👀 Who’s In, Who’s Out at Rogue?

October 6th, 2026

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Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up.

In today’s edition:

  • 🔄 Five out, five in at Rogue — a wave of withdrawals has opened five spots in the Rogue Invitational field just weeks before competition. Their replacements include familiar faces, two Rogue rookies, and one athlete coming off two recent competition wins.

  • 📈 In 2013, Joel Te couldn’t find a trustworthy equipment review online, so he wrote his own. Thirteen years later, he’s reviewed thousands of shoes, built an audience of more than 100,000 across Instagram and YouTube, and turned reviews into his full-time career.

QUOTE OF THE DAY
❝

The only reviews out there were on the website, and website reviews are ass…”

Joel Te, founder and full-time reviewer, As Many Reviews As Possible.
COMPETITIONS

2026 Rogue Invitational Roster Updates

Credit: Seb Vallejo

We’re down to the wire for the 2026 Rogue Invitational, which kicks off in just a few weeks. However, in late summer and early fall, injuries led to backfill invites. 

Here’s Who’s Out

Jonne Koski – Heading into World Fitness Project (WFP) Tour Stop 2, Koski had been nursing a foot injury that worsened during the first workout of the competition, the 40-yard dash. On social media, he shared, “My foot wasn’t healing as quickly as I had hoped after WFP. MRI results showed a ruptured plantar fascia. It’s already much better, but it still needs some more time to properly heal and recover before I can get fully back at it.”

Austin Hatfield – While Hatfield never announced on Instagram that he was out, his name and athlete profile photo were removed from the Rogue Invitational competitors list late last month. 

Justin Medeiros – In late September, days before Gymreapers Wodapalooza SoCal, the two-time Rogue Invitational champion was in a motorcycle accident that left him with a broken jaw, which was subsequently wired shut. He’s currently recovering but will not be competition-ready for some time.

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SPEED READS

❤️‍🩹💪 CrossFit Helped Save His Life: Brazilian affiliate owner and police officer Thiago Maas suffered a heart attack caused by a genetic condition during a workout, but his cardiologist told him his physical conditioning helped his body withstand it. Now fully recovered and coaching full time, Maas says his focus has shifted from training to compete to helping others become stronger and more capable for life.

📅🔥 The Countdown Is On: CrossFit has announced the dates for the 2027 Open, giving athletes their target as the road to next season gets underway.

🏃📲 HYROX Wants to Become Part of Your Gym: The fitness-racing giant is rolling out HYROX Training Plus, a new digital training platform designed to bring structured HYROX programming directly into gyms.

ICYMI: Dave Castro Announces Pairs Division for 2027 Open, New Games Location Soon (Rx article)

MEMBER EXCLUSIVE

How Joel Te Turned Shoe Reviews Into a Full-Time Business

Credit: @asmanyreviewsaspossible / Instagram

In 2013, Joel Te was shopping online for a barbell and had trouble deciding which one to buy.

  • “The only reviews out there were on the website, and website reviews are ass…I had to go into the deepest, darkest depths of forums to find any kind of reviews about gym equipment. So I was like, ‘I’m going to be the guy that writes the review and puts it out there,’” said Te, the former owner of CrossFit 805 in Simi Valley, CA.

Thirteen years later, Te is a full-time reviewer—largely of shoes—with a YouTube channel that has close to 40,000 subscribers and an Instagram page with more than 75,000.

Te’s Story

Te’s review journey began in 2013 with a WordPress website that hosted reviews about gym equipment. 

Soon, though, he ventured into shoes.

  • “I was the typical CrossFitter who was buying all these shoes to try out anyway,” he explained, so it was easy enough to write a review about them.

As his shoe reviews began gaining traction, Te started emailing brands to get his name out there, but for the most part, he still bought everything he reviewed.

HIGHLIGHTS

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

  • 🎂Happy birthday (10/7) to Jacqueline Dahlstrom.

  • Happy birthday (10/7) to Jorge Fernandez.

  • ⚽️Watch Zlatan Ibrahimovic on this power clean ladder - he gets up to 142 kilos315 pounds!

  • Watch Travis Mayer sling some big weights, including some touch-and-go cleans at 147 kilos/325 pounds.

  • 👟Five days after running the Berlin Marathon, (sub three hours), Willy Georges knocked out the Bourdeaux HYROX in 57:47. Amazing, Willy!