When do CrossFit Games athletes break out?


When do CrossFit Games athletes break out?

Is there a breakthrough year at the CrossFit Games? A year where athletes show the world their true potential?

To dive into this, I looked at all athletes who have finished in the top 10 as an individual at the CrossFit Games since 2017. This amounted to 56 athletes over 6 CrossFit Games seasons. Some of these athletes, like Annie Thorisdottir first made the top 10 well before 2017, while others didn’t have their rookie season until 2022. For each of these athletes, I highlighted in which trip to the CrossFit Games did they first make the top 10.

When looking at this breakdown, athletes split into 3 categories.

Rookies

From the 56 athletes who have made the top 10 over the last 6 seasons, 22 had their first top 10 appearance in their rookie season. They weren’t just happy to make the CrossFit Games, they were here to prove a point. This group includes the G.O.A.T.s Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr, and Mat Fraser, and current champ, Justin Medieros, along with mainstays in the sport like Scott Panchik, Patrick Vellner, and Kristi O’Connell.

Sophomores

Our second group needed an extra year to break through. Maybe it was butterflies their first year, maybe they needed a little extra confidence to show they are among the best of the best. Whatever the reason, another 22 athletes from our list made their first top 10 appearance in their second year at the CrossFit Games. Past champions, Annie Thorisdottir, Samantha Briggs, and Ben Smith are part of the sophomore group, along with BKG, Cole Sager and Brooke Wells.

Late Bloomers

Our last group took a little longer to hit their stride, with 12 athletes making their first top 10 appearance in their 3rd trip to the Games or later. 6 athletes did so in their third year, most notably Katrin Davidsdottir, who won the CrossFit Games in her third season.

5 athletes made the top 10 for the first time in their 4th season. This includes podium finishers Kara Saunders, Kristin Holte and Lukas Hogberg.

A single athlete, Thuri Helgadottir had a top 10 finish in the CrossFit Games in her 5th appearance at the Games.


Based on the numbers since 2017, we have a pretty good idea of an athletes potential by the end of their second year, as 80% of athletes made their first top 10 appearance by this time.

We have 22 rookies to keep our eyes on this year, and some 2nd year athletes that had impressive Semifinals performances, like Emma Cary and Dallin Pepper, who are looking to crack the top 10 this year.

For third year athletes Ellie Turner and Emma Tall and fourth year athlete Jay Crouch, the numbers aren’t on their side. Can they be one of the 20% who make finish in the top 10 after their first two CrossFit Games?

PO Box 36068 Lakeview PO, Calgary, Alberta T3E7C6
Unsubscribe · Preferences

Welcome to Fran Lung

Sign up for a weekly dose of stats and analytics in the world of CrossFit

Read more from Welcome to Fran Lung

How have the CrossFit Games winners done on the max lift event the year they won? Big lifts under the lights in the coliseum are some of the most iconic moments from the CrossFit Games. The energy, the excitement and the unexpected. While winning the max lift events brings a lot of publicity, how does it translate into winning the CrossFit Games? Today we take a look at the Fittest on Earth since 2015, and how they did on the max lift events during each of the years they won. Justin Medeiros...

Justin Medeiros finished 5th at North America West Semifinals. It’s the lowest finish for him at Semifinals. In fact, it’s his lowest finish at an in-person competition since the 2018 West Regional where he finished 7th. Looking ahead to the CrossFit Games, can he go from 5th at Semifinals to Fittest on Earth? To see if history was on his side, I looked back to past champions, and their Semifinal/Regionals finish leading to the CrossFit Games. Men’s CrossFit Games Champions Justin Medeiros,...

For the Love of the Game Competing at the elite level in CrossFit takes dedication, consistency and a love for the process. With the 2023 Semifinals complete, we saw nearly 600 individual athletes on the competition floor, who have all put in years of work pursuing excellence in the sport. Some of these athletes will only compete at this level once, while others return year after year. Of the 596 individual athletes at Semifinals this year, o309 competed as individuals last year as well. Only...