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CrossFit's changed my life. And...
it's created a platform and a career for me.
It's created that for so many people.
And it's like...
It's like...
It's this family that, yeah,
you might not know everyone, but...
like, CrossFit changes lives.
And it's like...
I guess I'm having a really hard time
breaking up with CrossFit.
The 2025 CrossFit Games have descended upon Albany, New York.
The CrossFit Games are the ultimate test
to find the Fittest on Earth.
That's when things start to get nerve-wracking.
And the crowd just went nuts.
Let's go, let's go!
Takes the win by one second.
And it really did feel like there was a shift. Like, this is it.
Disaster!
Unbelievable!
It is the closest race we've seen in Games history.
It makes me sad because, like, I...
Like, I think, like, this is the end.
Good morning and welcome to the 2025 CrossFit Games
in Albany, New York.
The CrossFit Games are the breeding ground
for finding the fittest individuals in the world.
And they have every right to say that
because fitness to me is being well-rounded in every area.
Fitness isn't just having a good VO2 max
or being able to lift a really good weight.
It's doing everything. It's being Superman.
And the CrossFit Games find Superman and Superwoman.
The Fittest on Earth, what that means is
basically these athletes have gone through a number of tests
through a number of months.
It starts off with several hundred thousand people,
whittles down to one man and one woman,
and they've come out on the top
as the most well-rounded and fittest athlete in the world.
Fundamentally, a good test of fitness
has to have range.
You have to test a lot of different time domains,
from really short sprint-style events
to really longer endurance-style events.
You have to have a range of skills represented.
And then a combination of things that the athlete
could not have trained for.
So who's got that adaptability in the moment to say,
"Hey, I've never done this exactly in this way,
but I know that I'm prepared enough across all my bases
to get it done and to get it done better than the person next to me."
This is our 19th CrossFit Games.
CrossFit Games started in 2007 at Dave Castro's ranch,
and at that point it was really a thought experiment
from maybe we could have a competition
and actually see who is the fittest.
The past 19 years have been incredibly wild
and an unknown journey that has taken us
in a lot of different directions.
When it started here in 2007,
had idea it was going to grow to what it is
or go in the direction that it went.
The Games is not just 10 workouts
that we're doing for fun.
The Games is a grueling test
that is not just physical,
it's not just mental, it's not just emotional,
It is everything you can imagine underneath the sun.
To become the Fittest on Earth
or even to get to a point where you're fighting for it,
it takes... it takes just about everything.
You're constantly thinking about
What can I get better at?
What do I need to be eating? Is my sleep enough?
Am I recovering well?
Am I missing something in my training?
It's not just who's putting in the work.
It's not as simple as that,
because we all put in the work, truly.
Everybody eats, everybody... everybody goes to the gym.
We all do that. It's who's willing to hurt even more.
I need to make sure that I'm the best version of myself,
and I need to make sure I'm training
so much harder, smarter,
and leaving no stone unturned,
and leaving no doubt
every day I go into the gym.
Two big storylines.
Women's side, Tia-Clair Toomey's going for eight.
The other question we have is, is this the last time
we'll see her on the competition floor?
On the men's side, we have the deepest,
most competitive men's field
we have ever had at the CrossFit Games.
So you got Jeff Adler, James Sprague,
Justin Medeiros, Dallin Pepper,
Ricky Garard, Roman Khrennikov.
All six have stood on the podium.
So the biggest thought was,
who's to win the CrossFit Games?
There's eight to nine guys that have a chance,
not just to stand on the podium,
but to win the whole thing.
- I already called this. - You know Step Brothers?
Yeah, you guys see Step Brothers before?
Yeah, we're going to do that one.
Just real quick.
Ready? You know how to do it?
Yeah, so it's like that.
One, two, three.
Wait, do they smile?
- One more. No. - No?
So picture this. You're in high school,
and you see the jock.
You know, maybe gives an elbow to someone in the hallway.
Don't know if it's friendly or not.
You can't tell yet.
Big guy, loud,
loudest laugh you've ever heard.
That's Jayson Hopper.
He grows on you, painfully,
but he grows on you.
- The next station's over there. - What's happening?
I'm trying to figure out if I'm going to do medium or a large weight vest,
and it's not that big of a deal.
To him it is. To his...
In this moment, it is such a big deal.
What if I gain weight and I want to use this vest in like three years?
- You're not going to get any bigger than you are. - Bullshit.
He gets so stressed. Like, dude.
Just go out there and win, man. If you like that, bro.
Why does it matter?
The whole men's field is obviously stacked,
and I knew coming in
that anybody could win. It was going to be a toss-up.
I wasn't oblivious to how tough and challenging it was going to be,
but I knew that if I wanted to get it done,
it was going to require nearly perfection,
and that was the mindset.
It wasn't going to be given to me.
I was going to have to go get it.
Man, I've grown really close
to those dudes over the past handful of years,
and they've become some of my best friends.
It's just a really fun dynamic.
We make each other better in every way.
We're very competitive,
and we hate losing to each other.
Hey, that wrecks my ego, dude.
Call me the champ.
Come on.
Dice me up.
"The champ."
It's funny around here.
We throw that word around loosely.
- What word? - Champ.
Paper champion.
- You are though. - Thank you.
I'm James Sprague. I'm from Liberty Lake, Washington,
and I'm currently the Fittest Man on Earth.
The title and winning the Games in 2024
absolutely was mind-boggling for me.
He was supposed to come to my wedding
if I won the Games last year, and then I won.
And he didn't come!
It really hurt my heart.
Guy wins the 2024 CrossFit Games.
What else is he supposed to do? He wins it outright.
The test was laid out in front of him. He came out on top.
But
he did not get the respect
that other past champions have gotten.
People like to say my win in 2024
was invalid for many reasons. Um...
The main one people like to say is that
not everyone signed up or people pulled out
or the right people weren't there to challenge me.
Another one is that I wasn't emotionally affected by what happened
and that I just brushed past the tragedy.
And to both of those claims
neither of which are true,
um, everyone there that competed
gave their absolute best,
and everyone there was hurting equally
and grieving together.
Yeah, in 2024 we had the worst possible
outcome of the CrossFit Games.
We had a young competitor, Lazar Dukic,
universally loved in the CrossFit community.
He had a bright future ahead of him.
He tragically drowned during the first event
of the 2024 CrossFit Games.
And so I really do think we started 2025 on the back foot
for good reason.
So much preparation and so much time
and so much mind time of thinking about all of this stuff for the last year,
going to these moments, going to this event.
And, like, it is very rewarding.
It is also very, especially this year,
especially coming into this event,
stressful and, like, nerve-wracking.
I think this Games, this event, this whole weekend,
we're more prepared than we've ever been for any Games.
Slept really good.
Yeah, I think I... I don't even know
I think I had like 10 hours sleep, so.
Willow was just sleeping with her grandparents last night.
Terrorizing us.
We had about half hour of sleep.
I'm Tia-Clair Toomey.
I'm from Queensland, Australia
and I live in Nashville, Tennessee
and I'm the seven-time Fittest Woman on Earth.
What can't you say about Tia-Clair Toomey?
She's won the Games seven times.
Every time she's stepped on the floor
since getting second twice, she's won.
She took one year off to become a mom,
and then comes back last year
and wins in dominant fashion.
We'll see you soon, okay? Give me a big cuddle.
Yeah, we're going to go.
We're going to go soon, okay?
Then they're gonna come back and get us.
Give me a kiss?
Hey, hey, give me a kiss.
I love you.
I'd say this year
my expectation is to win.
But I think that there's more to it
than just winning another title.
To secure another title with, you know,
my family in the crowd,
with Willow another year older,
being able to embrace this and just
embrace the journey that we've been on,
because I definitely didn't think that
I would be going to my tenth CrossFit Games.
So here we go again.
Yeah.
Tenth year.
You'd think I'd be used to all this,
and I could just, you know, relax, lay back.
Nope.
That level of uncertainty where Tia
thought she was just this dominant CrossFit athlete,
and now she's a mom
and we're unsure if she can still be
that dominant CrossFit athlete.
And there's an identity crisis there.
First, you've got to figure out who you are in this world.
You've got to figure out what you want to do in this world
and what your passion is.
You can figure that out until you have kids.
And then once you have kids,
that all changes.
Tia's trying to balance,
"Am I still the competitor that I used to be?"
"Is that still what I want my identity to be focused on?"
I'm a new mom.
I don't even know what it is to be a mom,
so I've got to figure out that.
It starts with that four-mile run
that is two miles out and two miles back.
Then the 3K row, you'll go back out for
one more mile out before you finish
for your first event at the Games.
The lead-up to that first event
was really stressful for the team.
The amount of time and attention that went into making sure
that was as safe and straightforward as possible.
So, event one at the 2025 CrossFit Games.
I mean, the nerves are insane.
Lining up, yeah, it was quite crowded.
We were behind the boys, so whenever you have
a mass start that is also with the men,
you just feel everyone's energy, right?
Like, nerves, this intense competitiveness.
The 2025 CrossFit Games
will begin in ten seconds.
And the 2025 CrossFit Games are underway.
Event one.
First moment, Tia
gets thrown into the back of the pack.
Tia Toomey's arguably the best endurance athlete we have in this field,
but she finds herself in an unfamiliar position.
Tia was not too thrilled
about being in the back of the pack.
There was like a few jokes thrown around with the athletes, like,
"Hey, we're just going to like band together
and like not let you pass."
And I was like, "Ladies, I just want to apologize in advance.
Like, if I come through like a bullet out of a gate
like, I'm not trying to be mean
but I'm coming through."
So step aside or get pushed.
Did I just see Tia Toomey right at the front of the pack?
You know you did. - Yeah,
of course you did. She's right there at the front with the guys.
And I'm not even going to apologize to the guys.
No way.
Jeff Adler, Ricky Garard, Roman Khrennikov.
Three athletes that all have stood on the podium.
Jeff has stood on top of the podium.
Roman's finished second. Ricky's finished third.
I love running. It kind of comes natural to me.
I was confident I could win this event and get 100 points.
The advantage a lot of times in foot races,
especially on a course like this,
is to get out of eyesight
of the person trying to chase you.
You can create such a distance from other girls
where they sort of forget about you.
It's an advantage in that field, especially if you know
that you've got decent runners behind you
who could potentially rein you in.
If they're not aware that you're there,
that's a good thing to have.
Your top three athletes
coming into the rows.
And it's first come, first serve.
We hopped on the rower,
and now my heart rate got down to, you know, under 100.
You come into the rowers based on where you're finishing the four-mile run,
and I'm watching everyone.
I'm like, "Oh, I'm rowing faster than a lot of the guys around me."
I'm listening to the announcer. He's calling paces and distances from four or five lanes down.
And I'm like, "I think I can make some pretty good moves here."
And I was able to pass three or four people on that one.
I could see the two people next to me on the rower,
their paces, and we were all rowing like sub-150s.
And, you know, I was fully recovered
to really just send it on the last two miles.
And I think this is the key with the row for all these athletes,
is that they want to exit the rower fast enough
just to propose a threat on those athletes ahead of them
for the final two miles.
Not a lot remains distance-wise for these athletes.
We're just past the 45-minute mark.
Roman Khrennikov, left side of your screen.
Jeff Adler trying to chase him down.
Jeff Adler has closed the gap significantly.
Oh, here we go!
2023 CrossFit Games Champ takes event one
of the 2025 CrossFit Games.
Roman Khrennikov takes second
Ricky Garard will round out your top three.
Tia-Clair Toomey
your seven-time CrossFit Games champion
on the path to eight,
takes event number one.
How was that?
Hard.
I thought I'd have it easier than that.
But I sprinted the end.
I'm going to pay for it.
This is going to ruin my weekend.
You think?
Yeah, I did the rookie mistake.
Went for the win.
Hard. Mental.
See where Dallin comes in.
And Justin.
And all my other friends.
Gotta wait at the finish line for them all.
Good job. Good work.
I'm actually really, really, really proud of that.
Um, I don't know where I placed.
Wasn't as high as I wanted to be.
If I were to look at places.
- Good job. - Thank you, thank you, guys.
But my only goal for that whole workout
was just to run the paces I want to.
- I actually think I went faster. - Great job.
- Thank you, guys. - Amazing.
I think when I started to realize I was solidly in third,
I was like, okay,
unless I absolutely end myself,
there's no way I'm catching Amy.
So I was like, just stay there and make sure that Amy,
make sure that Amy doesn't catch me.
So that was nice. Like, I was very pleased
not to end in a foot race.
Well done. You're a star.
Good job.
Man, that row was savage.
Yeah. You're just...
so fast.
You're fast on the row.
It was actually like, it was just more my bum, getting on.
- Whoo. - Yeah, for sure.
- Fun to get things going? - Yeah.
Nerves can settle now.
I haven't lost it.
Is that what you think?
You just never really know.
There could be another little young Tia that no one knows about.
It's happened before.
Thanks.
Welcome back to the 2025 CrossFit Games
in Albany, New York.
We are inside MVP Arena.
Adrian, we've got individual event number two, All Crossed Up.
It's 20 wall walk buy-in, and then we're going to get through a chipper-style format
of 30 total shoulder-to-overhead with a 70-pound weight,
and 80 crossover double-unders,
and that also includes 60 toes-to-bar.
So the twist with the double-under crossover
is not only is the rope passing around your body twice,
but during one of those, the rope has to cross or uncross.
So now you've got this added element of coordination.
This event, I was extremely excited about
because it brought back a movement in the crossover double-unders
that we saw a lot of athletes fail at in previous CrossFit Games.
In fact, we had the community in an uproar
saying, "Why would you program a movement that these athletes can't do?"
Now the question for everyone.
Have you learned how to do
double-under crossovers since they debuted in 2022?
You know, the CrossFit Games is an interesting thing
in that the expectation is that you've got
to be broad and adaptable,
and your skill set has to be able to lend itself
to things that you've never done before.
And the ones that can adapt are going to do really well,
and a lot of them are going to be frustrated and upset
if they can't do that because they expect that the Games are, quote,
"supposed to be one way," when sometimes they're not.
And honestly, it's not that hard.
Event two we've done in training
because it was announced early on.
And we've done this at the PRVN Gym
like a couple of times now.
Yeah, in training, I could not get this workout.
I did not get this right in training
and it was a really solid one for Ricky and Tia,
which I had the luxury to see.
Event two was frustrating.
Initially, just trying to learn the skill
and then you're trying to learn the skill
under fatigue and under quite a lot of shoulder fatigue as well.
This was one that I was probably the most anxious about for day one.
I wanted to come out very aggressive.
Jayson Hopper leading early.
And allow the pressure of other people coming up on me
to push me to the finish line.
Ricky Garard has moved up
to challenge Jayson Hopper.
He's in the center lane, yellow shoes.
Probably one of the highlights of the weekend, to be honest.
Having Jay next to me,
two Aussies just battling it out,
it was epic.
Jake Crouch to his left
has now moved in the second over Jayson Hopper.
All I was focusing on for this was just
to execute perfectly.
I could feel like Ricky was there,
and I knew if I was staying with Ricky
and I was being perfect every step of the way
that it was going to be a good result for me.
Danielle Brandon is done at the same time
as Tia-Clair Toomey.
Toomey in the all-white leader jersey.
Danielle Brandon will pick up the dumbbell first.
I think I heard them say my name,
so I knew I was in the front somewhere with Tia
because they kept mentioning Tia and I,
so I knew I was in a race with her.
Danielle Brandon broke once already.
Danielle Brandon will take her second break.
I was stoked to be that close to her,
and of course I look back on the workout,
and I'm like, oh, maybe if I would have gone for the first
set of toes-to-bar unbroken, if I had done this,
but "shoulda, coulda, woulda." It was a fun race.
And I crossed that finish line first,
and I just was like so pumped.
Tia Toomey gets back-to-back event wins
to start the 2025 CrossFit Games.
In training, that was a good workout for me on paper,
and he struggled a little bit in training, but managed to put it together on the day.
It got towards the end, and I'm like,
I'm still with him, so let's go. This is awesome.
Yeah, just going, like, literally rep-for-rep at the end, those last 10 reps,
and then crossing the line.
Final rep for Ricky.
Can he get in?
Ricky Garard takes the event!
Wow.
Jay Crouch is in second.
But after the workout, and after the boys did it,
Jay and Ricky, like, they had an incredible battle,
and, like, Jay did so much better than what he did in training,
but they both were bragging that they beat my time.
And I was like, "This is not cool."
Like, respect your elders, boys.
- Come on, Jay, Jay, Jay! - Come on, Jay!
- Yeah! - Whoo!
Yeah!
Fuck yeah!
- One in three. - Yeah, the Aussies.
So cool. What a way to start, hey?
That's awesome. So proud of him.
- Well done, well done. - Thank you.
Thanks. That was good.
Oh, man, I knew it was a good workout for me, so...
I knew I just had to go for it on the dumbbells, which I did.
Couple of mistakes, like, moving shit,
which almost cost me, but I was stoked to get the win.
It's sick. It's awesome.
I mean, yeah, neck-and-neck with Ricky too,
like, it's just like a training day, right?
So, no, it's awesome to be back in front of a crowd in the stadium
and we got a lot more opportunities for more of these moments over the weekend,
so pumped as for it.
- Hell yeah. - How was that?
Felt fucking good.
Hell yeah. Top five's still good, man.
Especially in ones you're not supposed to take top five in.
El, come on.
We going?
No, I just felt good.
No, I mean, I wouldn't say any of those movements
are like home run movements for me,
but I let my fitness just speak for itself.
That's all you can do. You can talk trash in the off-season
and then when you're on the floor,
you just let it talk... Let it talk for you.
Yeah, for sure. Um...
And, you know, like, you couldn't, like,
shut off at all through that whole event
because, like, those athletes just breathing down your neck.
And, like, that's exactly what we compete for.
That's what we train really hard for.
You know, you just...
Like, the adrenaline is just so good
and you can't control anyone else's performances, but your own.
And so, like, you just got to, like,
level up and do that.
And it's really cool.
With that type of feeling, you're like,
what's the point of retiring? It's so fun.
Seven championships, the most anyone's ever been able to do,
both the men and the women.
And there was some rumors that she might be retiring this year.
Like, you know, I've done my time.
People are...
"Yeah, you're a winner."
"You're X-amount champ," like, all this.
But it's like, well, if I don't do this, like, what am I going to do?
Like, now I actually have something to live for.
Like, I have a baby girl at home,
you know, excited every time I walk through the door.
And so, like, that's really cool to think,
like, oh, wow, like, I may not take the competition floor ever again but, like...
man, like, I'm going to be living the dream for the rest of my life,
hanging out with my baby girl.
Event three.
Event three was announced and I was so excited.
Probably a workout that would be my favorite.
This is 100 points straight up in my lap,
like thank you.
And I look up at the Jumbotron and there's Willow.
And, like, that was just so beautiful.
And she recognized me, and I was like...
Wow, you know, like, "Hey, Bub!"
Like, yeah, "I'm down here," you know?
And there is Willow looking on.
Saying "Mama!"
On the Jumbotron.
You got to love it. Tell you what, listen,
that trumps every event win she's ever had, bro.
I, like, I even got, like, some teary-eyed,
but I was like, come on, like, you got this.
Stay focused. Like, let's just, like, execute.
Three, two, one, go. Straight up onto the pegboard.
And, like, I got up there on my first peg
and I was like, wow, like this is so different to any other year.
Like, it is so slippery.
Tia struggling a bit at the top here
and she still has two more holes to get to.
The story of the climbing couplet
is obviously going to be about the pegboards.
The pegboards are back and they were slick.
Very quickly realized that actually it was going to be about managing these pegboards
because they were so slippy.
It's like as she steps into the pegboard,
she's reaching for a hole that she expects to be there.
However, she's sliding down it a bit.
You don't actually realize how much they're slipping
until you're on the damn pegboard.
And I was like, what is happening?
You see her shake her head. She's literally annoyed with herself.
Whatever went wrong there, she's a little frustrated about it.
The pegboards were definitely slippery.
What honestly made it better was that I saw Tia struggling.
Like during that workout
after the first one I was like, "Oh, what?"
I was like, I've heard of slippery pegboards before from people,
but never experienced it myself. And I was like, "This is it."
Let me tell you, this pegboard,
that plexiglass, very slick.
So it's not fun to climb.
I think there was a variety of factors
that were in play here.
I do think the chalk played a part.
I think these guys were chalking up a lot,
maybe some remnants of chalk on the wall.
I think that played into it.
Especially with this plexiglass.
There's a lot of dust and chalk out there on the floor.
And it's much taller.
A typical wall that you buy from Rogue
has like 10 holes.
This one has 15, so it's a third longer.
Now there's a lot of controversy around
whether or not the lanes themselves were consistent.
Uh, was there a buildup on some of the pegboards
that affected some of the athletes? Was it just fatigue?
People were saying, "This certain pegboard was slippery."
"This certain one was slippery."
You know, honestly, I was in the "cursed lane"
and I won my heat.
And some lanes did have an advantage.
You know, I'm sure the athletes who did really well
want to argue that, "Oh, figure it out."
Did they figure it out better than anybody? No.
It was one of my favorite workouts for the weekend
because the pegboards were obviously, they were hard.
They were slippery. But at the same time it wasn't like a full send.
You had to be methodical with your pacing.
Kerstetter showcasing some great efficiency
here on the pegboard as well.
They were definitely a bit slipperier
than in practice,
but I just had to take my time on them
and make sure to have no failed reps
because huge in an event like that.
We have not said the name, Tia-Clair Toomey,
in about four minutes.
As Tia Toomey makes her final ascent.
I was so desperate at the time,
because I was like, "This is not going the way it needs to."
Like, this is embarrassing.
What the fuck, Ian?
What the fuck?
That's, like, an amazing event for me.
I was fucking doing strict pegboards.
That was probably the worst event I've ever fucking had.
I feel good, man. Best day one of my career.
You don't want to take those moments for granted
so just kind of like trying to live in that moment.
That's the number one goal, obviously,
besides, you know, trying to win.
Yeah.
Winning, hey. Fun's in the winning, y'all.
Fun's in the winning.
Yeah, I mean, there's a lot of analysis
that went into that event that night
when we debriefed in the war room.
Soon as we got back into the war room,
I then said to everyone, "What's going on? What's the story?"
"What happened? What are people saying?"
And then they're like "Yeah, there's...
"saying a lot of inconsistently with the walls, et cetera."
I'm making sure that everybody's doing the job they need to do
to make it a successful event.
And I'm pressing people on their roles
and seeing if they've thought about contingencies,
if they've thought about what's supposed to happen,
if they're thinking about the visual,
if they're thinking about this aspect, the safety.
Well, here's what I see that, like, I think is flagged.
Athletes, Tia came up to me, but she got in my face
and complained for, like, two or three minutes about the pegboard.
And I was very respectful and just listened.
It's frustrating as an athlete
when you know, like, that is a hundred-point workout for you,
and you come fucking 16th.
And you look like a fucking joke.
Like, that pisses me off.
And I fucking dreamt about it the whole fucking weekend.
She, that night, at like one in the morning
sent me a text basically saying, "You're wrong about the pegboard."
And I thought that was hilarious.
I was like, "Shouldn't you be asleep?"
- What's up, dude? Come on in. - What's up?
Thanks for letting me come in.
- What did you say? - Thanks for letting me come by.
- You're welcome, man. Make yourself at home, man. - Thanks.
It is very messy.
It's a kitchen. It's a living room.
It's a bedroom.
- Yeah. - It plays many roles.
Dishes in the bathroom.
- Really? - Oh, yeah.
- Can I see? - Um, sure.
Jayson just used the restroom but here's our kitchen.
- You've been washing all these dishes? - Yes.
In the kitchen's sink-- or the bathroom sink, shall I say.
- It's pretty disgusting. - Wow.
So you'll, like, see a little grain of rice
while you're brushing your teeth.
I didn't want to see that grain of rice while doing that.
Everything's disposable in this hotel
so I had to go to Walmart and buy some temporary crockery
so that I couldn't eat like a peasant on paper plates.
Probably shouldn't say that.
I couldn't eat, like, a--
I don't know. Someone trapped in a storm.
Ugh.
Oh, and toothpaste.
Ugh!
- I hope it was worth it. - Huh?
- I hope it's worth it. - Yeah.
Before the first event in the Coliseum yesterday
I was sitting there, got a little teary-eyed because it was like
this year just feels very different in a good way. Um...
I don't know if it's just his approach to this weekend
or what, but I was like--
I'm, like, oddly not nervous to the point of feeling sick,
which I normally am.
There's, like, almost this bit of just confidence
that he has I think, in his abilities,
which has rubbed off on me a bit.
I'm just, like, I'm just excited to watch him enjoy it.
I think we've gained a lot of enjoyment again in this sport, too,
this past year, so it's fun
kind of getting to see that play out
and now he's wearing his leader jersey
for the first time ever, which is crazy.
They say the leader jersey gives you wings.
So we'll see if it actually... If it actually does.
Yeah?
Winner gets to keep the leader jersey.
Yeah. Yeah.
We'll see if it gives me some extra-- extra gas.
So I pretty much grew up playing football and baseball from a very young age
and, you know, I always wanted to go pro in either baseball or football,
and so I walked on at Clemson and quit after one year.
Because I quickly learned that I was not going to be an NFL player.
Lucy Campbell had made her rookie debut
at the 2022 CrossFit Games,
and then for two years
she was out of competition from a wrist injury.
The last time that I went to the Games in 2022,
I had just a huge mental block on the floor in back nine,
and I basically spent the whole event
just, like, clean pulling the bar.
So after the Games in 2022,
I was diagnosed over a year later
with a condition called Kienbock's disease.
Which meant that I had actually competed at the Games
with a fracture of one of the bones in my wrist.
To fix that, I ended up having a radial shortening osteotomy,
so I had five millimeters of bone taken out of my radius in my forearm
to help to level out my wrist, essentially.
And so it has been a very, very long journey back here
after being told by a couple of surgeons that it wouldn't be possible
in terms of a return to sport
in terms of a return to CrossFit.
The climbing couplet. Now watch Lucy Campbell.
One of the biggest issues she's had is the ability
to even receive the bar with two hands,
let alone with one arm.
Adapt or die.
You want to talk about the heart of a competitor
Lucy Campbell's got it. Tenfold.
So to be able to finish that event on a heavy barbell
it felt like a bit of a rewriting of that story from back in 2022,
so I was, yeah, really, really proud of myself for that one.
So in 2023, I got cut at the CrossFit Games.
And that year I moved away from home
and kind of just put everything on the table.
I was emotionally drained.
I was just burned out from the sport.
I remember thinking
this will be the beginning of the end of my career.
Everything revolved around that.
Relationships revolved around that.
My relationship with the Lord revolved around that.
Life revolved around that.
Everything was CrossFit, CrossFit, CrossFit, CrossFit.
I quickly learned that I needed people in my life.
I needed to enjoy things outside the gym.
I needed to re-center, you know, get back into rhythm,
get back into the daily disciplines of the grind,
and I was willing.
I was willing to put that work back in
and, um get a little dirty again.
How's it look?
It looks great.
- What'd you say? - It looks great.
It looks like... a shirt.
It looks like a shirt. That's all it is.
- That's all it is. Just a shirt. - Just a shirt.
I got another opportunity this morning to get it for myself,
so that's all I'll be going for, but, uh, yeah, I mean, we don't want two.
We don't want to see two leaders, you know?
So, yeah, I just gotta earn it myself,
and, yeah, it'll be a good thing
to, like, tick off the bucket list, let's say, of the career.
Nice little achievement to have a leader's jersey,
so, I think, we're all going for that.
Lucy Campbell, six points behind
the woman on the left in the red and white, Tia-Clair Toomey.
That's, you know, a great workout for me.
It has running, it has deadlifts.
Yeah, I might not be the strongest handstand walker on the field,
but with the two movements it's paired with, that's not a problem.
Tia-Clair Toomey taking a 16th place finish last night.
Not to pull out a Michael Jordan reference,
but I think she might have taken that 16th place personally.
It was a very true measure of some raw fitness.
All these athletes can walk on their hands,
but there were no tricks. There were no pirouettes that were demanded.
There were no ramps to walk over.
It was "How hard can you sustain a run
with the work that was demanded of you?"
I was just working hard, really
investing in the early rounds to pull a lead
and just, like, secure a good position.
Because I feel like everyone's sort of settling for fourth and fifth.
And we're seeing Jay Crouch as we move deeper into this event,
creating more separation between himself and Jayson Hopper.
You don't have to be a hero in every single event.
In that workout, specifically, it does require patience.
This workout's, you know, going to be 18 minutes long.
So just letting the game come to me,
and when the door opens, barge in.
Lucy Campbell still in the mix,
currently sitting in third overall with that tie
between her and Lydia Fish.
The first couple of rounds,
I was sort of just behind Tia.
And then round three, I sort of started
to close the gap a little bit.
Lucy Campbell has made up
a ton of ground on the third run.
And so everything was going really fine.
Like, Lucy and I were going head to head,
and it was a great race.
There was a point where we'd done
the first hand-stand walk segment
and we both turned around and sort of put our hands on our knees a little bit
and then both kicked up at exactly the same time.
The crowd went wild.
And both these women--
- Here we go, baby. - Let's go!
I think I just kicked up a little bit too early
just trying to break her.
Like, especially after those
strict pegboards the day before
like, my lats are feeling it right now.
And I had to come down,
and the crowd went crazy.
They both kicked up for the return handstand walk.
Tia gets to the halfway mark.
Lucy keeps going and Tia comes down and breaks.
Tia has been walking faster than Lucy,
but Lucy is starting to pull away
and Tia breaks!
That was the point where I was like,
"People are going to be loving this."
Lucy Campbell is done,
and she starts round number five.
I even said it on the radio to my head judges.
I was like, "Hey, I think we're in the CrossFit Games now."
Like, this is it.
Fifth and final round underway.
Jay is starting to pull away on the handstand walk.
Deadlift was solid. Handstand walks.
I'm going to be good there, so handstand walks were good.
Twenty-five feet left for Jay Crouch.
And for the first time in his career,
Jay Crouch wins an event,
and he'll be donning the white leader jersey.
Fuck yeah! Come on!
Just a massive relief I can tick that one off,
because I've been so close and wanted that for so long.
Definitely no better feeling than winning an event at the CrossFit Games.
Lucy Campbell going for unbroken on her 50-foot handstand walk.
I just knew by that point that she was not going to catch me.
Lucy Campbell has been out of competition for two years.
There's not many people that get to say
that they went toe-to-toe with Tia
and came out on top on an occasion.
And the queen-slayer, Lucy Campbell,
takes down another one.
Yeah!
Yes!
That's crazy!
I don't think anyone thought that
with the first event being what it was,
that Tia wouldn't be the leader at any point.
I fully didn't think that.
So to be the person that's the leader at some point is crazy.
I know that, you know, I've got some--
This event is going to be a real challenge for me.
And it's definitely a case of just, like,
staying on my own lane and doing what I can.
Um, and, you know, there's going to be an event tomorrow that's similar.
But I'm also very much looking forward to tonight
and there's 200 points up for grabs
and I go through this one and do the best I can in this one
and then tonight's going to be fun.
Feels good, Ian. Feels a light. Feels fast.
- Yeah. - That looks good on you, bro.
Nah, it's good. It's a good position to be in.
It's the way we all want to be, so...
Yeah, we just need to hold on to it now.
That's the next task.
We've got to hold on to it, so...
Yeah. Hopefully, uh...
To be honest, I want more... I want more event wins.
I want more money.
It's been good.
I'm just trying to, like,
consistently stay in the top ten
and, like, just in case something happens,
I want some, like, security and stuff.
So, yeah, I don't know.
Just trying to do my best and show, like, how hard I've worked
and, like, how much I've improved on things,
like, running, like, in the last workout.
So, yeah, just honestly just trying to have fun and do my best.
I don't like sharing at all.
Particularly this outfit.
This color. This is my favorite.
It suits you.
What are you guys talking about?
Well, Lucy has my uniform on.
I'm... I'm complimenting her.
A one-rep max back squat.
What a classic test of just pure strength.
You'll get the armchair quarterbacks that want to compare
their one-rep max to the athletes at this level.
Okay, maybe you can outlift them. Maybe. Probably not, but maybe.
Can you do it after a day and a half of hard competition?
They've run miles. They've done crossover double-unders
and wall walks and shoulder-to-overhead. They've climbed pegboards.
They've done several heavy threshold squat cleans.
This back squat is not simply a back squat.
This is a test of your strength
after you've already been through the ringer.
We saw some athletes fail opening lifts.
We saw some athletes really struggle with the weight they hit
on their opening lift.
Danielle Brandon opened at 265 and missed it.
Yeah, I couldn't get into a good flow state
so that first one, I just overthought everything.
It's been, like, years of that,
of, like, having a strength event, knowing it's not going to go well.
Ricky Garard, four points out of a podium position.
Tried to fire up and give it everything I had.
Bounced out of the hole and just nothing was there
and just it buried me and had to throw it off the back.
But I thought with the adrenaline and the crowd
and the environment that I would be able to stand it up.
Fuck!
Jay Crouch wearing the white leader jersey
for the first time in his career.
After his first career event win in individual event number four.
I wanted to hit 500. That would have been a PB.
But I hit 485 and that was the limit.
And the result from that was a bit of a shock for me,
because, like, to hit 485 and it'd be, like, a 14th.
Lucy Campbell donning the red and the white
for the first time in her career.
Not an ideal event for me.
So it was just about, you know,
making the most of what I could do on the day,
which is frustrating,
but it's also, like, you know,
with the fatigue that you accumulate up until that point,
to PB would have been very, very special on that occasion.
Tia-Clair Toomey for 335.
This is going to tie a previous best in 2020 if she hits it.
And she does.
335 looking very good for Tia-Clair.
You know, Lucy didn't...
The points went my way for sure.
And so I got my jersey back, which is really nice.
I should have thanked her for, you know, holding it,
keeping it warm for a little bit.
And then, you know, giving her a taste
of what it's going to be like in the future or whatever, you know?
No. That's really confident, isn't it? Ah...
You know, a top 20 was a huge win for me in this event.
And I can't really control what other guys are hitting out there.
And even though it was my worst finish,
I would say it was my most exciting finish of the CrossFit Games.
I hate that I know this, but I knew a lot of people had picked me.
Like, to win or do well in this event.
Kerstetter will get 325.
Back squat is probably one of my worst lifts,
but I knew that compared to everyone else,
it was still going to be, like, pretty good.
I was really banking on my CNS to be not fried
at this point of the weekend.
This is event five. After this, we're halfway through.
You know, we're starting to feel a little bit of the toll.
Our first 500-pound attempt for heat number three,
and it belongs to Jayson Hopper.
I had hit 490 in training.
I just knew that, hey, I'm going to feed off that crowd.
I need some adrenaline.
Hopper will get it.
The top three heaviest squats are in this lane
between Hatfield,
Nick Mathew, and Colten Mertens.
And obviously, Colton Mertens and his 570,
that was electric. I mean, the audience, everybody loved that.
That was incredibly impressive.
And the Iron Hog smashes 570 pounds!
Thank you, guys.
Twenty pound PR.
So, gave myself a chance.
I was going to go 490, 500, 570, 490,
Er, sorry, 470, 490, 500.
470 was too easy, so I went 495,
which actually turned out better.
I would... I liked the guarantee with the 495
because it put me above a ton of people,
and 500 wouldn't have done much.
We needed that so bad.
Oh, I'm so excited, dude. Thank you, Coach.
The prophecy, dude.
So, I'm going to be 18th, maybe.
- Top 20? - Seventeenth or 18th.
Top 20, yeah.
We're getting stronger.
- That was big? - That was big.
We needed that momentum.
Hoppy stole my leader's jersey,
so I'm going to try to get that back.
Uh, nah, it's good.
The back squat went well.
Back in it.
I got a new one, too. The other one got sweaty.
So, this was nice.
I've racked up two total, or...
Now I got four shirts now to give out.
I'll give one to El.
I'll put it up on my wall.
- You good? - Hey, good, mate. How are you?
- Good, man. - That's all right.
How you doing? Yeah, I'm good.
Getting ready for events six and seven.
The last event, um, against the field.
I'm not a very good squatter. But, I still managed to PR
which is all I can ask for, I suppose.
But against the field, it wasn't,
it wasn't too crack shot so I need to make up for it in this one.
Last night didn't help, on the pegboard having a slippery...
Slippery pegboard in event five, lane five.
So, I lost some critical points there, too.
All the more reason to go for it on this one.
If you don't know Ricky's story yet,
Ricky Garard came on the scene in 2017,
got third place at the CrossFit Games,
and a few weeks later tested positive for PEDs.
After the competition,
I failed my drug tests
and tested positive to...
SARMs, which cost me
uh, four years, a four-year ban.
Ricky went into, basically, hiding for four years after that,
serving a four-year ban.
It was tough, like, probably the hardest thing I've been through.
But, probably the best thing I've been through,
and made me tough, made me resilient,
and I think I wouldn't be the person I am today without it.
Yeah, I'm just grateful that I had good people around me
and that I stuck with it
and didn't give up.
He's on the path to another podium finish,
possibly win the CrossFit Games.
Ricky Garard can win the CrossFit Games
and I think that's a big driver for Ricky.
Podiums are great,
but Ricky wants that championship.
The chaos that ensued
in both of these back-to-back events,
you knew that this was some of the athletes' last opportunity
to jump back into the top ten
for the final heat on Sunday
or get themselves closer to a podium position.
Here we go. These butterfly pull-ups
are no problem for any of these athletes in this final heat.
They're all going to go 28 unbroken.
Who can be the most efficient with their range of motion?
I was getting really excited because
I'm starting to feel like me again.
I'm starting to feel like last year's James.
I knew they were two good workouts for me.
I wasn't sure if I could win or top three both,
but I knew I had a good chance.
I was probably the most nervous
I was the whole weekend going into that
because it was two parts, 200 points,
all within like ten minutes.
And I also knew it was going to hurt really bad, so...
I really only needed to worry about where Lucy was.
Like, my first rep on the chest-to-bar was a no rep and I was like, "Shit."
And I was like, "I'm not fucking holding back here."
And just like went for it.
Tia Toomey, Lucy Campbell in the center two lanes.
And so, Tia and I came off chest-to-bar similar time.
We were side by side, almost synchro at certain points
on the burpee box jump-overs.
Dallin Pepper is on to the box.
You're moving down the floor, it was incredible to see
the, I think, it was 80 different boxes out on the floor.
It looked awesome, and people are just racing down the floor.
I was in a race with Justin to my right, Roman to my left,
Jay to my left Roman on the other side of him,
and we're all like neck and neck.
We're doing synchro burpees together.
Six burpee box jump-overs left.
I'm like, dude, if I come in last out of us four,
that's like four spots that I'm going to be very upset about losing.
All of a sudden James Sprague comes out of hiding.
James Sprague is sitting in tenth, but not much longer
because he just got 100 points.
It was a very special moment.
To be able to win an event on the best stage in the world
is a surreal feeling, and
and it's something that I actually didn't get to process really in the moment
because this was a back-to-back style event.
Where we went event six into event seven.
James Sprague gets first in the event.
- Okay. - Hopper getting out-sprinted at the finish
got 17th.
I took a 17th, I think, on that first part,
which I was not happy about it.
This could be a make-or-break event for everyone's podium hopes.
I love this style of event at the CrossFit Games
because it is no strategy.
It's all out. Who's got the goods?
And the critical component of who can recover
and then throw caution to the wind and go again.
35 cals on the C2 bike
28 bar muscle-ups
and 24 more burpee box jump-overs.
Was on the bike attacking it
and then kind of looked across
and seeing that I was a bit behind on the calories
and I was like "Oh don't stress. Let's just stay here."
But it is Dallin Pepper who is to the pull-up bar first.
I was definitely the first one off the bike.
I biked much harder than everyone.
Gets to the muscle-ups,
completely blowing up. I'm suffering now.
Don't sleep on Ricky Garard over in lane number one
as he's trying to keep pace with Pepper.
Jumped up for the muscle-ups.
Now I can attack the muscle-ups harder than anyone else.
Come on, just fucking go for it.
Like 28, let's do it.
Ricky Garard's currently sitting
outside of a podium position
as he is in ninth place.
When I was in the lead, I was like "Alright, this is mine."
Let's bring it home.
Garard has to have this
if he wants a chance to chase his dream.
And that's to stand on top of the podium at the CrossFit Games.
Just like, I could've done another 24 reps, to be honest.
Just the amount of energy you have when you're in the lead like that
and the crowd just cheering was pretty epic.
Garard takes Hammer Down.
How was that? How was that?
Fuckin easy, Ian.
Too easy, brother.
Told you I was going to get those points back.
Good job, brother.
Amazing work.
How was that?
That was bad.
That fucked me up.
Did Ricky win both of those?
How can you pull for both of them at the same time?
Because I fucking love them.
You wouldn't know what that's like, hey?
I don't know what love is like.
That's what a real team is, you know?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. But she has to pull for one of y'all more than the other.
No. Not possible.
They both know where they stack up.
I'm even okay with y'all beating me.
I just can't have my boys beat me.
- You'd rather us. - Yeah. Like if I'm going to lose...
That's where you go wrong with this fucking team shit.
He's the only one that I would want to beat me.
- Really? Hell no. - Yeah.
If I don't win he has to.
No.
- Well-- - That's what a real--
If I'm not in t he leader's jersey, I want him.
Then y'all aren't competitive enough.
That's how real brothers work.
Y'all aren't competitive enough.
Great twist.
What is up with your back-to-back 100 points
on the same movement?
Have you not learned yet? What is that, dude?
- The same movement. - Burpees twice, 100 points.
- Two different workouts-- - Not...
Yes, yes, yes.
Never. If I lose because of that, Ian,
so mad.
Sunday here in Albany, New York
As the 2025 CrossFit Games
has three events remaining
to find the Fittest on Earth.
Men's leaderboard was still a coin toss at this point.
Jayson Hopper, I believe, came in wearing the leader jersey,
but it was anybody's game.
The point spread was so tight.
On the women's side, Tia, on the other hand,
she'd pulled away at that point.
However, the battle from second through fifth
was still raging
and those points were tight.
And it was anybody's game.
This might go down as the most competitive day
in the history of the CrossFit Games.
This is so crazy.
- Yeah, I feel like it will. - It's so insane.
You stressed?
Yeah.
I threw up already.
- You threw up? - Yeah.
Ah. Like, from stress?
Yeah, I ate and threw up.
- Like, just now this morning? - Yeah.
We're doing five eggs, a few pieces of sourdough toast,
big old coffee and creatine
and definitely some more caffeine as we go through the morning,
and just trying to stay light because
I want to move through those handstand push-ups well,
so I'm not going to overeat too much.
No, no excitement right now. No excitement.
Let's just get this day over with.
I want to be the Fittest Man on Earth
because, one,
it is a really cool title that
holds a lot of weight and a lot of respect
because people understand how hard it is to earn
and how many people have tried very daringly to earn it
and fallen short year after year after year.
Yeah, as far as I can remember,
it's the best position I've been in for the final day,
so, yeah, exciting.
What's that like?
I mean, it's good.
When you're in the fight and you've got momentum,
you've got to use it, make the most of it.
Ready to go.
Sunday at the CrossFit Games.
It doesn't get better than that.
You're in a spot to make some moves, so...
Where are you at?
I'm in sixth, but it's like...
Barely any points separating, like eight of us.
So, it's anyone's game, 300 points on the board.
Lots of moves to be made, so...
Definitely going to have to redo my hair before I go out again.
What did you say?
I get the worst handstand push-up hair
and I look like a pelican.
Is it a pelican that's got the...
Puffin. I look like a puffin.
I don't know what the animal is.
You know the one. Cockatoo.
That's the one.
Stay in seventh, stay in the top ten,
don't do anything to mess this up
because I knew that a lot could happen on the last day
and I don't think I had any thought in my head like,
go for top five, go for the podium.
Lord, I just ask not for performance blessings
but just for spiritual blessings today.
We may touch someone, even just a simple smile
may impact someone out on that floor
or just keep us sustained so we may be able to do that and complete your mission.
And just confidence in what you've allowed us to do in our training.
Let us shine on the floor today, Lord.
We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
- Amen. Let's go. - Let's go.
Three, two, one, go. You hop on your bike,
and everyone's got the exact pace they're going to do.
It's a little quicker than you want,
but you've got to stay with the pack a little bit here.
Everyone's checking
"Alright, how fast are their pedals moving?"
That kind of thing.
It's funny, because I noticed Hopper's eyes
go right over to James Sprague
an athlete he's trained with a bunch, very familiar with.
That workout wasn't about the Echo Bike.
It was about 30 handstand push-ups.
On paper, this should have been a really bad event for me.
A parallette handstand push-up
typically favors a shorter guy.
I'm a long, tall, lengthy guy.
The big question here for Ricky Garard,
how is he going to handle the handstand push-ups?
Back in 2022, when Ricky Garard was wearing
that white and red leader jersey,
got nearly dead last in a handstand push-up event.
The middle section, it's literally just no pain
and just trying to manage the handstand push-ups
and get through them as best you can.
The handstand push-ups just became a grind which was fine.
I think I was down to singles at the end.
I was down to singles quicker than I wanted to be.
Your body's beat up. Your mind's beat up.
You've just been through I and that's when you really have to show up
and show what you trained for.
And Jayson Hopper and Ricky Garard at the bike at the same time.
And so I knew it was between me and Ricky.
I was a little upset
because I didn't want-
I didn't think Ricky would be that close.
I'm out here trying to gain as much points as possible on Ricky.
And then Dallin was creeping up.
I was catching Jay. We just hit the Echo Bike,
and I was like, "Damn, this is going to hurt
but let's fucking go. Bring it on."
Hatfield is done.
He'll take the win.
And 100 points.
Garard just behind Hopper.
Every point matters.
Every second counts in this field.
It's so competitive.
I think I got fourth in that event,
which was a big positive for me
for handstand push-up work out.
If you miss pace here, devastation.
The quality and caliber of athletes that are in this men's field,
there is no room for error.
So after the Echo bike sprint
my legs were smashed.
I didn't really know what everybody else was feeling
but I knew what my legs were feeling
and it wasn't good.
What's the turnaround?
El, what's the turnaround?
Quick.
Fuck, man.
- What's the turnaround? - It's quick.
What is it?
Awesome!
- That's right! You got it! - [girl[ Atta boy, Jayson.
Easy day. Easy day.
Fuck, man.
- You okay? - I think so.
- Give me all your stuff. - My legs are gone.
I know. Shake them out.
Every point counts now so you don't know what's...
We do know what's coming, but you don't know what else...
What's coming in terms of what people are going to pull out of the bag
and so it's just chasing down
every opportunity.
And so there was some, some anxiety and stress
because this next one was probably the most intense workout of the weekend,
and my legs, I barely feel them.
So, event nine. Pretty crazy.
I was warming up for this event
and the first barbell I touched
in the warm-up, like 50 kilos
my whole back just went, like, spasm
and just locked up.
And I was like, "Oh shit."
I was like
I'm just going to trust myself and the adrenaline
that I can get through this event.
And, yeah, salvage my back, so just, yeah.
Back myself that I could get through it,
and just stuck to plan A, which was
be the first one to the barbell.
The king of the Echo Bike
is sitting on top of the leaderboard with 635 points.
Ricky Garard maintains his second-place position
along with your 2024 Games champ James Sprague in third.
It's some fast, 200-foot runs
and 6 snatches at 155 pounds.
They knock that out five rounds for time.
We knew there was no room for error.
We knew that there was a landmine
somewhere in that event.
We knew that a slow run
once
will put you in the back of the pack.
We also knew that seconds mattered.
Event number 9 underway.
Jayson Hopper has an opportunity to extend
his lead or possibly lose it.
Ricky Garard is the man trying to chase him down.
This workout is very volatile.
You can run your race, and you can take a first
by a second or two.
You can run your race and take a 13th.
I'm just going to trust myself and the adrenaline
that I can get through this event,
and, yeah, salvage my back.
Lucy Campbell, tough event to start the morning.
Can she bounce back?
I knew that that would be an event where it's not necessarily a time frame
that is great for me.
But, I also knew that it would be an event
where people can get carried away with the fact
that it's a short workout and therefore go out really, really hard.
Every second was two or three points,
and that makes everything scarier,
and a little, like, trip up here or there
can, like, cost you several places.
It goes Tia, Maddie Sturt,
and Danielle Brandon has moved into third.
That's when I can kind of get in this, like, aggressive mode of,
like, "Alright, like, let's fucking do this. Like, let's go."
Two rounds left to go.
Hatfield running a little faster than Sprague is, and here comes Jayson Hopper.
This workout is my CrossFit Games on the line.
Finishing our second round.
Six snatches at 155.
Hatfield is off, followed by Hopper.
Sprague and Pepper.
Running Isabel is going to be
like a dog fight to get three points on someone,
and, like, it kind of comes down to luck.
At that point in the weekend,
maybe there's something Dave knows that we don't.
Like, this thing is going to crush us/
And, yeah, that was exactly what happened.
We got crushed.
Finishing up round four,
Jayson Hopper in the red.
Trying to keep pace.
Trying to keep the leader jersey.
And then round five comes.
Round five, I'm running.
James is five feet ahead of me.
Right next to me.
Something in me goes, "Catch James."
I didn't even need to.
Rep six, I go to do it,
and I just lose balance.
I walk it forward
and I just didn't lock it up.
And Jayson Hopper got two no-reps!
Oh, no!
I can't feel my body at this point.
Can't feel my legs.
I can't feel anything. I have no power.
And I have to do one more snatch
so I attempt another snatch.
Completely fall back.
I have no control whatsoever.
And I'm panicking at this point
and at this point, it's just, you got to get this done.
Like, you got to just somehow find a way to hit this last snatch.
Hatfield has gone back-to-back on Sunday
and Crouch is in.
Ricky is in. Hopper...
Disaster.
Unbelievable.
I don't know how
I even finished that last... that last snatch,
but I stood it up.
Crossed the finish line.
And I took eleventh.
Jayson Hopper,
who we thought was making a move
round to round to round
was digging his own grave.
That is why we play the game.
All the way through the final rep.
All the emotions, all the frustrations,
all the, you know,
me being hard on myself.
Did I just lose this CrossFit Games
because of this one snatch? Did I--
Why did I just F up?
All these thoughts like...
I'm just looking at all the mistakes and like
thinking about the what-ifs. What if I just hit that snatch?
I'm just looking at the negatives
and I'm just like letting it consume me, all these fears.
- Hopper! Hopper! - Go get 'em, baby! We love you!
Go get it! Go get it! Let's go!
We get done with event nine, and I just, at that point,
all the thoughts are, "Wow, did I just choke?"
"Did I just fumble the bag?"
All these things going through my mind.
We're walking through the tunnel
and Dallin has cameras on him behind me.
Like right behind me.
And he's like, "It's Sunday at the Games.
100 points left. I'm coming."
I think, actually, you have a video of me literally saying
"I love Sundays. I'm coming."
And Jayson was actually like 30 feet ahead of me.
I love Sunday. I love finals.
And I'm like "Oh my gosh."
I'm so mad right now.
I love Sunday. I love finals.
Get the fuck out of here.
And he didn't tell me
until a week after the Games.
He goes "I heard you say that,
and it scared me."
And I was like,
"You were supposed to hear it."
That was the point.
Going into the final event, I'm in fifth place now.
Got a shot at the podium.
I'm not going to talk. I'm pissed.
I--
I'm not going to lie, I was a little intimidated by his taunting.
But, at that point,
I was thinking about all the things
that I potentially just lost and hearing that was not what I needed to hear.
It was really fun to, like, see Tia.
And if I was just a little more fit.
Maybe I could have went at her
if I trusted my fitness a little more.
That was epic though. That was really fun.
Better than I thought. Yeah.
Yeah, really grim.
That is not a time frame that I love at this point in time.
My snatch cycling, my barbell cycling, generally,
I just need work on post-injury and that sort of thing. So...
It was, yeah, grim.
Going into the final event, I was in fifth place.
And I was already just stoked
about how the weekend had gone.
But I was also really excited for the last event.
And I really liked the workout.
So, I was just ready to go out there
and finish the weekend like I knew I could.
And just like give my best effort.
Slowly climbing.
I think we started the day in 11th, I think.
And, um... Did we start the day in 11th?
I think so. I don't remember.
Just been a... a climb all day.
Actually, just a climb since the pegboard workout.
How does it feel to be where you're at?
It feels good.
I'm not going to think about it too much.
Just fucking...
lunging over the finish line
for the win.
Visualizing it.
Make it happen.
Yeah, it's good.
Best spot I've ever been in going into the final. So...
Yeah, just got to make it happen now.
Definitely nervous, but...
Yeah, just gotta fucking dig deep
and show that I want it more than anyone else.
- Take it easy. - Let's take two.
Come on, Rick. Come on.
Let's go.
Just proud of the weekend.
Whatever happens, great weekend.
Leading up to Atlas,
we were leaderboarding
like fanboys and girls
for about an hour and a half.
And after nine events,
this is the tightest race we have ever had
in the history of the CrossFit Games.
From 6th to 1st is 33 points.
Ricky Garard, 6 points out of first.
Hatfield, 13 points out of first.
It has all come down to this.
There's no better situation that I could have dreamed up in my head
for one of the most exciting finishes of the CrossFit Games ever.
The race is tighter than we've ever seen it.
The stakes were as high as they've ever been
for a missed rep,
for a mis-paced effort.
And the way this final event was designed,
it wasn't as fast as running Isabel,
but it was just as vital to pace correctly
or else that 10-place swing could be the difference
between CrossFit Games champion
and going home empty-handed.
I'm in fifth place. I've got a shot at the podium.
Um, I've clawed all the way up to fifth.
Like, here we go.
Leave it all out there and don't leave anything up for chance.
I don't know. It's like a point where it's like,
I don't need to warm up anymore. Like, I'm ready.
Like, I just need to think about
everything I've put into this the last 10, 12 years
every moment, every session, all the training.
This is the moment, and I'm ready for it.
There's a lot going through my mind
about defending the title
and being able to be up there
and the pushes I made in the final events
and how proud I was just to be in a position
to even fight for the title again.
But I also knew that if I didn't win,
it wasn't going to be enough.
Being in the tunnel,
scared,
you know, just reminding myself that
if I don't win the CrossFit Games
I'm never going to be able to get over this.
Ever.
Who will be crowned
the Fittest Man on Earth?
Come on, let's go!
Come on, Jayson!
Come on, babe!
Jayson Hopper, six-point lead over Ricky.
Ricky needs to beat Hopper by two places
if he wants the title.
Hatfield needs four.
I know Ricky's really good at thrustering,
and Hatfield was gaining.
Hatfield just won the previous event.
First few reps in,
my back was trying lock up
and just blocked it out and just kept going.
The event itself was a scary one.
You know, an ascending rep scheme
meaning the reps got higher as the workout went on.
So as you're getting more fatigued,
you're actually doing harder amounts of work.
Olivia Kerstetter. She's only 14 points out of a podium position.
I think we're all pretty even on the first round,
and the second round, it started getting more, like, spread out.
My game plan was just find a way to keep moving on the thrusters
and then attack the rope climbs.
I was just very aware
of where I needed to be in the heat.
And just making sure that I didn't get carried away
with the first few rounds.
Seven rope climbs in the middle of a workout
isn't something to sneeze at. So it's like...
You also know, like on the last workout,
there's people wanting to make moves,
so you're going to have to bring it if you want to win.
Sprague, Hatfield, Hopper,
Garard, Pepper and Crouch.
Your six athletes that all have everything to gain
and everything to lose.
I dropped the bar before everybody else.
Went to a rope climb, did one.
Well, we did three and then we went back to the 15 thrusters.
Fifteen thrusters at 135.
Jayson Hopper takes a break.
And for some reason
I just knew.
Jayson Hopper is done.
If he wins
he claims the title of Fittest on Earth.
Come on, babe.
Come on, Jayson!
Come on.
Breathe.
Pick it back up. Pick it back up.
- Come on, babe. - Pick it back up.
I--
had never in my life been so focused
on a task
as much as that moment right there.
And for some reason
I just knew.
I knew.
There's been a lot of hard days in training.
A lot of times where you know, no one's around.
They don't get to see the hard work.
The days when things are going really well in training,
things are going really poorly. The hard days, the bad days,
the good days, all the in-between.
Only me and God knows
what those actually look like.
Those hard intervals, when, you know,
that fourth interval in training,
when you are questioning everything.
I don't have any more to give yet
somehow you find a way.
- Go. Come on. Come on, hon. Up. - Come on!
The whole crowd
the whole CrossFit world is watching you.
Looking back and thinking, "Man, I'm proud
that I made that decision in 2023 to keep trying."
Coming back after getting cut and making a decision,
is this going to be the beginning of the end of my career,
or is this going to be something that I remember
and will be something that I am thankful for
at the end of all this?
Jayson Hopper is 70 feet away
from being the Fittest Man on Earth.
Had the leader jersey on I'm in the center lane of the CrossFit Games
and there is nowhere I'd rather be
than this moment right here.
This is the moment that I've been waiting for,
dreaming up, visualizing,
and I'm going to cherish this and I'm not going to let anybody ruin it.
The crowd is on their feet.
Hopper is the Fittest Man on Earth!
- He did it! He did it! - Yeah!
Let's go. Let's go!
You did it, bro. You did it.
The future is bright in this sport.
Not just with the depth we have for the men,
but the talent we have for the women.
I think it's just a dream come true
and I think that this year I put in
way more work than I ever have
and to see it pay off like that
was so amazing.
I'm in shock that I was able to do that,
and I was able to make that happen. And...
Yeah. I literally can't believe it.
And James Sprague, your 2024 Games champ,
in third, one point behind Ricky.
And this year, just to get back on the podium
it just showed that I'm always going to fight
no matter what the circumstance is,
and, you know, even if it was fighting for somewhere
in the 20th places,
I always want to end on a good note
and put my best foot forward,
and so that's what I try to do,
just give it my absolute best.
Ricky Garard, what a fight all weekend long.
Last year, after the Games I felt burnt out.
I was over it.
Didn't want to think about it, train, do anything.
But, this year it's just
ignited another fire in me
that I didn't know I had, to be honest.
I'm excited for the next 12 months
and, yeah, I'm going to do everything it takes to achieve this goal
and live out the dream of being the Fittest on Earth.
Like, I think so, yeah.
Ladies and gentlemen,
today makes it eight.
I give you the great
Tia-Clair Toomey!
It's crazy. Like, when I found out Liv came third
my joy, like, my happiness
was way more exciting for her to podium
than it was for me to get eight titles.
Like, I don't have to say goodbye,
but it's almost like I-
It's almost like--
I feel like if I'm not competing,
I have to say goodbye.
This was one of the wildest, most exciting,
greatest CrossFit Games we've ever had.
And it was all because the athletes
were the ones who made it that.
And as fans, we all just got to sit back and enjoy it.
You know, it was important to have a good run,
and I feel that we did,
and I feel like a lot of the community felt that we did
and I feel like the athletes felt that we did.
It was something that the community needed. Something that we needed,
something that I believe the athletes needed.
And it accomplished the mission it needed to accomplish.
The 2025 CrossFit Games
was the best CrossFit Games
I've ever been a part of
or attended or even watched.
It was the spectacle, the sport needed to
move forward and really stand on
the roots of what CrossFit is again.
I think that people are forgetting what CrossFit truly is.
It's a methodology and a way of life
that changes lives and helps people.
And the most important thing that we needed
was an opportunity to be together
and an opportunity to show
each and every one of us that we are
doing the right thing here.
That CrossFit is alive and well.
Ian, what the fuck?
You keep making me second-guess myself.
I thought I was my fittest in 2022,
and then I kind of feel like I fell off
and then now here I am, and I'm like,
oh, like, I'm even better and fitter than that version.
I think it was such a positive experience.
This will, again, be one of my favorite Games.
I managed to crawl all the way up to fourth.
Which was awesome
given some of the things that happened throughout the weekend.
I never gave up, even if I made mistakes
or things didn't go my way.
So I was proud of my ability to stay in it,
but pretty heartbroken
that I missed out on the podium and especially--
My goal is to win the CrossFit Games.
Stoked, I mean, my friends did great,
which is cool and awesome,
but they took what I wanted.