The Worldwide Ranking System: How It Works

January 31, 2023

CrossFit

New for the 2023 season, CrossFit will implement a worldwide ranking system for athletes who compete as individuals. Here's how it works.

New for the 2023 season, CrossFit will implement a worldwide ranking system for athletes who compete as individuals. All athletes who registered for the Individual Quarterfinal in 2022 will be included in the worldwide ranking that will be released prior to the start of the 2023 Open. Updated worldwide rankings will be published periodically throughout the year for all athletes who qualify and register for the 2023 Quarterfinals (men’s and women’s individual divisions). 

VIEW RANKINGS

To determine an athlete’s worldwide rank, points are assigned to the previous two years of competitive results for the four stages of the CrossFit Games season (the Open, Quarterfinals, Semifinals, and Games). Athletes who accumulate more points will be ranked higher than athletes with fewer points. As the season progresses, the calculation window will slide such that the ranking will always be based on the most recent running two years of data. The two years of competition experience operate as an overview of an athlete’s fitness.

What’s Included in the Worldwide Ranking? 

As of Feb. 1, 2023, scores for the 2021 and 2022 Open, Quarterfinals, Semifinals, and Games are included in the worldwide ranking calculation.

Worldwide Ranking Calculations

After the close of the 2023 Quarterfinals, scores will be recalculated by dropping the 2021 Open and Quarterfinals scores and adding in the new 2023 Open and Quarterfinals scores. 

See the diagrams below for further explanation:

Worldwide Ranking Calculations

Each subsequent publication of the worldwide rankings will follow the same format using only the most recent two years of season results.

These worldwide rankings will be updated after scores are finalized for the 2023 Quarterfinals, after the 2023 Semifinals, and again after the 2023 Games. 

How the Scores Are Tabulated

Points for the Open and Quarterfinals will be awarded based on an athlete’s worldwide percentile finish. Athletes will receive points for their finishing percentile x 10. In the Open, there are 1,000 points available to the top male and female athlete (worldwide) and scores go down from there — 990 for 99th percentile, 980 for 98th percentile, and so on. 

During the Quarterfinals, athletes will receive points for their worldwide percentile finish x 20. There are 2,000 points available to the top male and female athlete (worldwide) and scores go down from there —1,980 points for the 99th percentile, 1,960 for the 98th percentile, and so on.

Once the season progresses to in-person events (Semifinals and the Games), points are earned based on rank-order finish. Each placement on the leaderboard at each competition will earn a different number of points. The top male and female athlete at each Semifinal will earn 4,000 points. The remainder of Semifinalists will have different point-earning opportunities. Each Semifinal will have a points table based on the final number of Games-qualifying positions and the size of the field present at that specific Semifinal competition. 

Qualifying for the CrossFit Games creates the largest points-earning opportunity for an athlete during the season. Winning the title of Fittest on Earth will award 10,000 points.

Season Points Breakdown

For the 2023 season, updated points tables for all Semifinals will be based on the final number of Games-qualifying positions at each competition. In addition, the North America and Europe Semifinals points tables will reflect the larger, 60-athlete fields present at those competitions. Semifinals with a higher number of qualifying positions/larger field of athletes will have a more gradual decline in points per placement. 

For example, in a smaller region with only one qualifying athlete, the difference between first and second place will be:

First = 4,000 points

Second = 1,800 points

In a larger region with 10 qualifying athletes, the difference between first and second place will be:

First = 4,000 points

Second = 3,750 points

 

For any questions regarding the worldwide ranking system, please contact support@crossfitgames.com

VIEW RANKINGS