The third and final week of the 2025 CrossFit Open will start with the 25.3 live announcement, where three of the best male athletes in the sport will throw down against each other: James Sprague, Dallin Pepper, and Jayson Hopper.
This is the first Open announcement event for all three athletes. Here’s how they fared at last year’s CrossFit Games:
- James Sprague — First place
- Dallin Pepper — Second place
- Jayson Hopper — Fourth place
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Remind me: Over the last two weeks, details for 25.1 and 25.2 were announced via Instagram. The week one announcement will be hosted at CrossFit Mayhem on February 27, marking the start of the 2025 season. Week two will be hosted by CrossFit Incendia on March 6.
- Get caught up on the new format for the season, along with both major and minor rulebook changes.
According to CrossFit’s Instagram post, the 25.3 Open announcement will be hosted by CrossFit Spur in Glenmont, NY, on March 13 at 12:00 p.m. PT. It will be streamed live on the CrossFit Games website and YouTube channel.
- “It’s a trio that watching go head-to-head is a nice storyline. I’m really excited about the athletes all the weeks, but specifically week three,” Dave Castro said during his Week in Review YouTube series.
The only thing we know about these workouts is that one of them will be a repeat Open workout from a previous year. It’s still unknown which week it will appear.
The 25.3 Matchup
James Sprague vs. Dallin Pepper vs. Jayson Hopper
It’s been a while since there’s been a three-man Open announcement, especially one with such competitive athletes who love to trash-talk as much as these guys.
- The last time was 21.3, when the Panchik brothers went head-to-head.
The competitiveness among Sprague, Pepper, and Hopper is almost like a sibling rivalry.
Sprague is coming off of a first-place finish at TYR Wodapalooza Miami and being crowned Fittest Man on Earth at the 2024 Games. Pepper was only 21 points behind him at the 2024 Games, which gave him the second-place spot on the podium. Hopper wasn’t far behind, taking fourth place overall, one spot below Brent Fikowski.
- Sprague’s conditioning and endurance stood out during the 2024 Games as he took first during the event “Chad 1000X” and a top-five finish in the track and field event.
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Pepper, who is a well-rounded athlete, also did quite well throughout the 2024 Games, but his finishes on two of the more conditioning-heavy workouts put him just slightly behind Sprague.
- Pepper’s best finish was second place during the event “Firestorm,” which was a sprint workout that included Echo bike calories and burpees over a barricade.
But it would be Hopper’s incredible power output that gave him an event win in “Firestorm.” The former college football player also made a statement when he won “Dickies Triplet” ahead of Sprague by just three seconds.
- Hopper only came onto the CrossFit elite scene in 2021, while both Sprague and Pepper started out in the Teens division in 2017.
Here’s how Sprague, Pepper, and Hopper placed in the three most recent Opens.
2024 Open
- James Sprague: 27th place overall.
- Dallin Pepper: 16th place overall.
- Jayson Hopper: 49th place overall.
2023 Open
- James Sprague: 168th place overall.
- Dallin Pepper: Eighth place overall.
- Jayson Hopper: 35th place overall.
2022 Open
- James Sprague: 29th place overall.
- Dallin Pepper: 10th place overall.
- Jayson Hopper: 16th place overall.
One thing is clear: All three men have pretty phenomenal output on machines and have the ability to grind through a hard workout. If we’re looking strictly at Open finishes, Pepper has a good shot at winning 25.3, given his historical placement over the last three years.
One last thing: As with every Open, we’ll have to wait and find out what exactly is in store for these athletes and the entire community.
