The 2021 NOBULL CrossFit Games begin in 11 days. This year, the CrossFit Games season started with the worldwide Open, in which more than 264,000 athletes participated. For individual athletes, an all-new phase of competition came next in the form of the inaugural Quarterfinal, a virtual battle that advanced the top 10 percent to another new phase, the Semifinals.
Meanwhile, the top 10 percent of age-group athletes from the Open were busy tackling the Age Group Online Qualifier on their own unique path to the Games. The top five adaptive athletes in select divisions from the Open were invited to the Games as well.
As the field of individual athletes continued to narrow, there was still one more chance for those who had narrowly missed the cut for Games qualification in the Semifinal stage. The Last-Chance Qualifier would award a final four coveted Games spots (two men and two women) to those who proved their fitness in the online competition.
Now the rosters are set, and we look ahead to Madison, Wisconsin, where the top 40 men, 40 women, 38 teams, 20 age-group athletes in each division, and five adaptive athletes in select divisions will compete for the title of Fittest on Earth.
Each year, a team is selected to demonstrate the movements and events at the CrossFit Games. The 2021 NOBULL CrossFit Games Demo Team is stacked with talent, experience, and a whole lot of fitness. Keep reading to learn who made the Demo Team in 2021.
Women
Alison Scudds, Demo Team Captain
Alison Scudds is a perennial Regional athlete, earning her best finish in 2017, when she took seventh at the Atlantic Regional.
In 2021, Scudds took ninth overall at the West Coast Classic. She will serve as the captain of the Demo Team at this year’s Games.
Chyna Cho
Chyna Cho is a legendary CrossFit Games athlete, who made her Games debut in 2010 when she took 18th overall at the StubHub (then Home Depot) Center in Carson, California. It wasn’t until 2014 when Cho would qualify for the Games again, and she qualified for five consecutive years afterward, earning her best finish (sixth) in 2015.
In 2019, Cho helped team CrossFit Mayhem Freedom to a first-place finish alongside four-time Games champion Rich Froning.
In 2021, Cho took 11th place in the online Atlas Games.
Christine Kolenbrander
Christine Kolenbrander has competed at the CrossFit Games twice on team CrossFit 417, and she helped the team to a fifth-place finish in 2018.
The 29-year-old athlete took sixth place at the Mid-Atlantic CrossFit Challenge this year and went on to take ninth in the Last-Chance Qualifier.
Men
Khan Porter
Khan Porter has competed at the CrossFit Games six times (five as an individual, once on a team). The 31-year-old Australian burst onto the CrossFit scene when he took 10th at the 2013 Australia Regional with only one year of CrossFit experience.
The former state rugby player took sixth place at the 2021 Torian Pro and went on to earn fifth in the Last-Chance Qualifier.
James Newbury
James Newbury has competed at the Games four times, earning his best finish in 2019 when he took fifth overall.
Newbury, who recently spent time training with four-time Games champion and fellow Australian Tia-Clair Toomey, took fourth at this year’s Torian Pro and 10th in the Last-Chance Qualifier.
Tola Morakinyo
Tola Morakinyo has steadily climbed the worldwide Open leaderboard, taking 4,478th in 2015 and 57th in 2020. In 2021, Morakinyo will likely be most remembered for his incredible performance in Test 5 of the Quarterfinal.
The 25-year-old placed ninth at the 2021 West Coast Classic.
Stay tuned to the CrossFit Games site for information about how to watch the CrossFit Games from home or get your tickets now.