2025 CrossFit Open Women's Division - 10 Big Takeaways

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Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up.

In today’s edition:

• As the dust settles on the 2025 CrossFit Open leaderboard, we take stock of the women’s division as we move toward the middle stage of the Games season.

• Pamela Gagnon, an expert on CrossFit gymnastics, explains why now is the time to start improving your Open gymnastics skills.

• The Top Fuel CrossFit community in Crown Point, IN, is rallying around gym owner Dustin Shurlow, who was recently diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma. Learn about their upcoming fundraiser and how you can help.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“The community lifted me and motivated me to want to get back to normal as quickly as possible …I felt extremely humbled but also proud of the community.” - Dustin Shurlow, Top Fuel CrossFit owner.

CROSSFIT GAMES

10 Big Takeaways From the 2025 CrossFit Open Women’s Division

With tens of thousands of CrossFit Open registrants — more than 90,000 women this year — it’s always a bit of a challenge to nail down the biggest takeaways from the worldwide leaderboard.

• This year, there’s the added layer of many of the world’s top athletes who have chosen to sit out the 2025 CrossFit Games season because they’re unhappy with CrossFit LLC after all that has unfolded since last year’s CrossFit Games. 

• Others, such as Arielle Loewen, have told us they’ll do the Open but that their top priority will be the World Fitness Project (WFP) season. 

Now that the Open is behind us, time will tell whether more top athletes will sit out the rest of the 2025 season or whether they push to qualify for the 2025 CrossFit Games in Albany, NY.

Controversies aside, there were still plenty of noteworthy performances and statistics from this year’s Open. 

Here are some that caught our eye:

The Top Three Women

It seems only right to begin with the performances at the top of the leaderboard:

• First: Switzerland’s Mirjam von Rohr has likely secured her second straight Open title. We can only assume she’ll be looking to qualify for her first CrossFit Games since failing to do so in the European Semifinals last season, where she finished 18th.

(Note: the leaderboard remains unofficial until CrossFit announces that it’s locked.)

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SPEED READS

🌎🏆 WFP Challenger Qualifier I: The workouts for the World Fitness Project Challenger Qualifier I were released this week. Registration is open until March 25. Learn more and sign up here.

🌎 🎟️ 2025 Qualifying Event Updates: Here are a few quick updates from some of the 2025 CrossFit Games Qualifying Events.

• Mayhem Classic: The total prize purse for the inaugural In-Person Qualifying Event will be $81,000, with $15,000 going to the winner in each division.

• Wodland Fest: The In-Person Qualifying Event in Malaga, Spain, is slowly revealing its confirmed athletes, mostly recently the Finnish legend Jonne Koski. Follow the announcements here.

• Torian Pro: The final workout of the Torian Pro qualifier will be released today, March 21. Get the details here.

• The Fittest Experience: The North America West In-Person Qualifying Event has been tracking Open results week by week and now has the (unofficial) lists of men, women, and teams above the top-20 cut line and in position to earn an invitation.

ICYMI: In case you missed last weekend's announcement, the World Fitness Project revealed its plans for the Fitness Project Initiative. We talked with its leadership for more details.

MEMBER EXCLUSIVE

CrossFit Gymnastics Skills That Are Here to Stay

I saw the look on your face when those bar muscle-ups appeared again this year. I knew that when you got to the rig, you would spend three minutes in frustration mode.

Or maybe you tossed yourself off the rower on 25.3, knowing the wall walks crushed your soul?

• How many times do we have to go through the CrossFit Open to realize these skills are here to stay, and those who have them will climb the leaderboard?

Looking back at history, we have seen muscle-ups and double-unders in every CrossFit Open since the start and some variation of a pull-up every year but one. 

So, let’s dive into the skills that aren’t going away and what you can do about it.

COMMUNITY

Top Fuel CrossFit Owner Battles Skin Cancer, Community Raises $35,000, Hopes to Hit $50,000

When Top Fuel CrossFit members found out their “loyal coach and leader of our community”—gym owner Dustin Shurlow— was battling squamous cell carcinoma, a type of skin cancer, they acted immediately to do what they could to make his life easier during this challenging time.

• First, gym members donated their time to “completely remodel the facility,” said member Joshua Marlow. They cleaned, painted, upgraded shelving, upgraded bathrooms, installed a new stereo system, and installed new whiteboards. 

Further, they quickly raised $35,000 for Shurlow, an eight-year owner of the affiliate in Crown Point, IN. In recent weeks, Shurlow has been documenting his journey with cancer on Instagram. After their fundraiser on March 22, they hope to hit $50,000.

Shurlow, who was in the hospital for two and a half months until recently, is moved by how his community has stepped up to help.

• “The community lifted me and motivated me to want to get back to normal as quickly as possible. After finding out about the fundraiser, I felt extremely humbled but also proud of the community that has been created at Top Fuel CrossFit,” Shurlow said. 

THINGS TO…

…WATCH

The World Fitness Project’s On the Pulse

This week, on the World Fitness Project’s update show, On the Pulse, co-founder Will Moorad and host Derrick Forrest discussed the details of the just-released Challenger Qualifier workouts, the programming overview, and judging. 

GET THE LOWDOWN.

…READ

“CrossFit’s Crossroads” by Will Hurst, founder/owner of Big Little Gyms

On his blog, Will Hurst tackled the question: “Will CrossFit reinvent Itself?” He tracked the history and current state of affairs in the functional fitness landscape, and his answer may surprise you.

BIG LITTLE BLOG.

…HEAR

CEO Dan Uyemura’s insights into the business of CrossFit on the PushPress Podcast

Dan Uyemura and Nick Reyes examine the state of CrossFit and consider what they would do differently if they were in charge.

LISTEN HERE.

HIGHLIGHTS

Celebrating a PR, hosting a fundraiser, this, that, or otherwise? Send us a tip.

• 🎂Happy birthday to Laura Horvath and Matilde Garnes.

• Happy birthday (3/22) to Devyn Kim and Jenn Dancer.

• Check out Marie Rognstad, repping out 51 unbroken bar muscle-ups!

• Congratulations to Jonne Koski and Emilia Leppänen, who are expecting a baby later this year.

• 👟Congratulations to the athletes from Blue Crab CrossFit in Jessup, MD, on completing a 5K last weekend.

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