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The Open Report, Week 8: Lowest Games Prize Purse Since 2016

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Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up.

In today’s edition:

  • The Open Report is back for week eight! Check out Known and Knowable’s analysis of the 2025 CrossFit Games prize purse and the potential funds available to operate the Games in Albany, NY.

  • Learn how Justin Romaire went against the grain to start CBG Nutrition, a company that boasts hundreds of clients and top CrossFit athletes on its roster.

  • It didn’t take long for CrossFit GOAT Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr to make a big splash in HYROX. She and her partner, Joanna Wietrzyk, broke the women’s pairs world record in Houston and qualified for Elite 15 Worlds.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Discover Albany is not aware of any incentives being offered to CrossFit for hosting [the 2025 CrossFit Games] in our destination.” - Jay Cloutier, Sports Commissioner, Discover Albany

CROSSFIT GAMES

Credit: @ironandcastle / Instagram

The Open Report, Week 8: Lowest Total Prize Purse Since 2016

The 2025 CrossFit Open has ended — and now, the total prize pool comes into focus. 

In total, 235,524 athletes registered for this year’s CrossFit Open, based on reporting pulled just after the close of workout 25.3. This equates to a total prize pool of $2,355,240. 

  • I will explain what that means for the Fittest on Earth, the Affiliate Cup Champion, and all prize winners in a moment.

At an estimated $2,355,240, the 2025 Games season prize purse is the lowest to start a season since 2016’s $2.2 million total, which was sponsored by Reebok.

  • A caveat: The 2020 prize purse was to be over $3 million, but due to changes to the season, due in part to the pandemic, the purse ended up being $1.8M for the individual competition that occurred. It broke down as $500,000 for sixth through 20th place and $1.3 million for first through fifth place in the in-person final in Aromas, CA.

Big Takeaways

  • Half of the $4,710,480 raised through Open registrations will go to the prize purse and half to CrossFit LLC.

  • The prize purse is $2,355,240, which is the lowest since the 2016 season.

  • According to Discover Albany, there is no incentive program for CrossFit like there was in Fort Worth.

  • The remaining $2,355,240 from Open registration will likely comprise the operating budget for the CrossFit Games, a significantly lower number than in recent years.

A MESSAGE FROM BOX BASICS

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SPEED READS

🎟️ 💪 2025 CrossFit Games Tickets: Presale opens for 2025 CrossFit Games tickets tomorrow, March 20, for Reliant Club members. Affiliates with 12 or more members signed up for the Open can purchase tickets starting March 25, all affiliate presale starts March 27, and the sale will open to the public on April 1.

💻 🏋️ PushPress Spotted: PushPress, the industry-leading gym management platform, is sponsoring the IBJFF Pan Ams, the largest Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament in the Americas. The tournament will be held at the Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee, FL, from March 19 to 23.

🏃 📋 Red Bull HYROX Coaches Camp: Sign up now to be on the mailing list for the Red Bull HYROX Coaches Camp, a three-day coaching summit that will elevate your knowledge and skills in data analysis, planning and periodization of training, HYROX coaching methodology, and building your coaching brand.

  • The details: The camp will take place from August 4 to 7 at the renowned Silverstone Race Circuit and Red Bull Racing in Milton Keynes, UK.

🌎 🎟️ 2025 Qualifying Event Updates: Here are a few quick updates from some of the 2025 CrossFit Games Qualifying Events.

  • Syndicate Crown: The North America East In-Person Qualifying Event has been tracking Open results week by week and now has the (unofficial) lists of menwomen, and teams above the top-20 cut line and in position to earn an invitation. Follow along here.

  • Wodland Fest: The In-Person Qualifying Event in Malaga, Spain, is nearly sold out. Only 1000 spectator tickets remain, so get yours now.

  •  Copa Sur: The only In-Person Qualifying Event in South America, now has its unofficial roster. Check who’s in a qualifying spot here.

ICYMI: Following last week's announcement that CrossFit LLC was for sale, we contacted Chris Cooper, founder of Two-Brain Business, to discuss what a potential new buyer would need to do to improve the brand.

MEMBER EXCLUSIVE

Credit: @cbgnutrition / Instagram

How Justin Romaire Went Against the Grain, Stuck to His Guns to Build CBG Nutrition

On paper, the odds were stacked against Justin Romaire.

Two years into his CrossFit journey, he launched a nutrition company, Consistency Breeds Growth (CBG), in 2018 without any intention of following the popular trends at the time. 

For starters, Romaire was willing to discuss the elephant in the room: Many lifestyle CrossFit athletes he saw didn’t look like they worked out four or five days a week. 

  • “We see it all the time in our CrossFit gyms. We have been there for four years, and everybody looks the same…because their nutrition isn’t working with the WODs they’re doing,” he said.“CrossFit is going to get you fitter no matter what…[but there are] people that look the exact same [as they did when they started],” Romaire told the Morning Chalk Up.

Further, when he started CBG, the CrossFit community had fully embraced macro tracking, but Romaire did not intend to use this approach with his nutrition clients.

  • “I decided very early on I wasn’t going to live some sort of lie, where I wasn’t tracking, but made my clients track,” said Romaire, who has his graduate degree in organic chemistry from Yale University.

Romaire explained that tracking macros is a decent “starting point” for some but not a great long-term plan.

HYROX

Credit: @prvnfitness / Instagram

Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr and Joanna Wietrzyk Win HYROX Pro Doubles in Houston, Break World Record

Seven-time CrossFit Games champion Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr and HYROX elite athlete Joanna Wietrzyk put on an impressive show at the HYROX race held in Houston, TX, last weekend. 

The pair won the Pro Women’s Doubles division at the HYROX Houston race on Saturday, securing a spot in the Pro Doubles Elite 15 World Championship. 

They finished with a time of 54:24, just over a minute ahead of HYROX royalty Lauren Weeks and Lauren Griffith. 

  • Toomey-Orr has been dabbling in the HYROX space for the last several months. In December of last year, she made her race debut in the mixed doubles division with friend and fellow crossfitter James Newbury. 

  • Wietrzyk recently competed at HYROX Glasgow in the elite women's division, where she took second place with a time of 56:49. 

Not only did the pair qualify for the World Championship, but Toomey-Orr and Wietrzyk also set the world record for the pro women's doubles division. The World Championship will be held in June in Chicago, IL. 

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HIGHLIGHTS

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

  • 🎂Happy birthday to Dan Cafferky and Rebecca Fuselier.

  • Congratulations to Nick Mathew on this 278-kilo/615-pound deadlift PR.

  • Check out Elisa Fuliano’s handstand-walking (and dragging) skills.

  • Jorge Fernandez is getting in some Heavy Isabel prep before the Mayhem Classic next month. Great work, Jorge!

  • 🏋️‍♀️Great job to Ana Cattai on these snatch sets of three at 73 kilos/160 pounds.

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