The World Fitness Project’s (WFP) Tour Event I is done and dusted, and to say the least, it provided an entertaining show for sports fans.
- In both the men’s and women’s competitions, determining the top three spots came down to the final event. Ultimately, Austin Hatfield and Alex Gazan triumphed after an unpredictable competition in which the leads were never secure.
Tour Event I set the stage for the rest of this season, which we believe has the potential to be one of the most entertaining in history for fans.
Why?
Because of the number of women we believe can challenge for the podium and the top spot, both at the WFP Finals in Copenhagen, Denmark, in December, and at the CrossFit Games in August in Albany, NY.
As for the men, there’s an exciting changing of the guard happening right now, so to speak, that makes the season more wildly unpredictable than ever.
Parity at the Top of the Women’s Division
For many years on the women’s side, it has largely been the Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr show, where it seemed a small handful of athletes were fighting for second and third place at best.
- Case in point: Last season, Toomey-Orr won the CrossFit Games by 96 points over Gabi Migala en route to her seventh title, and that was one of her smaller margins of victory. In 2022, her margin was 113 points; in 2021, she won by 256 points; and in 2020, she took the title by an unprecedented 360 points.
In many cases, Toomey-Orr didn’t even need to step onto the competition floor to participate in the final event or two to win, making the final day of competition somewhat anticlimactic for spectators.
With Toomey-Orr not competing in the WFP, it was assumed that Laura Horvath would take the title. However, last weekend, the women’s field proved to be closer and arguably more competitive than expected. Horvath fought hard but ended up finishing ninth.
- Brandon led after Day 1, while Gazan remained back in sixth. After the third workout, Arielle Loewen briefly took the lead. Then Horvath began climbing the leaderboard, appearing as though she might make it to the podium after all, but she struggled with the overhead lunges in the final event and fell to ninth, as Gazan moved into the top spot once and for all.
The bottom line: None of the top three athletes from last weekend’s Tour Event have ever stood on the CrossFit Games podium, while four other athletes in the field – Horvath, Loewen, Emma Lawson, and Emily Rolfe – have, and must be considered contenders.
- Add Lucy Campbell, the 2025 TYR Wodapalooza champion, along with veterans like Alexis Raptis, Haley Adams, and Brooke Wells – who have come close to the top three at the Games – and we think there are at least 10 athletes with a chance to reach the podium and ultimately win the WFP Finals or the CrossFit Games.
Worth noting: It’s unclear whether Toomey-Orr will compete at the Games this summer if she qualifies. Her focus, at least through the World Championships in June, is on HYROX training, and she chose not to participate in the In-Affiliate Semifinals.
- That being said, Toomey-Orr has also committed to throwing down at the upcoming Torian Pro, an In-Person Qualifying Event for this summer’s Games. On the same note, she also said Torian Pro would allow her to say “goodbye to this chapter.”
A Generational Change In the Men’s Division
Like the women, where it was assumed that it was Horvath’s to lose, the same can be said for Jeff Adler among the men. Ultimately, Adler finished fourth last weekend, behind three younger athletes who are part of a new generation that has risen through the ranks over the past couple of years.
- Austin Hatfield, a rookie at the 2024 Games, led all competitors in Indianapolis. Last year’s Games champion, James Sprague, secured second place, while Jayson Hopper, who finished fourth at the Games last summer, took third place.
To some degree, it feels as though most of the old guard men – athletes who rose through the ranks during the Mat Fraser era, including Brent Fikowski, Pat Vellner, Jonne Koski, Björgvin Karl Guðmundsson, Sam Kwant, Cole Sager, and Noah Ohlsen – have either retired or are gradually being replaced by the new generation of post-Mat Fraser men, athletes like Hatfield, Sprague, Hopper, Dallin Pepper, Jay Crouch, Tudor Magda, and Colten Mertens.
Worth noting: None of the old guard athletes listed above have yet qualified for the CrossFit Games this summer.
- Fikowski and Sager have retired, while Ohlsen and Vellner are not competing in the Games season. They finished 10th and 23rd, respectively, last weekend. Meanwhile, Gudmundsson, Koski, and Kwant have not yet earned their invites.
- On the other hand, Hatfield and Mertens have officially qualified for the Games, while Sprague, Hopper, Pepper, Crouch, and Magda have all unofficially qualified through the In-Affiliate Semifinals.
This means that this year’s Games roster will look significantly different from previous years, featuring a host of exciting, next-generation athletes leading the charge.
When you throw in athletes like Adler, Justin Medeiros, and Roman Khrennikov, who represent a sort of middle generation, there are arguably a dozen capable of jockeying for position near the top of the leaderboard at both the WFP and the CrossFit Games.
The Big Picture
Sports are difficult to predict, so we run the races and play the games, but this year seems even more challenging than usual. At least 10 female and 10 male athletes, perhaps even more, have a legitimate shot at finishing on the podium at the CrossFit Games and the WFP Finals, setting the season up to be especially entertaining for anyone tuning in.
More CrossFit Stories
- Inside The Fittest Experience Invitational: Predictions, Leaderboard, and How to Watch
- Why It’s a Big Deal That Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr Will Compete at Torian Pro
- Adidas Releases the Training Spezial – A Functional Throwback Redesigned for High-Level Sport
Featured Image: World Fitness Project
