspects of the Crucible Fitness Games, compared to other functional fitness competitions like Hyrox or Redline, is its structure of distinct "Zones" separated by a mandatory 1-minute rest period. This recovery was always going to be a strategic challenge to manage, especially in the doubles category where every second counts. After the event, I was looking at the results and noticed a puzzle in the Women's Doubles podium that I couldn't resist digging into.

A comparison graphic showing the chip time results next to the official podium, highlighting the discrepancy in rankings and varied recovery times.
Figure 1: A breakdown of the chip times versus the final podium results, showing different rankings and varied total recovery times for the top three teams.

The Puzzle: Chip Times vs. The Official Podium

When looking at the raw chip timings posted on the official results page, the top three teams were separated by a razor-thin margin. The team results, which are determined by when the final partner crosses the finish line, were as follows:

  • No-Nonsense: 00:30:11
  • SIDE HUSTLE: 00:30:26
  • The Big Team: 00:30:32

However, the official podium announced on the Crucible Instagram page had a different order: The Big Team took first place, No-Nonsense secured second, and SIDE HUSTLE came in third. This discrepancy confused me, so I decided to dive into the data to see if I could understand what happened.

The Key: Managing the 1-Minute Recovery

The rules for the doubles recovery periods are designed to ensure fairness. As stated, partners must wait for their teammate to complete all repetitions before entering the 1-minute recovery zone, and the countdown only begins when the *second* partner crosses the timing mat.

A graphic showing the workout structure with four zones and three 1-minute recovery periods, along with the specific rules for doubles recovery.
Figure 2: The official rules state that the 1-minute recovery countdown starts only after the second partner enters the recovery zone.

While I didn't see it in action, the data suggests this is where the discrepancy occurred. The app's data shows that the total recovery time for each of the top three teams was different, with none of them appearing to receive the full three minutes. This seems to indicate that the resting member of each team may have entered the second recovery zone early while their teammate was still completing the Sled Push & Pull. It appears the recovery timer didn't wait for the second partner, leading to a shortened rest period.

Explore the Data for Yourself

To be honest, I still don't fully understand the final calculation, but the data is there for everyone to explore. If you want to dig into the figures yourself, I highly recommend using the Results Explorer. You can follow these steps:

  1. Navigate to the Crucible Fitness Games '25 BKK Womens Doubles event page.
  2. Select the "Table of results with durations/rank of each station" report.
  3. Choose "Displayed on webpage (HTML)" to see the full data breakdown and start exploring the numbers.

A Learning Opportunity for Future Games

I have full faith in the Crucible judges and the leadership team. Launching a new event is an incredibly complex undertaking, and this was their first major competition. Every new event has learning curves, and managing the precise timing of three separate recovery periods for doubles teams is a significant logistical challenge.

I am sure the organizers will use this as an opportunity to make the timing process even more transparent for future Crucible Games, and I sincerely hope to be there to compete in the next one—hopefully in Malaysia!

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