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  • 🏆 2026 CrossFit Semifinals Roll On — Torian Pro and Rebel Renegade Games Up Next

🏆 2026 CrossFit Semifinals Roll On — Torian Pro and Rebel Renegade Games Up Next

May 21st, 2026

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Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up.

In today’s edition:

  • 🔥 United Grid League is back! The 2026 season kicks off this weekend in Miami.

  • 🇦🇺 Battle in Brisbane — Six Games spots up for grabs at Torian Pro.

  • 🏔️ The world’s toughest 400-meter race hit Japan; the Red Bull 400 delivered.

QUOTE OF THE DAY
❝

I love having something to work towards. I love training with a purpose . . . it makes it more fun because the routine changes a lot.”

Demi Bagby, fitness influencer, race car driver, multi-sport athlete, and Red Bull 400 competitor.
COMPETITIONS

United Grid League Is Back — And Bigger Than Ever

Courtesy of Mather Wiswall

The 2026 United Grid League season kicks off this weekend, with opening day on Saturday, May 23, at the Miami-Dade County Fair & Exposition Center in Miami.

This year, the league has expanded to ten teams, with Carolina and New York as new additions and the first teams from the East Coast. New York signed last June, and Carolina signed in February. 

The first Northeast event will also be hosted this season in New York City on August 8-9. 

  • “We're from Philadelphia (my sister and I are co-founders), so I'm really excited to hold our first Northeast event and share our sport with some great CrossFit and sports cities in that region,” says Mather Wiswall, United Grid League Commissioner. 

Wiswall expects strong fan support for the event.

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SPEED READS

🎟️🔥 Games Tickets Are Live: The 2026 CrossFit Games tickets are now available to the public — with the action heading to San Jose this July.

📈🔥 Another Signal XENOM Is Scaling Fast: The startup fitness competition continues stacking partnerships as it builds momentum before launch.

🎖️🇺🇸 The Story Behind “Murph”: Murph has become one of CrossFit’s most meaningful Memorial Day traditions, and it honors Navy SEAL Lt. Michael Murphy, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2005.

🏋️‍♂️⚡ CrossFit Isn’t Just About Intensity: The same methodology used at the CrossFit Games can be adapted for beginners, grandparents, and everyone in between.

ICYMI: 5 Standout Performances from the French Throwdown (Rx article).

MEMBER EXCLUSIVE

2026 TYR Torian Pro: Preview and Who to Watch

Credit: @jgcreativefitnessphotos / Instagram

Another weekend of Semifinals is coming in hot this Friday through Sunday, with both Rebel Renegade in South Africa and TYR Torian Pro giving athletes two more chances to qualify for the CrossFit Games. 

  • Rebel Renegade will offer one spot to the winning male and one to the winning female, while TYR Torian Pro will send six athletes in total (three men and three women). 

Held once again in Brisbane, Queensland, this time with a new title sponsor, the TYR Torian Pro hosts many divisions and serves as another in-person Semifinal event for masters and teams to qualify.

COMPETITIONS

Training With a Purpose: Inside the Red Bull 400 Team Ascent

Credit: Red Bull

Core memory (n.) 1. A deeply emotional, vivid experience that shapes your personality, behaviors, and identity. These are foundational autobiographical moments that you carry with you throughout your life – a mental snapshot in time, a scrapbook page for the mind.

Cue the Red Bull 400.

Participant (and winner) Heber Cannon put it well: “Trauma bonding through a 400-meter sprint up a 37-degree incline. These are the good ol’ days. Red Bull 400 was everything I could have hoped it to be.”

ICYMI

Last week, 28 individuals from 20 countries competed in the “world’s toughest 400-meter race,” a 400-meter uphill trudge at the Red Bull 400 “Team Ascent” at the Okurayama Ski Jump hill in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan.

The race has a storied history and has been held since 2011, with events held each year around the globe.

This year, however, the “Team Ascent” debuted, featuring competitors Buttery Bros, Marston Sawyers, Heber Cannon, and Julian Marquez, as well as Demi Bagby, Chayse Byrd, Imke Salander, and Roberta “Bobe” Isabel, among many others.

HIGHLIGHTS

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