The 2025 CrossFit Open has come to a close after an exciting three weeks. The men’s division was full of friendly and fierce competition between some of the best in the sport, with CrossFit Games athlete Colten Mertens coming out on top.
Remind me: For three weeks, athletes in the community and across the globe took on Open Workouts 25.1, 25.2, and 25.3. Each workout presented different challenges and offered athletes three chances to see how they stacked up.
Mertens absolutely dominated the men’s division, winning both 25.1 and 25.2 and finishing 25.3 in second place.
After narrowly missing out on qualifying for the 2023 Games, Mertens looks like he is out for vengeance, as he aggressively took on each workout week after week with blistering times.
- Mertens was such a force that his total score for 25.1 wasn’t even on the scorecard. The scorecard stopped at 10 rounds, but Mertens proceeded to complete round 10 and get 11 reps into round 11. He finished with the winning score of 361 reps.
One and Done
For Dallin Pepper, his 25.3 performance secured a second-place finish overall.
Pepper, a former Teen and Games individual athlete, appeared in his first live Open announcement in the final week, where he completely demolished the workout and won the event.
- Pepper went head-to-head with Jayson Hopper, James Sprague, and NFL quarterback Tyson Bagent.
- It was a stacked heat, and the boys all went out hot. Pepper held a small lead early and widened the gap towards the back half of the workout to finish with a time of 9:21.
One of the unique features of the Open is the opportunity to redo a workout. Many athletes take advantage of this, but Pepper didn’t need a second attempt.
In a post-workout interview, Pepper shared that he was confident in his time and challenged others to try to beat him.
- “I think I put up a great time, and if you want to beat it, go ahead and try,” Pepper said during the Open 25.3 announcement.
His time did, in fact, hold up and was 16 seconds faster than Mertens’ second-place finish.
Notable Performances
Jeffrey Adler, the 2023 Games champion, secured third place in the Open. He performed consistently over the three weeks, with his best finish being a fourth-place performance in 25.1.
- Adler won the Open twice and finished in eighth place last year. This will be his best finish since 2023.
Another performance worth mentioning is Austin Hatfield, who was a CrossFit Games rookie in 2024 and took 10th place.
- Hatfield was featured in the 25.1 Open announcement alongside Games athletes Roman Khrennikov, Haley Adams, and the G.O.A.T., Rich Froning.
Hatfield finished the workout with 335 reps and won the announcement. He was consistent through the entire three weeks, setting him up for a big 2025 season.
The Bottom Line
The men’s division was fun to follow along with through the Open.
Now, we move to the In-Affiliate Semifinals and In-Person Qualifying Events, where these athletes will have a chance to earn one of the 30 CrossFit Games invitations available in 2025.
As with most Opens, it brought out the competitive side of the entire community, and many athletes surprised themselves with how hard they could push.
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Featured Image: Sara Ines Chew
