The 2024 CrossFit Games were tough to watch this year after the tragic passing of Lazar Đukić, and like many others, I was conflicted about the competition.
Could I cheer for athletes knowing they were mourning the loss of a friend? Does anyone care if a record is broken when so many hearts are already broken?
- While the CrossFit community still mourns the loss, I fall back to the original reason I started to create statistics content in the first place: To promote the athletes and their accomplishments.
With that in mind, I dove into the 2024 results and found five takeaways from the women’s competition this year.
Cardio Is Queen
Running looms large at the CrossFit Games.
Since 2012, only one CrossFit Games iteration has had less than three running events. 2024 was no exception, with running appearing three times — “Lake Day,” “Track & Field,” and “Dickies Triplet.”
Then there was “Chad,” which technically falls into a gymnastics classification but turned into a long cardio event.
- As a result, an athlete’s cardiovascular capabilities had a big influence on how they finished in “Chad.”
The top five athletes on the overall leaderboard — Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr, Gabriela Migala, Emily Rolfe, Bethany Flores, and Haley Adams — combined for only one finish outside the top 10 in those four events:
- Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr:
- First (“Run Swim”)
- First (“Track & Field”)
- Fourth (“Chad”)
- First (“Dickies Triplet”)
- Gabriela Migala:
- 12th (“Run Swim”)
- Fourth (“Track & Field”)
- Second (“Chad”)
- Second (“Dickies Triplet”)
- Emily Rolfe:
- Third (“Run Swim”)
- Sixth (“Track & Field”)
- First (“Chad”)
- Fourth (“Dickies Triplet”)
- Bethany Flores:
- Second (“Run Swim”)
- Ninth (“Track & Field”)
- Sixth (“Chad”)
- Eighth (“Dickies Triplet”)
- Haley Adams:
- Seventh (“Run Swim”)
- Second (“Track & Field”)
- Third (“Chad”)
- Third (“Dickies Triplet”)
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Still Climbing
Top 10 finishers Gabriela Migala, Emily Rolfe, Bethany Flores, Maddie Sturt, and Paige Semenza all have at least five trips to the CrossFit Games.
Each of them also had career-best finishes this year in 2024:
- Gabriela Migala: Second | Previous best finish, fourth (2023)
- Emily Rolfe: Third | Previous best finish, 12th (2023)
- Bethany Flores: Fourth | Previous best finish, eighth (2019)
- Maddie Sturt: Eighth | Previous best finish, 20th (2018)
- Paige Semenza: Ninth | Previous best finish, 18th (2023)
Experience Matters
Looking at the top 10 women, eight of them have five-plus trips to the CrossFit Games.
Only Alexis Raptis (sixth) and Alex Gazan (10th) have less than five years of experience. Even then, 2024 was their third trip to the Games.
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Except When It Doesn’t
Spots 11-20 on the leaderboard primarily went to athletes with minimal experience at the CrossFit Games.
In this group, there were five rookies and three athletes on their second trip to the Games.
- Also in this group was third-year athlete Emma Lawson, who, at 19, isn’t exactly a wily old veteran.
The other competitor in this group, Brooke Wells, who finished 11th, has nine trips to the Games, which is only five less than the other nine women combined.
No Bad Events
Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr and Gabriela Migala were the only athletes to finish in the top 15 in every event.
It is the first time two women finished in the top 15 for all events in the same CrossFit Games since 2010 when Julie Foucher and Annie Thorisdottir completed this feat.
- Emma Lawson was the only athlete to finish in the top 15 of all events at the 2023 CrossFit Games.
Consistency wins championships in CrossFit, so it’s no surprise to see Toomey-Orr and Migala at the top of the podium.
The Big Picture
With the CrossFit Games, some takeaways are similar year after year: Running always plays a key part in the Games, and consistency is key.
While others tend to vary year to year, it’s unlikely that we see such a distinct dispersion between longtime veterans and rookies at the Games.
It’s now up to the athletes to determine how to adapt as they head into the off-season.
Featured image: Scott Freymond
