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🏆 9 Epic Strength Tests from Games Past
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Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up.
In today’s edition:
🇮🇪 Living every teen CrossFitter’s dream, Ireland’s Lucy McGonigle prepares for Albany with the greatest to ever do it.
🥱 Boring meals, big fitness gains!
🏆 Strength, skill, and strategy — check out nine of the Games’ most unforgettable feats of force.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
It definitely is intimidating sometimes, just because it’s Tia, you know. I have looked up to her for so many years.”
CROSSFIT GAMES
Training With Tia — Games Rookie Lucy McGonigle Learns From the Best at PRVN
Credits: PRVN and Sean Ellison
For the last four weeks, CrossFit Games training has been in full effect for 18-year-old Lucy McGonigle, a rookie this season, whose training days start at 9:30 a.m. and wrap up at 5 p.m.
Par for the course for a Games-bound athlete, but what has made McGonigle’s Games training extra special, and extra challenging, is the fact that she has been preparing at PRVN in Nashville, TN, going head-to-head every day with the sport’s greatest athlete, seven-time champion Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr.
“If you had told me this last year, I would have been like, ‘What’s going on?’” McGonigle told Morning Chalk Up in an interview. Back then, the thought of even qualifying for the Games felt like a stretch, she admitted.
Preparing with PRVN
Four weeks ago, McGonigle arrived in Nashville, TN, and moved into a suite at the Toomey-Orr household.
McGonigle admits some moments feel a bit daunting.
Read on for the 18-year-old’s perspective on living and training with the G.O.A.T. herself.
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SPEED READS
🧗🥵 The Pegboard Returns: Dave Castro posted a picture of a pegboard on Instagram yesterday, teasing the third individual event at the 2025 CrossFit Games. Initially introduced in 2015, the last time the pegboard appeared in a Games event was in 2021 (Event 11).
📺💪 Unfinished Business: From visa issues to injuries, Mayhem athlete Roman Khrennikov’s Games career has been a rollercoaster. This season, he’s looking to take care of some unfinished business in Albany.
🇨🇳🏋️ Barbell Royalty: What happens when a world champion Olympic lifter goes to a CrossFit event? He lifts. Watch Li Dayin put on a clinic here.
🤸♀️🧠 Want Better Handstands? Train Like a Gymnast: Former D1 gymnast and CrossFit Games Masters athlete Pamela Gagnon shares the real keys to handstand success — from spatial awareness to straight-arm strength and shoulder mobility.
📣 🙌 Volunteers Needed: The 16th BCS Classic returns on August 22–23, and organizers are seeking judges and event support — no prior experience required. Perks include TYR shoes, a YETI mug, food, and a weekend immersed in the CrossFit community.
🤔🧠 The Real Truth About Zone 2: Do you really need hours of low-intensity cardio to get fit, or just another trend? Eric O’Connor and Stephane Rochet explore why CrossFit’s take on conditioning might do more for you.
ICYMI: 💰📈 What the founder of Forging Elite Finance wants every affiliate owner to know about money.
MEMBER EXCLUSIVE
The Psychology of Boring Food: Why Repetitive Eating is Liberating
Credit: Shutterstock
You stare into your fridge for the third time today, overwhelmed by choices: Greek yogurt or eggs? Chicken or salmon? The perfectly ripe avocado or the one that might be too far gone?
Meanwhile, your phone buzzes with another Instagram story of someone's "amazing" lunch creation, complete with artfully arranged microgreens and a drizzle of infused whatever.
But here's the thing: the most successful eaters I’ve worked with are usually the most boring ones.
We've been misled about food variety.
With its push for novelty and more options, social media makes eating feel like an adventure, a creative outlet, and a daily chance for self-expression.
But this "freedom" comes with a hidden cost: decision fatigue. Every food choice — from breakfast to late-night snacks — consumes mental energy.
CROSSFIT GAMES
9 Iconic Strength Events From CrossFit Games History
Credit: @athleteseyephotography / Instagram
When the heavy barbells hit the floor at the CrossFit Games, the energy shifts.
It’s loud, it’s electric, and everyone’s locked in.
Athletes love the chance to clang-and-bang and make a statement, while fans can’t get enough of the raw power on display.
Over the years, strength events have delivered some of the Games’ most jaw-dropping moments — and it’s rarely just about the one-rep max.
Here’s a totally non-exhaustive list of our favorite strength tests from Games past — and the beasts who came out on top.
Join us for a walk down memory lane and some video highlights that will make you want to run through a brick wall.
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HIGHLIGHTS
Celebrating a PR, hosting a fundraiser, this, that, or otherwise? Send us a tip.
🎂Happy birthday to Rich Froning.
See what a day of travel looks like for Harry Lightfoot, on his way to the United States for the CrossFit Games.
Congratulations to Hampton Morris, who hit a clean and jerk at 181 kilos/396 pounds at the Pan Am Championships, setting a new world record.
Congratulations to Mattie Rogers on earning her gold metal (and her 28th Pan American medal) at the Senior Pan Am Championships with a total of 249 kilos/548 pounds.
🙌Check out this snatch PR from Elisa Fuliano at 84 kilos/185 pounds.