The 2023 NOBULL CrossFit Games provided various opportunities for statistical cross-divisional comparisons. In this article, I take a dive into those comparisons to lay out how the athletes stacked up, as well as look into other interesting areas that emerged during the Games.
Medal Counts
During the Olympics, the most relevant statistic is the overall country medal count. Obviously, the Olympics and the CrossFit Games are different athletic competitions and formats; however, it is interesting to see the CrossFit Games medal count.
Notable differences include that the Olympics do not include age categories. There is a Youth Olympic Games and World Masters Games, which are separate competitions. The Paralympics for adaptive athletes is its own competition. But for this exercise, I include all of the CrossFit Games medals awarded.
For the team competition, I include four medals per team (one for each team member), since not all members have to be from the same country — this year, Joshua al-Chamma of the United Kingdom competed with CrossFit Invictus. The Olympics count team events as one medal regardless of the number of team members.
In total, there were 434 athletes who competed in the 2023 CrossFit Games representing 42 countries. Naturally the United States won the most medals because of the number of American athletes who competed. To add perspective, the number of athletes who competed (not qualified) from each country that medaled are shown in the Games medal counts along with a corresponding percentage.
2023 NOBULL CrossFit Games Opening Ceremony
Noteworthy, are the athletes from Canada who famously won half of the individual podium spots. The Canadians did great as well in the age-group and adaptive divisions winning two gold, two silver, and three bronze. For countries with three or more athletes competing, Canada had the best medal percentage at 34.5%.
Along with Laura Horvath, the other Hungarian athlete, Mira Varga (Girls 14-15) won bronze — thus, giving Hungary a medal for both of their Games athletes. Another worth mentioning is that Roman Khrennikov and Vlad Liashkevich are listed under the CrossFit flag, which they walked with during the 2023 CrossFit Games Opening Ceremonies.
Common Tests
Similar to the 2022 CrossFit Games where all divisions did the same Rinse ‘N Repeat test, the Olympic Total and the CrossCountry 5K tests were performed by most 2023 CrossFit Games athletes. The first round of individual cuts to 30 athletes eliminated 10 women and nine men from competing on Saturday, which was the day these two tests were held for individuals. Additionally, there were variations on how the tests were administered per division. Even with the differences, these tests enable the comparison of most of the athletes across divisions, which is always a fun exercise, just as it was comparing the Helen times of all the age groups and the upper-extremity adaptive divisions. Furthermore, the CrossCountry 5K was a unisex test allowing the comparison of the female and male results. The Olympic Total offered this opportunity for comparison, too; naturally, though, most of the male Olympic Totals were greater than the females — but not all.
Age-group and adaptive 5K | Photo by @arb.visuals
The Olympic Total (max snatch and max clean and jerk) was the first test of the Games for the age-group and adaptive athletes, meaning they got to take on the test while fresh. Plus, they had 3 minutes per Olympic lift to register their heaviest lift in each. Teams took on the Olympic Total in the third test. All team members had two 20-second windows to make their heaviest snatch and two 20-second windows to make their heaviest clean and jerk. Individuals took on the Olympic Total in their ninth test with a similar format as the team members. Each individual had two 20-second windows per Olympic lift to record their heaviest lifts (four 20-second windows total). One notable difference is that, the individuals were able to use fractional weight plates allowing lifts in 1-lb increments. Age-group, adaptive, and team divisions were only allowed increments of 5 lb. Therefore, the Olympic Totals are not a perfect comparison between each division; However, they were the same lifts so we can compare Olympic totals, along with the separate snatch and clean and jerk (C&J) best lifts of most 2023 CrossFit Games athletes.
Jack Farlow (Individual Men) set the live-competition CrossFit Games season C&J record for men at 396 lb. The previous record was jointly held by 2023 Games athletes Jake Douglas and Tola Morakinyo at 387 lb. Farlow also put up a 305-lb snatch for an Olympic Total of 701 lb (the only athlete to surpass 700 lb at the Games). His 305-lb snatch also tied for the second heaviest snatch of the Games. The Olympic Total test win was Farlow’s first in his individual rookie Games.
Bronislaw Olenkowicz (Individual Men) tied the CrossFit Games men’s snatch record at 315 lb (tied with Tola Morakinyo). Along with his 365-lb C&J, he had the second-best male Olympic Total of 680 lb at the Games.
Bronislaw Olenkowicz | Photo by Joy Silva
Ioannis Papadopoulos ( Men 35-39) started the Games on fire with a 670-lb Olympic Total (305-lb snatch and 365-lb C&J). Both lifts were tied for second-best overall at the Games giving him the third best Olympic Total of the Games.
Infamous Games Olympic lifter Tola Morakinyo (team) who at one time held both the male live-competition CrossFit Games season records for the snatch and C&J did not set any new records. But he put up a solid Olympic Total of 655 lb (305-lb snatch and 350-lb C&J), which was the fourth-best total of the Games.
Other notable Olympic Totals from the 207 males who lifted:
| Athlete | Division | Snatch | C&J | OLY Total | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nick Mathew | Individual | 287 | 357 | 644 | 5th |
| Jeffrey Adler | Individual | 282 | 360 | 642 | 6th Tie |
| Moritz Fiebig | Individual | 285 | 357 | 642 | 6th Tie |
| Andre Houdet | Team | 275 | 365 | 640 | 8th Tie |
| Joosua Eskelinen | Team | 295 | 345 | 640 | 9th Tie |
| Fabian Beneito | Individual | 281 | 356 | 637 | 10th |
| Spencer Panchik | Individual | 285 | 350 | 635 | 11th Tie |
| Timothy Paulson | Team | 285 | 350 | 635 | 11th Tie |
| Zach Carroll-Ramirez | Team | 290 | 345 | 635 | 11th Tie |
| Tony Facchini | Team | 290 | 340 | 630 | 14th Tie |
| Luiz Henrique Alves Moreira | Team | 305 | 325 | 630 | 14th Tie |
| Joshua Al-Chamaa | Team | 280 | 350 | 630 | 14th Tie |
| Brent Fikowski | Individual | 286 | 343 | 629 | 17th Tie |
| Dallin Pepper | Individual | 288 | 341 | 629 | 17th Tie |
| Chandler Smith | Individual | 293 | 335 | 628 | 19th |
| Samuel Cournoyer | Individual | 288 | 337 | 625 | 20th Tie |
| Royce Dunne | Team | 275 | 350 | 625 | 20th Tie |
| Jorge Fernandez | Team | 280 | 345 | 625 | 20th Tie |
| Ty Jenkins | Boys 16-17 | 265 | 315 | 580 | 69th Tie |
| Ryan Woodall | Men 40-44 | 235 | 335 | 570 | 78th Tie |
| David Levey | Men 45-49 | 245 | 305 | 550 | 98th Tie |
| Rogan Dean | Lower Ex. | 235 | 275 | 510 | 129th Tie |
| Jason Leeves | Men 50-54 | 225 | 275 | 500 | 134th Tie |
| Kūlani Subiono | Boys 14-15 | 225 | 275 | 500 | 134th Tie |
| Casey Acree | Upper Ex. | 235 | 265 | 500 | 134th Tie |
| Ryan Joe Hamby | Men 55-59 | 205 | 265 | 470 | 144th Tie |
| Tom Fameree | Men 60-64 | 175 | 225 | 400 | 173rd Tie |
| Chris Rhyme | Multi-Ex. | 165 | 185 | 350 | 188th Tie |
| Tom Muhlbeier | Men 65+ | 150 | 190 | 340 | 193rd |
*All weights in pounds.
Laura Horvath (Individual Women) tied the live-competition CrossFit Games season C&J record for women at 265 lb. Kesley Kiel (team) tied the C&J record as well, which was originally set by Chritine Middleton at the 2021 Granite Games. Both Horvath and Kiel snatched 205 lb for an Olympic Total of 470 lb, the best for women at the Games.
Chistine Kolenbrander (Individual Women) set the new CrossFit Games women’s snatch record at 211 lb. Along with her 236-lb C&J, she had the fifth-best female Olympic Total of 447 lb at the Games.
Current female live-competition CrossFit Games season Olympic lift record holders Mia Hesketh (229.3-lb snatch) and Christine Middleton (265-lb C&J, now tied) did not set any new records, but both put up solid Olympic Totals. Hesketh (team) had the third-best female total of the Games with 460 lb (205-lb snatch and 255-lb C&J). Middleton (team) had the fourth-best female total of the Games with 450 lb (200-lb snatch and 250-lb C&J).
For the age-group females, it was a teenager with the best Olympic Total. Hailey Rolfe (Girls 16-17) totaled 430 lb (195-lb snatch and 235-lb C&J), tied for the 14th-best female at the Games.
Other notable Olympic Totals from the 208 females that lifted:
| Athlete | Division | Snatch | C&J | OLY Total | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Karin Freyová | Individual | 206 | 240 | 446 | 6th |
| Amanda Barnhart | Individual | 207 | 237 | 444 | 7th |
| Gabriela Migała | Individual | 191 | 245 | 436 | 8th |
| Deidre Franzen | Team | 195 | 240 | 435 | 9th Tie |
| Lena Richter | Team | 185 | 250 | 435 | 9th Tie |
| Antonia Falt-Kottulinsky | Team | 195 | 240 | 435 | 9th Tie |
| Olivia Kerstetter | Individual | 197 | 237 | 434 | 12th |
| Emma Lawson | Individual | 193 | 240 | 433 | 13th |
| Erica Folo | Team | 190 | 240 | 430 | 14th Tie |
| Randel DeRose | Team | 190 | 240 | 430 | 14th Tie |
| Hanna Karlsson | Team | 185 | 245 | 430 | 14th Tie |
| Emma Cary | Individual | 195 | 233 | 428 | 18th |
| Kelly Baker | Individual | 191 | 236 | 427 | 19th |
| Paige Powers | Individual | 185 | 241 | 426 | 20th Tie |
| Abigail Domit | Individual | 196 | 230 | 426 | 20th Tie |
| Chelsea Nicholas | 35-39 | 190 | 235 | 425 | 22nd Tie |
| Kyra Milligan | Team | 180 | 245 | 425 | 22nd Tie |
| Sierra Cameron | Team | 190 | 235 | 425 | 22nd Tie |
| Devyn Kim | Team | 185 | 240 | 425 | 22nd Tie |
| Ingrid Hodnemyr | Team | 185 | 240 | 425 | 22nd Tie |
| Ingrid Tøndel | Team | 180 | 245 | 425 | 22nd Tie |
| Andreia Pinheiro | 40-44 | 180 | 230 | 410 | 47th Tie |
| Kelly Friel | 45-49 | 165 | 210 | 375 | 98th Tie |
| Miley Wade | 14-15 | 160 | 205 | 365 | 108th Tie |
| Valerie Cohen | Lower Ex. | 145 | 185 | 330 | 139th Tie |
| Kim Purdy | 50-54 | 135 | 175 | 310 | 148th |
| Jennifer Kawaguchi | 55-59 | 135 | 155 | 290 | 155th Tie |
| Christina Mazzullo | Upper Ex. | 105 | 145 | 250 | 175th Tie |
| Jordan Ingalsbe | Multi-Ex. | 110 | 140 | 250 | 175th Tie |
| Dava Jensen | 65+ | 110 | 135 | 245 | 179th |
| Susan Clarke | 60-64 | 110 | 130 | 240 | 180th Tie |
*All weights in pounds.
Unfortunately, some of the biggest lifters in the individual field were not able to display their lifting skills since they were cut after Friday including: Jake Douglas (743), Jayson Hopper (695), Arthur Semenov (663), Alex Vigneault (660), Manon Angonese (459), and Michelle Basnett (445). This has happened in previous Games as well, most recently in 2021 with the snatch ladder in Event 12.
The Cross-Country 5K test was run by all the athletes (excluding the first-cut individuals) on the same course except for the lower-extremity adaptive athletes who completed a 5K ski. The 5K run is the most programmed Workout of the Day on CrossFit.com, first appearing on Dec. 24, 2001. The workout has been programmed104 times. Additionally, the option version of the workout — Row 5K or Run 5K — has been programmed 11 times.
The age-group and adaptive athletes took on the 5K course for their sixth test on Wednesday evening. The teams did the Cross-Country 5K for their fourth test, however a big caveat for the team athletes was that they all had to run the race together while holding a rope. Thus, the team results are mostly negated in comparing team members' times against the other division athlete’s times.
The individuals ran the Cross-Country 5K together on Saturday for their seventh test of the Games. Below is a synopsis of the noteworthy 5K times.
Jelle Hoste had the fastest test time at the 2023 CrossFit Games in 16:39.68, taking his first Game test win in his rookie year.s Jeffrey Adler was second in 16:46.48 followed by Roman Khrennikov in third with 16:57.08. The first non-male individual was Adam De Jong (Men 35-39) in 17:36.03, eleventh overall. The next non-male individual and first teenager was Kaiden Hogan (Boys 16-17) in 17:46.09 — he was 15th overall (Hogan also won the 2021 CrossFit Games 3.75-mile run test for Boys 14-15).
Next was the first female finisher Emily Rolfe in 17:48.62, 16th overall. She would have been 14th in the men’s individual test. The top-10 females were just under 25% (24.4%) of the Games combined top 41 test times (Sydney Wells was the 10th-fastest female in 41st place overall). The top lower-extremity 5K ski times were Charles Pienaar in 17:48.90 and Valerie Cohen in 21:39.00.
Other notable times were:
| Athlete | Division | Time | Overall | Gender Place | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| František Heribán | Men 40-44 | 18:14.91 | 27th | 26th | 6th |
| Katrin Davidsdottir | Women Ind. | 18:20.13 | 31st | 2nd | 7th |
| Arielle Loewen | Women Ind. | 18:21.21 | 32nd | 3rd | 8th |
| Leonardo Cruz | Boys 14-15 | 18:42.66 | 42nd | 32nd | 9th Tie |
| Gerar Garcia | Men 45-49 | 18:49.42 | 47th | 36th | 9th Tie |
| Casey Acree | Men Upper Ex. | 18:59.65 | 50th | 39th | 9th Tie |
| Mira Varga | Girls 14-15 | 19:08.23 | 60th | 16th | 12th |
| Laurie Clément | Women 35-39 | 19:57.39 | 82nd | 26th | 13th |
| Hayes Willard | Girls 16-17 | 20:23.92 | 92nd | 32nd | 14th Tie |
| Samantha Briggs | Women 40-44 | 20:27.81 | 94th | 33rd | 14th Tie |
| Luciane Macias | Women 45-49 | 20:44.30 | 99th | 35th | 14th Tie |
| Sean Patrick | Men 50-54 | 20:44.61 | 100th | 65th | 18th |
| Tara Gemer | Women 50-54 | 21:02.75 | 108th | 38th | 19th |
| James Brown | Men Multi-Ex. | 21:37.40 | 134th | 81st | 20th Tie |
| Elaine de Rocco | Women Upper-Ex. | 21:38.29 | 135th | 54th | 20th Tie |
| Kevin Koester | Men 55-59 | 21:44.92 | 138th | 83rd | 22nd Tie |
| John George | Men 65+ | 22:40.44 | 168th | 94th | 22nd Tie |
| Brian Wilson | Men 60-64 | 22:43.23 | 172nd | 97th | 22nd Tie |
| Susan Clarke | Women 60-64 | 22:51.88 | 174th | 77th | 22nd Tie |
| Tracy Macuiba | Women 55-59 | 23:08.90 | 178th | 80th | 22nd Tie |
| Courtnei Lopez | Women Multi-Ex. | 25:20.11 | 210th | 98th | 22nd Tie |
| Page Lockhart | Women 65+ | 27:52.19 | 231st | 110th | 47th Tie |
The other unisex test at the Games for individuals was the Inverted Medley. Danielle Brandon won with a time of 3:12.75, which was over 35 seconds faster than the best male time set by Cole Greashaber of 3:47.89. It was the seventh time in Games history that the women beat the men for the best score in a unisex test. It was also Brandon’s second time beating the men (she also did it in the 2021 CrossFit Games in Test 8’s handstand-walk obstacle course).
CrossFit Venn Diagram
In the lead-up to the 2023 CrossFit Games, a Venn diagram consisting of gymnastics, weightlifting, and monostructural areas was used to represent the modalities that Games athletes would be tested with. Some Games tests were single-modality: The Olympic Total was the weightlifting test. The Cross-Country 5K was the monostructural test (the individuals and teams also did a monostructural bike test).
For the individuals, Inverted Medley was the gymnastics test. For the age-group and adaptive athletes, the Gymnastics Chipper was the gymnastics test. Teams did not have a main gymnastics test.
One way to represent which individuals excelled in this Venn diagram is to show which athletes had a combined top-10 average finish of the overlaps of two of the circle modalities (three overlaps total), and then those who averaged a top-10 finish in all three. Below are the Venn diagrams for the individual women and men.
I applied the same exercise for the age-group tests to see which athletes excelled across the two modality groupings as well as all three. Given the 10-athlete division sizes, I looked at average test placements of top-threes instead of top-10s as with the individuals who had field sizes of 30 athletes. For adaptive athletes, I looked at average test top-twos given their five-athlete fields. The results are listed below.
Gymnastics = G, Weightlifting = W, Monostructural = M.
Women 35-39: Clément (MG), Casey (WM), Morton (GW), Veselova (MG)
Women 40-44: Pinheiro (GW, WM), Ryan (MG), Cicero (MG)
Women 45-49: Friel (GWM, GW, WM, MG), Gutierrez (WM)
Women 50-54: Brost (GWM, GW, WM, MG), Abbott (GWM, MG), Gemer (MG)
Women 55-59: Fineman (GW), Coates (MG), Kawaguchi (GWM, GW)
Women 60-64: Clarke (GWM, GW, WM, MG), Vanderburgh (GWM, GW, WM, MG), McGill (GW, WM)
Women 65+: Holt (GWM, GW, WM, MG), Jensen (GWM, GW, WM), Sciascia (GW)
Girls 14-15: Granizo (GWM, GW, WM, MG), Wade (GWM, GW, WM, MG), Varga (GWM, WM, MG), Cupp (MG)
Girls 16-17: McGonigle (GW), Smith (GWM, GW, MG), Willard (MG)
Men 35-39: Papadopoulos (GW), Wong (GW), Panchik (GW)
Men 40-44: Berger (GWM, GW, WM, MG), Laverriere (MG), Heribán (MG)
Men 45-49: Liashkevich (GW), Anderson (MG), Di Salvatore (MG), Garcia (MG)
Men 50-54: Komorowski (GW), Patrick (WM), Leeves (GWM, GW, WM, MG)
Men 55-59: Koester (GWM, GW, WM, MG), Kim (GW), Hamby (GWM, GW, WM), Walmsley (WM)
Men 60-64: Swanson (WM), Fameree (GWM, WM), McCarty (GW), Wall (GW)
Men 65+: Miller (GW), Hippensteel (GW), Muhlbeier (GW)
Boys 14-15: Jourdan (GWM, GW, WM, MG), Tiers (GW, MG)
Boys 16-17: Jenkins (GW, WM), Mestre (GW), Hogan (MG), Muckleroy (MG)
Women Upper Extremity: Mazzullo (GWM, GW, WM, MG), De Rocco (GWM, WM, MG)
Women Lower Extremity: Cohen (GWM, GW, WM, MG), Hooper (GWM, GW, MG)
Women Multi-Extremity: Henderson (GW), Reyna (GWM, GW, WM), Lopez (MG)
Men Upper Extremity: Acree (GWM, GW, WM, MG), Fiorucci (MG)
Men Lower Extremity: Dean (GWM, GW, WM, MG), Pienaar (GWM, GW, WM, MG)
Men Multi-Extremity: Rhyme (GW), Brown (GWM, WM, MG), Pedrini (WM)
It is not surprising to see top-performing Games athletes in the diagrams and lists. However, it is important to note in determining overall fitness that all the other tests in the Games are just as important when these three main modalities depicted by the circles are combined into couplets, triplets, chippers, etc.
Close Races
Not since the 2015 CrossFit Games were all three divisions still realistically up for grabs going into Sunday with leads of less than 50 points. And as it turned out, two of the three divisions ultimately ended up with different champions from their Sunday leaders.
- Men: Roman Khrennikov 13 points ahead Jeffrey Adler
- Women: Emma Lawson 48 points ahead Laura Horvath
- Team: CrossFit Invictus 44 points ahead of CrossFit Oslo Navy Blue
Men
Roman Khrennikov’s 100-point lead after Friday going into the Saturday (usually around halfway through the Games) was the fourth-largest points margin over second place for individuals (starting in 2011 when 100-point test scoring was regularly implemented).
Conversely, Khrennikov had the worst Saturday of any Games leader dropping to just a 13-point lead going into Sunday ceding points to Jeffery Adler in all three Saturday tests. Khrennikov’s lead at the start of Sunday (over Adler) was the third-smallest individual leader’s margin (starting in 2011). His Saturday was the worst day in the history of the leader’s jersey while still retaining it.
Adler overtook Khrennikov after the first test of three on Sunday, Muscle-Up Logs. Although this was the infamous test in which Khrennikov sustained a lower-leg injury, it occurred right at the end of the test and did not change his placement. Thus, Adler would have passed Khrennikov regardless. Adler had just a 2-point lead with two tests to go. The tests were ones Khrennikov was looking forward to. Unfortunately, we will never know how it would have played out had he not been injured.
Khrennikov during Individual Test 5 | Photo by @wongsdottir
Women
Even more dramatic than the men was Laura Horvath taking the lead from Emma Lawson in the second-to-last test on Sunday. Lawson had a 23-point lead going into Test 11, Parallel-bar Pull. However, Horvath won the test and Lawson took 10th. Horvath assumed the lead by 22 points, a 45-point gain over Lawson in one test. Horvath pulled away a bit more in the final test, winning overall by 47 points over Lawson who ended up in second overall.
The last time there was such a late pass for the overall lead was in the 2019 CrossFit Games when Mathew Fraser took the lead from Noah Ohlsen in the second-to-last test of the Games (Ringer 2). Ohlsen had a 15-point lead going into Ringer 2 and Fraser came out with a 25-point lead, a 40-point gain in one test for Fraser. Fraser won the last test as well, ending up with a 35-point margin of victory over Ohlsen (the smallest of his five championships).
Emma Lawson and Laura Horvath during Individual Test 11 | Photo by @lifeofmalm
Team
With teams having just two tests on Sunday, CrossFit Invictus came into the day with a 44-point and made a huge statement by winning the first test (Bob’s a Drag) by nearly 30 seconds and extending its lead to 76 points. Second-placed CrossFit Oslo Navy Blue struggled, coming in eighth place and dropping to third place overall to CrossFit East Nashville PRVN which took fourth in the test and second overall. In the last test, CrossFit Invictus came in second with CrossFit East Nashville winning the test. CrossFit Oslo Navy Blue took third in the last test. The overall order stayed the same with CrossFit Invictus winning overall by 71 points over CrossFit East Nashville PRVN. CrossFit Oslo Navy Blue finished in third overall, 13 points back from second.
CrossFit Invictus during Team Test 4 | Photo by Joy Silva
Notable Overall 2023 CrossFit Games Appearances
| Rebecca Voigt Miller (40-44) | 15* |
|---|---|
| Annie Thorisdottir (Individual Women) | 13 |
| Lynne Knapman (60-64) | 13* |
| Ben Smith (Team) | 12 |
| Samantha Briggs (40-44) | 11 |
| Katrin Davidsdottir (Individual Women) | 10 |
| Björgvin Karl Guðmundsson (Individual Men) | 10 |
| Noah Ohlsen (Individual Men) | 10 |
| Cole Sager (Individual Men) | 10 |
| Scott Panchik (Men 35-39) | 10 |
| Cheryl Brost (50-54) | 10 |
| Laurie Meschishnick (55-59) | 10* |
| Jonne Koski (Individual Men) | 9 |
| Patrick Vellner (Individual Men) | 9 |
| Stacie Tovar (35-39) | 9 |
| Andrea Nisler (Team) | 9 |
| Linda Elstun (55-59) | 9* |
| David Hippensteel (Men 65+) | 9* |
*Qualified for the 2020 CrossFit Games (not included in total as age groups didn’t compete that year).
There were only a handful of athletes in the 2023 CrossFit Games who competed in those early years of the CrossFit Games in Aromas (2007, 2008, and 2009): Rebecca Voigt Miller (Women40-44), Annie Thorisdottir (Individual Women), Ben Smith (Team), and Stacie Tovar (Women 35-39) all competed as individuals in 2009 (Voigt Miller also competed in 2008). Additionally, Yvonne Howard (Women 60-64) and Julie Rappaport (Women 50-54) both competed on teams in 2009.
Random Interesting Tidbits
- Past Games teenage division athletes are continuing to make their impact in the individual and team divisions. Devyn Kim became the first Games teenage division athlete to win a team gold medal on CrossFit Invictus. She was also the first to medal on a team from the teenage divisions as well last year with her third place on CrossFit Invictus. Emma Lawson tied Mal O’Brien as the highest teenage finisher with an individual silver medal. Half of the 2023 CrossFit Games Individual Women top-10 were past Games teenage division girls (same as in the 2022 CrossFit Games). Dallin Pepper finished in fifth this year on the individual side,becoming the highest-finishing former teenage boy competitor.
- Swimming was not included for the first time at the Games since 2010. The 2011 CrossFit Games were the first to introduce swimming at the Games in the Beach Test, which started with a 210-meter ocean swim.
- Biking (non-stationary) made its sixth appearance at the Games (fifth time out of the last seven Games). The first biking test was at the 2012 CrossFit Games as part of Pendleton 1 which included eight kilometers of biking on asphalt and trails.
- The 2023 CrossFit Games were the eleventh out of 17 individual Games and twelfth out of 14 team Games to have cuts. For Games that have included cuts, there have been an average of 2.5 cuts for individuals and 1.6 cuts for teams. Both individuals and teams were cut down twice in the 2023 CrossFit Games.
Emma Lawson during Individual Test 7 | Photo by Joy Silva
Madison CrossFit Games Records
Championships
Women: Tia-Clair Toomey (5), Laura Horvath (1)
Men: Mathew Fraser (3), Justin Medeiros (2), Jeffery Adler (1)
Teams: CrossFit Mayhem Freedom (4), CrossFit Invictus (1), Wasatch CrossFit (1)
Masters: Susan Clarke (4), Kevin Koester (4), Jason Grubb (4), Kelly Friel (3), Kyle Kasperbauer (3)
Teenagers: Dallin Pepper (3), Ty Jenkins (3), Lucy McGonigle (2), Olivia Kerstetter (2)
Adaptive: Casey Acree (3), Valerie Cohen (3), Brett Horchar (2)
Jeff Adler | Photo by flsportsguy photography
Podiums
Women: Tia-Clair Toomey (5), Laura Horvath (4), Annie Thorisdottir (2)
Men: Patrick Vellner (4), Mathew Fraser (3), Justin Medeiros (2), Brent Fikowski (2), Roman Khrennikov (2)
Teams: CrossFit Mayhem Freedom (5), CrossFit Invictus (3), CrossFit Oslo Navy Blue (3)
Masters: Jason Grubb (5), Kelly Friel (5), Susan Clarke (4), Kevin Koester (4), Laurie Meschishnick (4), David Hippensteel (4), Patricia McGill (4), Rebecca Voigt Miller (4)
Teenagers: Dallin Pepper (3), Ty Jenkins (3), Chloe Smith (3), Lucy McGonigle (3), Olivia Kerstetter (2), Kaela Stephano (2), Haley Adams (2), David Bradley (2), Olivia Sulek (2), Emma Lawson (2), RJ Mestre (2), Tudor Magda (2), Paige Powers (2)
Adaptive: Casey Acree (3), Valerie Cohen (3), Anne Laure Coutenceau (3), Brett Horchar (2), Christina Mazzullo (2), Rogan Dean (2), Charles Pienaar (2)
*Laura Horvath was the only individual rookie to podium in Madison.
Individual podium athletes | Photo by Joy Silva
Appearances
Women: Tia-Clair Toomey (5), Annie Thorisdottir (5), Katrin Davidsdottir (5), Laura Horvath (5), Brooke Wells (5), Amanda Barnhart (5)
Men: Björgvin Karl Guðmundsson (6), Noah Ohlsen (6), Cole Sager (6), Patrick Vellner (6), Brent Fikowski (6), Jonne Koski (5), Tim Paulson (5)
Teams: CrossFit Invictus (6), CrossFit Mayhem Freedom (5), CrossFit Omnia (5), CrossFit Pro1 (4)
Masters: Lynne Knapman (6*), Laurie Meschishnick (6*), Linda Elstun (6*), Justin LaSala (6*), Will Powell (5*), Kelly Friel (5*), David Hippensteel (5*), Rebecca Voigt Miller (5*), Jennifer Dieter (5*), Karen McCadam (5*), Alexandre Jolivet (5*), Clint Paddock (5*), Jason Grubb (5), Leka Fineman (5), Debbie Downing (5), Mike Kern (5), Bob Ruano (5)
Teenagers: Olivia Sulek (3*), Paulina Haro (3*), Tudor Magda (3*), Sophia Shaft (3*), Devyn Kim (3), Dallin Pepper (3), Ty Jenkins (3), Lucy McGonigle (3), Chloe Smith (3), RJ Mestre (3), Trista Smith (3), Ellie Kerstetter (3), Lea Malo (3), Jenna Michelotti (3), Hailey Rolfe (3), Ka'eo Subiono (3), Rylee Beebe (3), Mia Nightingale (3), Annalise Moore (3)
Adaptive: Casey Acree (3), Valerie Cohen (3), Anne Laure Coutenceau (3), Xabier Osa Mendes (3), Amy Bream (3)
*Qualified for the 2020 CrossFit Games that were initially going to be in Madison (not included in total as age groups didn’t compete that year).
Lynne Knapman during Age-Group Tests 1 and 2 | Photo by Wendy Nielsen
Test Wins
Women: Tia-Clair Toomey (20), Laura Horvath (11), Katrin Davidsdottir (6), Danielle Brandon (4), Kara Saunders (4)
Men: Mathew Fraser (12), Patrick Vellner (7), Jeffrey Adler (5), Guilherme Malheiros (5), Brent Fikowski (4), Roman Khrennikov (4)
Teams: CrossFit Mayhem Freedom (23), CrossFit Invictus (7), CrossFit Oslo Navy Blue (6), CrossFit East Nashville (4), Wasatch CrossFit (4), CrossFit Mayhem Independence (3), CrossFit JST (3)
Masters: Susan Clarke (21), Jason Grubb (13), Kelly Friel (13), Cherly Brost (10), Patricia Failla (10), Cal Cherrington (10), Samantha Briggs (9), David Hippensteel (9), Kevin Koester (9), Julie Holt (9)
Teenagers: Haley Adams (12), Dallin Pepper (12), Ty Jenkins (9), RJ Mestre (9), Chloe Smith (8), Olivia Kerstetter (7)
Adaptive: Casey Acree (22), Valerie Cohen (16), Brett Horchar (9), Christina Mazzullo (6), Charles Pienaar (6), Anne Laure Coutenceau (6)
Patrick Vellner after winning Individual Test 8 | Photo by Adam Bow
Leader’s Jerseys
Women: Tia-Clair Toomey (55), Emma Lawson (7), Laura Horvath (6), Alexis Raptis (3), Mal O’Brien (3)
Men: Mathew Fraser (27), Justin Medeiros (14), Ricky Garard (9), Roman Khrennikov (8), Noah Ohlsen (7)
Teams: CrossFit Mayhem Freedom (59), CrossFit Invictus (13), Wasatch CrossFit (7), CrossFit Oslo Navy Blue (2), CrossFit Mayhem Independence (1), CrossFit JST (1)
The 2023 CrossFit Games gave a great goodbye to Madison for the CrossFit community. New champions were crowned on the women’s and men’s side. A former team champion won its second title. Many age-group and adaptive champions retained their titles and extended streaks. This four-part series covered the statistical highlights of each division and as an aggregate. The record books and rankings have been adjusted and are ready for updating at the new home of the CrossFit Games in 2024.
Cover photo by Joy Silva