- Morning Chalk Up
- Posts
- 🌍 2025 Games Champ Jayson Hopper Joins Growing List of WFP Finals Withdrawals
🌍 2025 Games Champ Jayson Hopper Joins Growing List of WFP Finals Withdrawals
POWERED BY
Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up.
In today’s edition:
📉 Jayson Hopper is out. The 2025 Games champ joins last week’s exits, Alex Gazan, Maddie Sturt, and Paige Semenza as the WFP withdrawal list grows.
🌦️ Learn the five categories of complaints — from “someone took my pull-up bar” to “life is actually on fire” — and how to reframe your mindset.
🚚 31 miles. 19 hours. One truck. Parker Fontecchio pulled the weight to spotlight veteran suicide prevention.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
Veterans make so many sacrifices for us to live freely. The least I can do is give back and try and help.”
COMPETITIONS
Jayson Hopper Withdraws as World Fitness Project Finals Roster Continues to Shift
Credit: World Fitness Project
The World Fitness Project (WFP) Finals roster is still changing as we approach the competition from December 18-21. The event will be held in Copenhagen, Denmark, marking the end of the inaugural season.
The most recent athlete withdrawal, announced on Monday, was 2025 CrossFit Games champion Jayson Hopper. The WFP press release read, “Hopper made the decision and informed WFP officials last week he will not compete at the WFP Finals.”
Italian Challenger athlete, Tommaso Pieri, has accepted the invitation to backfill. Pieri currently ranks 33rd on the WFP season points leaderboard with 460 points.
Remind me: Weeks ago, we published a story sharing that Pro Card athletes Haley Adams, Emma McQuaid, Bethany Flores, Victor Hoffer, and Challenger Lexi Neely (who competed in the Pro Division) had withdrawn from the Finals.
A MESSAGE FROM FITAID
25% Off Exclusive for Morning Chalk Up Readers
Traveling for the holidays? Don’t let your gains go cold turkey. Whether you’re dropping in at a local box or squeezing in a workout at the hotel gym, FITAID Essentials Creatine Sticks are perfect for your carry-on, gym bag, or holiday hustle. Just tear, mix, and keep your consistency dialed in.
💪 5g Creapure® creatine per stick
🍉🍎 2 naturally sweetened flavors: Watermelon Rush & Fuji Apple
🚫 Zero sugar
Morning Chalk Up Exclusive: 25% OFF FITAID Creatine Sticks with code STICKSZN25
*This newsletter relies on our sponsors. Please consider supporting them.
SPEED READS
🔥🛍️ Black Friday Home-Gym Equipment Deals: Garage Gym Reviews dropped a massive roundup of the year’s best Black Friday fitness sales — and it’s basically a cheat code for upgrading your setup. If you’re eyeing some sweet new equipment, this guide shows you the biggest discounts and tells you exactly where to strike before inventory disappears.
🎯☄️ CrossFit’s Secret Weapon: The humble wall-ball — a simple squat-and-throw combo that builds full-body power and delivers a brutal cardio dose. The article from CrossFit breaks down crisp technique, common faults, and a benchmark test to see if you can hang: 150 reps in six minutes.
🔥📉 Late-Stage CrossFitism?: In a sharp, tongue-in-cheek breakdown, Mason Startup argues CrossFit has entered its “late-stage” era — where training chases competition trends, athletes feel like distant royalty, media eats itself, HQ feels corporate, and every corner of the ecosystem is selling something.
🏋️♂️🧠 Mat Fraser’s Pro Tips, Part 2: The five-time Games champ is back on the floor, breaking down deadlifts, wall balls, and SkiErg technique, plus how to actually think in tough training moments. From when to touch-and-go vs reset, to controversial “cheek-to-cheek” SkiErg pacing and dealing with fear on game day, it’s practical, no-BS coaching you can plug into your next session.
ICYMI: 📈 WFP unveils its full 2026 payout list. $1.26M in guaranteed salaries.
MEMBER EXCLUSIVE
When Every Little Thing Sets You Off: A Hurricane Scale for Complaints
Credit: @benbergeron / Instagram
You're fifteen minutes into a brutal metcon, sweat dripping, lungs burning, and suddenly, the coach switches the song to something you actively hate. Your jaw tightens. Your focus shatters.
That small sound just hijacked your entire training session.
We've all been there on some level — letting minor annoyances throw off our day, our workout, or our mood.
But what if we told you there's a way to categorize your complaints the same way meteorologists categorize storms? What if you could learn to tell the difference between a drizzle and a Category 5 hurricane in your daily frustrations?
We broke it down in a recent episode of the Chasing Excellence podcast. Here’s how you can apply this framework to your training.
COMMUNITY
Why Parker Fontecchio Pulled a Truck for 31 Miles
Credit: @butterybros / Instagram
Nineteen hours and 13 minutes – that's how long Parker Fontecchio took to pull a truck for 31 miles.
Why would someone attempt such a challenge?
For the 24-year-old Fontecchio, the feat was a creative way to raise money for veteran suicide prevention.
“I loved the idea of using the symbolism of dragging something behind me to show the weight some veterans feel is like dragging behind them. I wanted that weight to feel real and seen by others. And as an athlete, I wanted to go heavier and farther than a marathon,” Fontecchio, a CrossFit Level 2 coach and athlete at CrossFit Tempe in Tempe, AZ, told the Morning Chalk Up in an interview..
So far, Fontecchio’s fundraiser has raised $12,930 for Mission 22, a nonprofit that supports veterans, and he’s still collecting donations.
HIGHLIGHTS
Celebrating a PR, hosting a fundraiser, this, that, or otherwise? Send us a tip.
🔥Congratulations to Hugh of CrossFit Camden Frontier of Camden, MI, on his first bar muscle-up.
Congratulations to John Wooley and Marty Shagrin, who took third in their age group at the Chicago HYROX with a time of 1:14.01.
😮💨Watch Archie Reid on this 170-kilo/374-pound hang clean at the Battle for Middle Ground last weekend.
Congratulations to Australia’s Isabella Andueza, who just set a new Australian record in the clean and jerk in the 77KG division with a 126-kilo/277-pound lift.
🙌Happy affiliate anniversary to all the gyms celebrating this month!