When it comes to Instagram followers, it’s no surprise that the G.O.A.T.s of both men’s and women’s CrossFit, Mat Fraser and Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr, are leading the charts as the two athletes with the largest followings; Toomey-Orr has 2 million, while Fraser has 2.3 million.
- What’s perhaps more surprising is that recent stars, including 2024 CrossFit Games champion James Sprague (78,500 followers) and second-place finisher Dallin Pepper (91,500 followers), for example, have very small followings in comparison, despite their stellar accomplishments.
- Similarly, the women who placed second and third at last summer’s Games, Gabi Migala and Emily Rolfe, have just 131,000 and 102,000 followers, respectively.
This prompted us to dig a little deeper, uncovering an intriguing fact: all CrossFit Games athletes with at least 1 million followers participated in their first CrossFit Games before 2016.
- The sole exception is Dani Speegle, who debuted at the Games in 2019 and now boasts 1.8 million followers. Her participation in the Titan Games on NBC in 2020 may have played a role in this.
Table of Contents
The 1 Million Followers Club
This table includes CrossFit Games athletes with more than one million followers, the first year they competed at the CrossFit Games, and their current Instagram follower count:
| First Year at the Games | Name | IG Followers |
| 2009 | Annie Thorisdottir | 1.3 million |
| 2010 | Rich Froning | 1.4 million |
| 2010 | Camille Leblanc-Bazinet | 1.2 million |
| 2012 | Katrin Davidsdottir | 1.6 million |
| 2013 | Marcus Filly | 1.1 million |
| 2014 | Mat Fraser | 2.3 million |
| 2014 | Lauren Fisher | 1 million |
| 2015 | Brooke Wells | 1.8 million |
| 2015 | Brooke Ence | 1.4 million |
| 2015 | Sara Sigmundsdottir | 1.6 million |
| 2015 | Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr | 2 million |
Two honorable mentions near the million mark include other pre-2016 Games athletes: Noah Ohlsen (869,000 followers) and Josh Bridges (856,000 followers).
Why This Matters
Regardless of your feelings towards social media, becoming a professional athlete or establishing a brand and business after your competitive career hinges on one crucial factor: followers. They are essential for attracting sponsorships and generating revenue for brands and businesses.
Case in point: Marcus Filly competed at the Games three times – in 2013, 2014, and 2016 – and never placed higher than 12th. Nevertheless, these experiences enabled him to make a name for himself, attract a following, and establish his highly successful Functional Bodybuilding company after concluding his competitive career.
- The same applies to Lauren Fisher. Her early success enabled her to cultivate a strong social media following and establish her own business, Grown Strong, which is a fitness company for women.
With that in mind, let’s look at the Instagram follower counts of recent stars in the sport Games athletes who rose to fame between 2016 and 2018 or rose to prominence after 2019.
2016-2018
Firstly, there’s Laura Horvath, who finished second at the Games in 2018. She has 453,000 followers.
- Given that she has earned a spot on the Games podium four times and won the title in 2023, you might expect this number to be higher.
The same holds for both Brent Fikowski and Pat Vellner, who first competed at the Games in 2016 and are fan favorites known for their unique personalities and multiple podium finishes.
- Vellner has 638,000 followers, while Fikowski has 684,000.
Worth noting: Horvath, Fikowski, and Vellner rank among the top CrossFit athletes in the world, each boasting multiple podium finishes and lengthy careers in the sport. Horvath has competed in the Games seven times, while Vellner and the now-retired Fikowski have participated nine times.
- In comparison, four athletes from the pre-2016 Games on our list with over 1 million followers — Filly, Fisher, Wells, and Ence — never reached the podium. Additionally, Ence participated in the Games only once.
2019-Present
The numbers from 2019 to 2025 remain significantly lower among athletes who made their debut at the Games during these years and earned a podium finish.
- Two-time Games champion Justin Medeiros, who started competing at the Games in 2020, has 559,000 followers. Two-time podium finisher Roman Khrennikov — who placed in 2022 and 2023 — has 261,000. Additionally, 2023 Games champion Jeff Adler boasts 190,000.
Once again, last year’s first- and second-place finishers, Sprague and Pepper, each have fewer than 100,000 followers.
On the women’s side, 2023 second-place finisher Emma Lawson has 337,000 followers, while four-time Games veteran Arielle Loewen, who finished third in 2023, has 124,000.
- Once again, as noted above, 2024 medalist and six-time Games veteran Migala has 131,000 followers, while last year’s bronze medalist, Rolfe, has 102,000.
That said, three other athletes are arguably fan favorites who have broken the trend: Speegle, Danielle Brandon (811,000 followers), and Brazilian star Gui Malheiros (646,000). All three athletes first competed at the Games in 2019.
This raises the question: why do athletes from the Games prior to 2016 have the most followers?
A Theory
Other than the fact that veteran athletes simply had a longer time to accumulate followers, there’s another potential explanation for the discrepancy. While it’s not a perfect theory, when we consider Instagram followers alongside the ebb and flow of total CrossFit affiliates worldwide, it appears we might be onto something. (Yes, correlation is not causation, but it could track in terms of overall interest.)
The total number of CrossFit affiliates grew slowly between 2002 and 2010. Here are some milestones:
- Fall 2002: one affiliate
- Summer 2004: four affiliates
- Fall 2007: 250 affiliates
- Summer 2008: 500 affiliates
- Winter 2009: 1,000 affiliates
- Summer 2010: 2,500 affiliates
Then, in 2011, Reebok became the title sponsor of the CrossFit Games, and interest began to soar.
- Between 2011 and 2014, the number of CrossFit affiliates increased from 3,000 to 10,000 worldwide.
It can be argued that enthusiasm for CrossFit peaked during this era, and elite athletes who rose through the ranks gained social media followers as a result.
The total number of CrossFit affiliates continued to grow until 2018, when it topped out at 15,500 worldwide. However, that year also marked the moment when CrossFit purged its entire media team.
- CrossFit almost completely ceased producing media content, which meant they no longer promoted athletes through their CrossFit Games documentaries, YouTube channel, and articles on their website. Naturally, this also led to athletes being tagged less often on social media.
In 2019, CrossFit suspended all activities on its Facebook and Instagram accounts, citing privacy concerns. This decision arguably made it even more difficult for athletes to grow their social media followings.
CrossFit affiliation has been declining since 2018, further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in the closure of many gyms.
- By March 2024, the CrossFit affiliate map indicated there were 11,366 affiliates worldwide.
As of last month, the map showed there were 9,899 affiliates.
The Bottom Line
Social media can have a tremendous impact when it comes to becoming a professional athlete and building a brand and business.
Regardless of the reason, it seems more challenging for today’s CrossFit athletes to garner the same level of social media fanfare as CrossFit Games athletes who emerged on the scene before 2016.
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Featured Image: @munemqureshi / Instagram
