Remember: The Open begins in 23 days. Register here.
When the CrossFit Open first started in 2011, there were 10 total divisions (plus the Affiliate Cup) that competed over five weeks to qualify for regionals and on to the CrossFit Games to crown the Fittest on Earth.
- These 10 divisions included the Open Divisions for men and women (18-54), as well as eight age group divisions: men and women each aged 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, and 60+.
In 2011, a total of 14,210 athletes registered to compete. Of that total, 92.36% registered in the Open division; only 7.63% were in the age group divisions.
| Open Men | 8,619 | 60.65% |
| Open Women | 4,506 | 31.71% |
| Age Group Men | 728 | 5.12% |
| Age Group Women | 357 | 2.51% |
| Total | 14,210 |
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The age groups expanded over the following few years; in 2014, the 40-44 age group was added.
Gym Class Heroes
In 2015, the four Teen divisions were added. That year saw 5,678 teens register among these divisions, including:
| Boys 14-15 | 1,252 |
| Girls 14-15 | 782 |
| Boys 16-17 | 2,273 |
| Girls 16-17 | 1,371 |
| Total | 5,678 |
Remember these numbers; we will touch on them again later.
Angelo Dicicco and Sydney Sullivan won the first Open for their 14-15 divisions, and both then went on to win their divisions at the 2015 CrossFit Games.
In the 16-17 division, Mickael Sarrazin and Allison Weiss won the Open. Weiss was 3rd at the 2015 CrossFit Games, and Sarrazin was 2nd.
- Sullivan later successfully underwent a liver transplant due to complications from Type 2 juvenile autoimmune hepatitis; she had just finished 6th in her division at the 2016 Reebok CrossFit Games.
The Masters’ Bracket Expands
Kyle Kasperbauer won the newly created 35-39 division in the 2017 CrossFit Open.
- He went on to win the division at the Games, which launched him into a dominant run, winning the 35-39 division two more times over the next three years. Ultimately, he finished with eight total Games appearances, four in the Men’s Elite division and four in the Men’s 35-39 division.
The legendary “Engine from England,” Sam Briggs, won the inaugural women’s 35-39 division in the Open.
- Briggs, the Fittest Woman on Earth in 2013, would then go on to finish 9th at the 2017 Reebok CrossFit Games. She competed in the Women’s division nine times and in the Women’s age group divisions twice: Once in 2018 in the 35-39, where she finished 2nd, and then in her last year competing in 2023, she finished as the Fittest on Earth in the 40-44 division.
Since 2017, the age groups have stayed relatively the same, outside of an ever-increasing “plus” division.
- In 2011, the oldest age division was 60+. Then, in 2021, that was changed to 65+, giving 60-64 their own divisions. Now, in 2025, a new 70+ division has been added.
As of the publishing of this article, there are 207 men and 175 women registered to compete in the 70+ age group this year.
A Young Sport Ages
While CrossFit is often called a “young sport,” it is, in fact, aging. After 14 years, the average age is trending up.
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Since 2021, the average age of a CrossFit Open athlete has been over 35 years old.
- Athletes in the Masters divisions over age 35 made up 52.89% of the total Open registrations in 2024. Teens aged 14-17 were 1.17%, and the remaining 45.35 percent were athletes aged 18-34 years old.
And now, back to those inaugural Teen division numbers.
In the first year the Open included teen divisions, it culminated in 5,678 signups.
- Fast-forward to the last few seasons, and the total Open registration has grown from 273,257 in 2015 to 343,496 in 2024. (That’s a 26% growth when comparing just those two years, and yes, we know there were ups and downs between those years.)
- The teen division has stayed relatively the same across that same span.
Age Group Open – Teens
The youth of the sport has stayed relatively the same and, in the last few years, are the only divisions to flatten or shrink:
| Division | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
| Boys 14-15 | 1,538 | 1,482 | 1,480 |
| Girls 14-15 | 1,440 | 1,386 | 1,317 |
| Boys 16-17 | 1,843 | 1,697 | 1,669 |
| Girls 16-17 | 1,808 | 1,658 | 1,603 |
| Total | 6,629 | 6,223 | 6,069 |
As of the publishing of this article, there are 200 boys and 166 girls in the 14-15 age group, and 218 boys and 231 girls in the 16-17 age group.
In comparison to the Teens chart above, here is the overall chart.
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Both saw their height in 2018, but while the total registration has grown year over year since 2020, the teens’ chart jumped from 2020 to 2021 but then remained flat or has shrunk since.
In those same three seasons, there have been more 65+ athletes than teen division athletes:
| Division | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
| Men 65+ | 1,228 | 1,535 | 1,929 |
| Women 65+ | 1,053 | 1,335 | 1,775 |
Teens vs 65+ 2022 – 2024
Let’s dive into this week’s numbers.
First, to set the table, here are some quick dates and info for the 2025 Open:
- Registration started on January 15 at noon PT.
- CrossFit Open Workout 25.1 starts on February 27 at noon PT.
- CrossFit Open Workout 25.3 ends on March 17 at 5 p.m. PT.
That gives us 43 days during the registration period and 18 days once the Open starts.
The schedule can be found here, and you can register for the 2025 CrossFit Open here.
Open Report – Weekly Update 2
We are now 20 days into registration and 27 days until the Open 25.1 submission date.
Based on competitive divisions, the current registration progress looks like this:
Based on competitive region, the current registration progress looks like this:
The registration total is currently growing by an average of around 2.47k each day after the initial day one total of 8,904.
But what does that look like compared to previous years?
During the same days in 2024, the average day-over-day addition of registrations was 3.6k after the initial day one of 20,982.
- The chart above, which is a year-over-year comparison chart counting down to the submission date for XX.1, now has 2023 data as well as 2022.
Note: 2022 only includes the ‘Open’ division, not the 14-15 or 55+ age group divisions or Adaptive divisions.
As of the publishing of this article, that would equate to $533,650.00 in total prize money, divided into the following categories:
| Games – Individual | $261,488.50 |
| Games – Teams | $53,365.00 |
| Open – Individual | $26,682.50 |
| Open – Affiliate | $106,730.00 |
| Masters Games | $53,365.00 |
| Adaptive Games | $16,009.50 |
| Online Semifinal | $16,009.50 |
This will be our weekly monitor as the Open approaches and we go through to 25.3. I will also post daily check-ins at @known_knowable on Instagram.
Featured image: @welcome_to_the_mill / Instagram
