2023 Adaptive Athletes Crowned

April 24, 2023

CrossFit

Take a look at the fittest adaptive athletes on Earth and who will advance to the 2023 NOBULL CrossFit Games. 
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The 2023 NOBULL CrossFit Games Open was the proving ground for five divisions of adaptive athletes. The winners in the Vision, Short Stature, Seated With Hip Function, Seated Without Hip Function, and Intellectual divisions have been crowned the champions of their divisions. The remaining adaptive divisions — Upper Extremity, Lower Extremity, and Multi-Extremity — will send the top five athletes to compete for their titles live in Madison, Wisconsin, the first week of August.

Over the course of three weeks and three tests, these athletes showed up and left everything on the floor. Take a look at the Fittest on Earth and which athletes will advance to the 2023 NOBULL CrossFit Games. 

The Fittest on Earth

Vision

 

Placement Male Female
First Chris Fair Erica James
Second Hunter Tribe Mary Colin
Third Rafael Arevalo Sarah Perry

 

Chris Fair, the Fittest Man on Earth in the Vision division, has taken first in the Open for the second year in a row. Taking second place at the 2022 Adaptive Semfinal, this will be his first championship title. 

First-place finisher Erica James was born with retinoblastoma, and “after cancer treatments as an infant left her legally blind,” she made it her mission to inspire others. She participated in the CrossFit Open in 2022 and is now the two-time Fittest Woman on Earth in the Vision division. 

 

 

Short Stature

 

Placement Male Female
First Mike Witous & Tim Murray Erin Popovich
Second N/A Irene Wanandi
Third Juan Serrano Torres Mariana Kurylo

 

Mike Witous from CrossFit 061 in Granger, Indiana, is the Fittest Man on Earth in the Short Stature division. He has competed in the CrossFit Open since 2016, taking third at the 2022 Adaptive Semifinal. This is his first championship title. 

Tied for first is Tim Murray from NewCov CrossFit in Newport, Kentucky. He started CrossFit in August of 2021 and has now won the title of Fittest Man on Earth in the Short Stature division two years in a row: 2022 and 2023.

Erin Popovich from CrossFit Hellkite in Colorado Springs, Colorado, competed in her first CrossFit Open this year and snagged the title of Fittest Woman on Earth in the Short Stature division. 

 

 

Seated With Hip Function

 

Placement Male Female
First Tom Miazga Amalia Ortuño
Second Michael Egan Ellen Field
Third Tom Green Shana Coissard

 

Two-time Fittest Man on Earth in the Seated With Hip Function division Tom Miazga has added another win to his name, taking first place three times since the inception of the adaptive divisions. Miazga is also a six-time WheelWOD Games champion and a 2008 Paralympian. 

Costa Rica’s Amalia Ortuño has become the three-time Fittest Woman on Earth in the Seated With Hip Function division. Just like Miazga, she has won the division every year since the inception of the adaptive divisions. 

 

 

Seated Without Hip Function

 

Placement Male Female
First Simon Farre Andrea Wilson
Second Jedidiah Snelson Rebecca Storm Nagel
Third Joshua Young Neslie Bernardi

 

Simon Farre from France has secured the title of Fittest Man on Earth in the Seated Without Hip Function for the second year. He earned his first title in 2021 and came in second place at the 2022 Adaptive Semifinal. 

CrossFit Viable’s Andrea Wilson is the three-time reigning champion in the Seated Without Hip Function division. Competing in the Open since 2019, she has taken home first place since the start of the adaptive competition in 2021. 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Andrea Wilson (@awilson1318)

 

Intellectual

 

Placement Male Female
First Lance King Hailey Melakian
Second Ricky Landgraff Julia Lane
Third Jordan Green Abby Frantz

 

First-place finisher Lance King was diagnosed with Asperger’s as a child. He joined CrossFit in 2015 and first competed in the Open last year, finishing his season in seventh at the Adaptive Semifinal. This will be his first championship title in the Intellectual division.

For the second year in a row, Hailey Melakian has become the Fittest Woman on Earth in the Intellectual division. She started competing in the Open when the adaptive divisions were first introduced and has always finished within the top five. 

 

 

Games-Qualifying Athletes 

Upper Extremity

 

Qualifying Spot Male Female
First Casey Acree Christina Mazzulo
Second Xabier Osa Mendes Anne-Laure Coutenceau
Third Alexis Fiorucci Genevieve Tidwell
Fourth Breki Þórðarson Skylar Devault
Fifth Samuel Pera Elaine De Rocco

 

Lower Extremity

 

Qualifying Spot Male Female
First Rogan Dean Bayleigh Hooper
Second Seraphin Perier Amy Bream
Third Charles Pienaar Valerie Cohen
Fourth Ole Kristian Antonsen Molly Moore
Fifth Hildon Carvalho Lauren Farhat

 

Multi-Extremity

 

Qualifying Spot Male Female
First Chris Rhyme Noelle Henderson
Second Mijail Pedrini Jordan Ingalsbe
Third James Brown Shannon Ogar
Fourth Antonio Silvestro Amea Reyna
Fifth Jonathan Garson Courtnei Lopez

 

Congratulations to all adaptive athletes who competed this season.

For questions regarding the adaptive divisions or athletes, please contact adaptive@crossfitgames.com. 

The 2023 NOBULL CrossFit Games

Watch the adaptive athletes from the Upper Extremity, Lower Extremity, and Multi-Extremity divisions live on the competition floor at the 2023 NOBULL CrossFit Games from Aug. 1-6, 2023. 

Tickets are still available. For more information on attending the Games, read “Get Tickets to the 2023 NOBULL CrossFit Games.”

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Cover photo by flsportsguy photography