At the start of the weekend, Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr announced her intention to “reclaim the crown” from last year’s Rogue Invitational winner, Laura Horvath.
- Horvath put up a fight and did her best to make it difficult for Toomey-Orr, but it was not enough to outdo the seven-time Fittest Woman. Toomey-Orr finished 60 points ahead of Horvath en route to her fourth Rogue Invitational title.
On the men’s side, if there was ever a question of whether the 2023 CrossFit Games champion Jeff Adler would become a one-hit wonder, those questions were certainly put to rest this weekend.
- Adler competed like he is still the Fittest Man on Earth, cruising his way to victory over fellow Canadian Brent FIkowski, who is competing in his final competition before retirement.
Take a look back at their performances.
Tia’s Dominance
Reflecting on the weekend as a whole — once Gabi Migala withdrew after injuring herself during Event 6 — the competition looked more like a duel between Toomey-Orr and Horvath than a race between 20 athletes.
- In fact, between the two of them, they won every single event, with Toomey-Orr scooping up five to Horvath’s four. Further, the third-place finisher, Arielle Loewen, ended a whole 220 points behind Horvath.
Toomey-Orr came out hot on Friday, going three-for-three en route to three consecutive event wins.
- Horvath put the pressure on during Day 2, though, picking up back-to-back event wins to close the day, while Toomey-Orr had her lowest finish on Event 6 (8th).
Heading into Sunday, Toomey-Orr had a 55-point lead over Horvath.
Still, Horvath didn’t back down.
- She continued to charge on Sunday, starting the day with two more event wins, bringing each woman’s total event wins at the time to four.
Unfortunately for Horvath, she didn’t get much help from other athletes to chip away at the point spread, as Toomey-Orr was right behind her in second on both events.
With a 40-point lead over Horvath heading into the final event, things looked good for Toomey-Orr.
But she left no doubt. The G.O.A.T. charged out ahead on the first 15 sandbag cleans and kept her lead until the end, wrapping up the weekend with a fifth and final event win.
Adler Makes a Statement
While there was a ton of shuffling near the top of the men’s leaderboard all weekend in Aberdeen — mostly between Fikowski, Ricky Garard, Jayson Hopper, and Dallin Pepper — Adler occupied the top spot by the end of Day 1 and never relinquished it.
Adler picked up just one event win all weekend — Event 3 — but he also didn’t have a single placing outside of the top 10, the only man to boast that feat. He also finished inside the top five in seven out of nine events.
Heading into the final event, Adler was a healthy 40 points ahead of Fikowski in an event that looked like it had Adler written all over it.
In the end, Fikowski edged Adler out during the event, but he was only able to make up one spot on Adler (third and fourth), helping Adler take the victory by 35 points over Fikowski.
- “For the last two months, I have been training with only one thing in mind, and this weekend, I had only one thing in mind, and I got it,” Adler said in a post-competition interview.
The Big Picture
The results from Aberdeen this weekend bring up two big questions as we head into the 2025 season:
- Is Horvath closing the gap on Toomey-Orr?
- Will Adler log his second title at the 2025 CrossFit Games?
Toomey-Orr might have done it again, but in their first head-to-head match-up since last year’s Rogue Invitational, Horvath made a statement, besting the next closest athlete by more than 200 points.
- At the very least, they were in a class of their own this weekend, with Horvath looking closer to Toomey-Orr’s level than to the rest of the (also very fit) women in the field.
Adler, who withdrew from the 2024 CrossFit Games, was possibly chomping at the bit a little harder than usual this weekend in Scotland. That being said, there’s no denying him.
The man doesn’t have a weakness, and he seems like the obvious early favorite to win it all again next summer.
Featured image: Seb Vallejo, @vallejo_media_ / Instagram
