Instead of sitting at home while her husband coached athletes through the 2024 Rogue Invitational qualifier workouts, Taylor Williamson decided to do them for fun with the crew.
- Now, after coming in third place, Williamson will head to Aberdeen, Scotland, on November 8-10 as a Rogue rookie.
The former Games athlete and former teammate of CrossFit legend Rich Froning retired after the 2023 season. But Williamson thought she’d just jump into the Rogue qualifiers alongside Sydney Wells, who ended up taking second in the qualifiers — just one spot ahead of Williamson.
- “Honestly, I thought the chances would be slim, just given that I felt like I hadn’t been training a lot and definitely hadn’t been putting a lot of intensity into workouts,” Williamson said in an interview with Morning Chalk Up.
Williamson is married to Nick Johnston, CEO of PRVN Fitness, located in Nashville, TN.
- She has been to the CrossFit Games as a team athlete seven times, topping the podium in 2021 and 2022.
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Taylor Williamson: Rogue Rookie
Rogue Invitational is a top-tier competition in the CrossFit space and includes 40 athletes in total. The top six women athletes and top five men gained entry to the contest from “The Q,” which is Rogue’s online qualifier. The rest of the spots were invite-only using the Rogue Individual Qualifying System.
- The full roster for the 2024 Rogue Invitational can be found here.
- “It’s probably one of the best, if not the best, events that’s put on in the CrossFit space,” Williamson said. “And they are really good to their athletes, so it’s really cool to have the opportunity to go not only to Rogue but to Scotland.”
Williamson wants to be clear: This competition does not mean she is returning to competitive CrossFit and isn’t planning to compete in the 2025 season.
She now works as a physician assistant full-time but still trains consistently, just not at the volume she held previously.
- “It’s been challenging, as it probably is for anyone,” she said. “But I also think that I was ready for it, and I’m still able to work out as much as I want and as much as brings me happiness and joy without having to make all the extra sacrifices that go along with being your best and trying to be the best.”
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In the months leading up to the event, Williamson has had the opportunity to train alongside Sydney Wells, a Games athlete in her own right.
Williamson said she and Wells have been working out together on the weekends and pushing each other through more focused training.
- “I just love training hard and love having a goal to focus on. Part of me thinks I’ll never be retired in that sense, but it’s been really good to focus more on my job and trying to do the thing that I love, which is medicine,” she added.
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Featured image: @t_will7 / Taylor Williamson
