Our 2025 CrossFit Games Champions: The Fittest On Earth
Jayson Hopper – Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr
CrossFit Olso Kriger (Kristin Holte, Oda Lundekvam, Victor Helsinghof, Tola Morakinyo)
“Champions keep playing until they get it right.”
Billie Jean King
THE FUTURE OF CROSSFIT The 2025 Games may go down as one of the best CrossFit Games competition events ever – despite the less-than-sold-out attendance – and may mark the beginning of a new era of greatness for CrossFit, the Games AND the affiliates. For the fans who were able to make the journey and the hundreds of thousands who streamed it online, the ’25 Games were an exciting and motivating spectacle of incredible human performance. And, the 2 day Owner & Coaches Conference that preceded the Games was the first ever of its kind education experience for Affiliate owners and their coaches.
The Men’s competition was a nail-biting thriller that came down to the last workout to crown the Fittest on Earth. At least 7 athletes were in striking distance of ultimate prize. In the end, Champion Jayson Hopper, in his fifth Games appearance, recovered from a near-disaster in the final rep of the penultimate workout (Running Isabel) and held off several contenders in the final workout to stand at the top of the podium. It was one of the most thrilling final days in Games history.
On the women’s side, the competition was also incredibly tight… for 2nd and 3rd place. Meanwhile, Champion Tia-Claire Toomey-Orr absolutely dominated the field to take her 8th. Gold medal and become the winningest athlete in CrossFit Games history. What made Tia’s final Games performance so special was her daughter’s excitement and cheers when she saw her Mom on the big screen after each event win and especially on the floor after winning the competition.
And in the Teams Division, the excitement continued as Oslo CrossFit Kriger entered the final workout on the final day tied with the perennially dominating Mayhem Team (sans Rich Froning). To make the story more exciting, Oslo Kriger was relying on a reserve athlete, former Games athlete Kristen Holte (age 39), who stepped in a few weeks ago after an injury to one of their primary girls. Despite Kristin’s height difference, her incredible fitness, winning attitude and experience helped propel to victory over Mayhem in the last workout – literally on the last movement!
Finally, CrossFit HQ made a bold move this year and added an Owners & Coaches Conference the two days prior to the Games and included a Business Track, Coaches Track and Partner Activation Track – education sessions for different areas of our businesses. The Conference also included a motivational keynote presentation by Calley Means, co-author of “Good Energy” and TruMed founder & congressional lobbyist (HSA/FSA for fitness memberships). The overall consensus from all of the educators and speakers: the demand for fitness & nutrition coaching & education will continue to grow over the next 10 years or more as healthcare & hospitalization costs skyrocket. The event was a BIG hit with Affiliates and their coaches.
Oh.. and there’s rumblings that the In-Affiliate Quarterfinals may be coming back AND the Games will return to ….
2026 is gonna be epic.
#itsup2us
Beginning this week Diablo is testing workout “Levels” – similar to the Community Cup Levels. Monday, Tuesday and Sunday’s workouts have THREE different performance levels that are essentially scaling levels to help make it easier to chose your workout of the day (and movements) based upon your fitness capacity:
- LEVEL 1 – NOVICE: This is the most scaled version of the workout of the day and will usually include great substitutions for complex gymnastics or heavy lifts.
- LEVEL 2- RX: This is the standard for the workout of the day. You should be able to do all of the movements or lifts if you chose this version. Note: Masters Rx scaling may apply – and will be listed in (), ie: (M55: #75/115).
- LEVEL 3 – ADVANCED: These are Rx+ loads and movements for advanced athletes. There will NOT be Masters scaling for these. Please check with your class Coach to make sure that you are able to achieve the desired stimulus.
PROGRAMMING
- Primary: Squat with a primer with some tempo work.
- Secondary: DB work with loaded carries.
- Skill: Gymnastic shapes and positions + core accessory
The Week:
- Mon: CF Girl Benchmark – “Lynne” – 5rnds: Max Reps Unbroken BW Bench Press & Pull Ups
- Tue: 5 Rnds For Time – 30 DUs, 12 Power Cleans, 9 S2OH, 6 Lateral Burpee over Bar
- Wed: Front Squat & Accessory
- Thu: As Many Meters As Possible in 40mins – 800m Run, 1k Row, 1m Rest, 400m Run, 500m Row, 1m Rest
- Fri: Hang & Hold work. Metcon: 1,2,3….10 – Push Ups, V-Ups, Lunge
- Sat Press & Carry. Metcon: Amrap 12m – 6 Shuttle Runs, 8 DB Hang Clusters, 100m Farmer Carry
- Sun: Snatch & Bike – 5rnds for time – 6 Snatches & Air Bike
CRAIG’S LIST – FROM MY FRIEND, DAN CHAFFEY, CROSSFIT INTERNATIONAL MANAGER & OWNER OF CROSSFIT LOUVRE (1, 2 & 3 – the largest CF Gyms in the world):
Daniel spoke at the CF Owners & Coach Conference last week and gave us a list of his favorite leadership books – there’s some gems on his list! Here’s my top 5 (easy reads, btw):
- Good To Great – Jim Collins. “The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not followers.”
- The E-Myth Revisited – Michael Gerber. “Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.”
- The One Minute Manager – Ken Blanchard & Spenser Johnson. “Everything rises or falls based on leadership”
- Winning – Jack & Suzy Welch. “People do not care what you know until they know that you care” – Teddy Roosevelt
- Who Moved My Cheese? – Spencer Johnson. ““What you are afraid of is never as bad as what you imagine.”
Make it an awesome week!
Craig
