With two events remaining, the battle for the top three men at the 2025 CrossFit Games was as close as it has ever been.
Six men were arguably still very much in contention, not only for the podium but for the CrossFit Games title:
- Jayson Hopper
- Ricky Garard
- James Sprague
- Jay Crouch
- Dallin Pepper
- Austin Hatfield.
With 200 points still up for grabs, only 53 points separated first from sixth.
When the dust settled, it was Hopper, Garard, and Sprague who became the 2025 top three Fittest Men on Earth.
How it went down: After winning “IE8: Going Dark” and climbing from eighth to just 10 points outside the podium in sixth, Austin Hatfield kept up his Sunday tear on “Running Isabel.”
“IE9: Running Isabel”
5 rounds for time of:
Women: 105 pounds
Men: 155 pounds
Hatfield led from start to finish, completing the sprint event in 2:35. That’s when the drama began.
- Hopper finished the last run just behind Hatfield, but on his final six snatches, Hopper received two costly no-reps and finished 11th in the event.
When the leaderboard was recalculated, Hatfield found himself in third overall, but was only seven points behind Ricky Garard in second and 13 points behind Hopper.
Dallin Pepper, James Sprague, and Jay Crouch rounded out the top six after IE09.
- With one event to go, only 33 points separated Hopper in first and Jay Crouch in sixth.
The entertainment continued on to the final event.
For Hopper, it was simple. An event win would guarantee him the CrossFit Games title.
- He took the early lead, but the other podium contenders kept it close throughout.
Hopper was the first man to the walking lunge, with Sprague fourth going into the event, and Medeiros close behind.
Sprague and Medeiros lunged with more urgency, though, passing Hopper.
- Medeiros quietly snagged the event win, Sprague finished second, while Hopper was third, clinching the CrossFit Games title in the process.
Last year’s champion, Sprague, then had to wait and see if enough athletes would fall between him and the three men ahead of him, in order to make up enough points to return to the podium.
- The field helped just enough for Sprague to pass both Pepper and Hatfield to finish third, while Garard was second, just one point ahead of Sprague, snagging his second career podium finish.
In the end, only 41 points separated Hopper in first and Hatfield in fifth in one of the closest men’s races in CrossFit Games history.
On the women’s side: Heading into “IE09: Running Isabel,” Arielle Loewen, Maddie Sturt, Mirjam von Rohr, and Olivia Kerstetter all needed strong performances to close the gap between themselves and Aimee Cringle, who was sitting in third at the time.
- Kerstetter, Loewen, and Sturt all delivered, finishing fifth, sixth, and seventh, respectively.
Loewen moved into third place, Sturt into fourth, and Kerstetter into fifth, while Cringle dropped from third to seventh after finishing 16th in the event.
Ahead of them all, though, was Lucy Campbell – 12th in the event – who stood in second place with a 44-point gap over Loewen, and the leader Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr, who secured her fourth event win on “Running Isabel.” She entered the final event with a 174-point lead over Campbell.
Ultimately, it seemed the top two spots were nearly secured, but the battle was on for third place, as only 28 points separated Loewen in third and von Rohr in eighth with one event remaining.
The final event didn’t disappoint.
Six women still had a legitimate chance at the podium – Loewen, Sturt, Kerstetter, Cringle, Danielle Brandon, and von Rohr – if they snagged an event win and if the rest of the field did them some favors.
It was 19-year-old Kerstetter who made the most of the opportunity.
- She was the first athlete to finish her five rope climbs and then pulled away from the pack, gaining a two-rep rope climb lead on the field during the final seven climbs. Kerstetter then began her 100-foot walking lunge, and was three-quarters of the way finished before the next two athletes, Toomey-Orr and Danielle Brandon, started theirs.
Kerstetter dropped the barbell just once on her way to an easy event win to finish her weekend. Her podium placement now depended on the rest of the athletes.
- The field delivered what the two-time teen champion needed. Kerstetter was able to make up more than enough points to surpass both Sturt and Loewen on the leaderboard on her way to her first individual podium finish.
Danielle Brandon, who finished second in the final event, moved up to fourth overall, while Loewen dropped to fifth overall.
The bottom line: The 2025 CrossFit season has been anything but normal, but the 2025 CrossFit Games felt oddly familiar.
As always, they showcased the world’s fittest athletes performing feats most people can only dream of, all the while delivering a down-to-the-wire, unpredictable, and entertaining show, leaving fans wanting more.
Image: Scotty Freymond
