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5 Performances That Shocked Us at the 2025 CrossFit Games
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Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up.
In today’s edition:
🔍 Five standout stories proving the CrossFit Games never fail to surprise.
⚡ From soccer fields to world records, Becky Rogers’ path to Training Think Tank is her strength.
⏳ The 2025 Games showcased unmatched depth — 2026 could push it further.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
CrossFit has always been more than fitness. It’s time the world sees it for what it really is: a cure for what’s broken.”
CROSSFIT GAMES
5 Performances That Surprised Us at the 2025 CrossFit Games
Credit: Scott Freymond
The 2025 CrossFit Games in Albany, NY, delivered exactly what fans expect: drama, a leaderboard that refused to settle, and perhaps most of all, surprises.
From reigning champions who stumbled to dark horses who seized the spotlight, this year’s competition reminded us that nothing is guaranteed once the Games begin.
Here are five performances that caught us off guard and kept us watching.
Mirjam von Rohr: Seventh Place
We weren’t quite sure what to expect from rookie Mirjam von Rohr, but we didn’t expect a top 10 finish.
The Swiss athlete first burst onto the scene in 2024 when she won the worldwide CrossFit Open.
Continue reading as we break down von Rohr’s and four more surprising 2025 performances.
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SPEED READS
📆💪 Save the Date: Announced officially yesterday, the 2026 CrossFit Open will take place from February 26 to March 16.
💼🏋️ Global Fitness Is Booming: The 2025 Health & Fitness Association report shows global revenue up eight percent, memberships up six percent, and facilities up four percent from 2023 to 2024 — reinforcing that fitness is essential, not optional.
🦵🌎 Hammie Hacks for a Quad-Dominant World: Elite bodybuilder Iain Valliere’s hamstring hacks: seated leg curls, dialed-in RDLs, and knee-wrapped hack squats — for stronger pulls, better squats, and fewer tweaks.
🏆🎯 Games Takeaways: Dave Castro’s latest Week in Review breaks down his favorite 2025 Games moment (“IE09: Running Isabel”), hints the 30-athlete field could stay, and teases a launch for the new CF-L4 coaching path later this year.
🏅🌎 CrossFit’s Force Multiplier: The Coach – Nicole Carroll explains how great CrossFit coaches turn classes into life-changing experiences by caring, contextualizing, and delivering results — making the magic happen.
🚀❌ CrossFit is the Cure: The world promises shortcuts, but real health takes work. CrossFit strips it back to what matters — train hard, eat right, push your limits, and do it alongside people who care. This is the cure — check out CrossFit’s new marketing materials and assets for affiliate owners here.
ICYMI: 💪 From rookie nerves to podium contenders – 2025 CrossFit Games sophomore standouts.
MEMBER EXCLUSIVE
How One Training Think Tank Coach Balances World Records and Real Life
Credit: Frank Nguyen
If you’ve ever wondered whether it’s possible to manage a successful coaching career, parenthood, athletic pursuits, and personal growth, meet Becky Rogers, a coach at Training Think Tank whose story combines grit, resilience, and a healthy sense of perspective.
From collegiate soccer to breaking world records on the rower, her coaching journey was unconventional. Still, her flexibility to adapt makes her approach to coaching and nutrition feel so authentic.
A Foundation in Fitness
Rogers built an athletic foundation playing soccer while growing up and through high school, she recalled in an interview with the Morning Chalk Up.
That established the basis for a lifetime of fitness, even if coaching wasn’t part of her original plan. In fact, she has a Master’s in Mechanical Engineering and initially aimed to become a university professor.
POLL
If you have 15 extra minutes after the WOD ends, how do you use that time? |
Last week we asked: “🏆 Where do you want the 2026 CrossFit Games, the 20th anniversary, to be hosted?”
Albany, NY (8.1%)
Fort Worth, TX (6.12%)
Madison, WI (43.67%)
Carson, CA (29.38%)
Somewhere else? (Tell us in the comments.) (12.6%)
Overall, 73 percent of you are hoping for Madison or Carson, the latter of which Dave Castro mentioned on his most recent Week in Review.
CROSSFIT GAMES
Lessons from the Competition Floor – What We Learned at the 2025 CrossFit Games
Credit: Scott Freymond
From teens storming the leaderboard to seasoned vets pushing their limits, the 2025 Games made it clear: CrossFit’s competitive field has never been this deep.
The competition in Albany was among the most balanced and hard-fought in recent memory.
Athletes arrived smarter, fitter, and better prepared than ever.
The difference between being a good CrossFit athlete and an elite one is razor-thin, and it seems to be getting even thinner.
Here’s what stood out on the competition floor and what it reveals about the 2026 season ahead.
Continue reading for seven key takeaways as we start looking toward next year.
HIGHLIGHTS
Celebrating a PR, hosting a fundraiser, this, that, or otherwise? Send us a tip.
🍼Congratulations to Brent and Claire Fikowski on the birth of their new baby, Rudy.
Congratulations to Vår Guriardottir Hansen on setting the 100 meter record on a Concept 2 Rower with a time of 14.8 seconds - the only woman in the world to row that distance under 15 seconds.
🔥Check out this clean and press ladder from Olympian Wes Kitts, ending with a 136-kilo/300-pound push press.
See what World Fitness Project training looks like for new dad, Noah Ohlsen. One-rep-max clean coming up soon!
😮💨Who has the courage to attempt this workout from Willy Georges? Try it out and tag us if you do.
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