History of Rookies at the CrossFit Games

Image Credit: CrossFit LLC

Every year at the CrossFit Games a new class of athletes show up and test themselves against the most difficult test and most robust field of competitors in the world. And every year, a group amongst them does rather well. With an exciting field of rookies making their debut once again this year, we were curious just how well we can expect some of them to do. We’ll start broad and get narrow as we go before focusing in on what this year’s rookies might have in store for us. 

**Thank you to John Young for help with the research for this article**

Rookies in the History of the CrossFit Games

Here’s a quick look at male rookies by year at the CrossFit Games:

Year	Male Rookies	Out of	Percentage
2023	11	40	27.50%
2022	10	40	25.00%
2021	11	40	27.50%
2020	12	30	40.00%
2019	22	50	44%
2019	12	40	30.00%
2018	11	40	27.50%
2017	15	38	37.50%
2016	16	40	40%
2015	15	40	37.50%
2014	19	43	44.20%
2013	19	47	40.40%
2012	18	47	38.30%
2011	28	49	59.20%
2010	20	45	44.40%
2009	29	50	58%
2008	39	50	78%
2007	42	42	100%

Here’s quick look at female rookies by year at the CrossFit Games:

Year	Female Rookies	Out of	Percentage
2023	12	40	30%
2022	15	40	37.50%
2021	13	40	32.50%
2020	10	30	33.30%
2019	26	50	52%
2019	16	40	40%
2018	13	40	32.50%
2017	8	40	20%
2016	13	40	32.50%
2015	13	40	32.50%
2014	18	43	41.90%
2013	24	44	54.50%
2012	18	45	40%
2011	26	47	55.30%
2010	31	43	72.90%
2009	41	50	82%
2008	48	50	96%
2007	15	15	100%

And here’s a combined look at rookies by year at the CrossFit Games:

Year	Total Rookies (M+F)	Out of	Combined Percentage
2023	23	80	28.75%
2022	25	80	31.25%
2021	24	80	30.00%
2020	22	60	36.66%
2019	48	100	48.00%
2019	28	80	35.00%
2018	24	80	30.00%
2017	23	78	29.48%
2016	29	80	36.25%
2015	28	80	35.00%
2014	37	86	43.02%
2013	43	91	47.25%
2012	36	92	39.13%
2011	54	95	57.29%
2010	51	88	58.00%
2009	70	100	70.00%
2008	87	100	87.00%
2007	57	57	100.00%

Male Rookie Breakdown by Position and Year

Taking a closer look at the men’s field, we were curious how many rookies have managed to podium, place in the top 10, top 20, next 10, and below that:

MALE ROOKIES
Year	Podium	4-10	11-20	21-30	Below 30
2023	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
2022	0	0	4	2	6
2021	0	1	3	2	5
2020	1	1	3	6	N/A
2019	0	1	3	4	14
2018	0	1	2	2	7
2017	0	1	3	4	7
2016	1	1	2	6	6
2015	0	0	7	5	3
2014	1	1	5	4	8
2013	0	2	2	6	9
2012	0	2	1	5	10
2011	1	1	6	7	13
2010	1	1	3	5	10
2009	3	4	7	5	11
2008	1	6	8	7	17
2007	3	7	20	10	12

Next we whittled the field down to years in which there were 40 athletes in the field (this includes the top 40 finishers from 2019):

MALE ROOKIES
Year	Podium	4-10	11-20	21-30	31-40
2023	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
2022	0	0	3	2	6
2021	0	1	3	2	5
2019	0	1	3	4	4
2018	0	1	2	2	7
2017	0	1	3	4	7
2016	1	1	2	6	6
2015	0	0	7	5	3
Total Number	1	5	23	25	38
Percentage	1%	5%	25%	27%	42%

Female Rookie Breakdown by Position and Year

We’ll do the same thing for the women’s field over the years:

FEMALE ROOKIES
Year	Podium	4-10	11-20	21-30	Below 30
2023	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
2022	0	2	2	5	6
2021	0	1	3	3	6
2020	0	1	3	6	N/A
2019	0	2	3	4	17
2018	1	0	2	6	4
2017	0	1	0	3	4
2016	0	1	3	3	6
2015	2	0	5	3	3
2014	0	3	2	6	7
2013	0	3	3	8	10
2012	0	0	4	5	9
2011	0	3	6	6	11
2010	0	4	6	8	12
2009	2	5	7	9	18
2008	3	6	10	9	20
2007	3	7	5	N/A	N/A

And also narrowing the scope down to fields of 40 (again including the top 40 from 2019):

FEMALE ROOKIES
Year	Podium	4-10	11-20	21-30	31-40
2023	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
2022	0	2	2	5	6
2021	0	1	3	3	6
2019	0	2	3	4	7
2018	1	0	2	6	4
2017	0	1	0	3	4
2016	0	1	3	3	6
2015	2	0	5	3	3
Total Number	3	7	18	27	36
Percentage	3%	8%	20%	30%	40%

2023 CrossFit Games Rookie Expectations

Keeping the conversation general, without necessarily focusing in on who is most likely to occupy these positions from the group this year, this is the distribution of finishes we can look forward to seeing:

2023 Projected:	Men (11)	Women (12)
Podium	0	0
4-10	1	1
11-20	2-3	2-3
21-30	3	3-4
31-40	4-5	4-5

2023 CrossFit Games Rookies

Here is the 2023 CrossFit Games Rookie class. Who could possibly be the one this year to crack the top ten?

Men (11)	Women (12)
Bayley Martin	Abigail Domit
Fabian Beneito	Alexia Williams
Jack Farlow	Caroline Stanley
Jake Douglas	Ella Wunger
James Sprague	Emily De Rooy
Jelle Hoste	Kelly Baker
Kaique Cerveny	Manon Angonese
Kalyan Souza	Olivia Kerstetter
Luke Parker	Rerbecka Vitesson
Michal Wesolowski	Shahad Budebs
Mortezha Sedaghat	Shelby Neal
	Sydney Wells

CrossFit Games Rookies with Top 10 Finishes

Since I know you’ve been wondering for a majority of this article, here is the list of men, and then women, who have finished in the top 10 at the CrossFit Games beginning in 2010.

Male Top 10 Rookies 2010-2022

• 2010
  • Rich Froning- 2nd
  • Austin Malleolo- 6th
• 2011
  • Josh Bridges- 2nd
  • Dan Bailey- 6th
• 2012
  • Scott Panchik- 4th
  • Marcus Hendren-7th
• 2013
  • Garret Fisher- 5th
  • ZA Andrerson- 10th
• 2014
  • Mathew Fraser- 2nd
  • Noah Ohlsen- 8th
• 2015 – none
• 2016
  • Patrick Vellner- 3rd
  • Brent Fikowski- 4th
• 2017
  • Jason Smith- 10th
• 2018
  • Willy Georges- 9th
• 2019
  • Matt McLeod- 7th
• 2020
  • Justin Medeiros- 3rd
  • Samuel Cournoyer- 10th
• 2021
  • Lazar Dukic- 9th
• 2022- none

Female Top 10 Rookies 2010-2022

• 2010
  • Jessica Pamanian- 4th
  • Julie Foucher- 5th
  • Heather Bergeron- 8th
  • Camille Leblanc-Bazinet- 9th
  • Michelle Kinney- 10th
• 2011
  • Jenny Labaw- 6th
  • Annie Sakamoto- 9th
  • Angie Pye- 10th
• 2012- none
• 2013
  • Alessandra Pichelli- 4th
  • Jennifer Atle- 6th
  • Anna Tobias- 9th
• 2014
  • Emily Bridgers- 6th
  • Lauren Brooks- 7th
  • Lauren Fisher- 9th
• 2015
  • Tia-Clair Toomey- 2nd
  • Sara Sigmundsdottir- 3rd
• 2016
  • Kristi Eramo- 8th
• 2017
  • Jamie Greene- 8th
• 2018
  • Laura Horvath- 2nd
• 2019
  • Haley Adams- 6th
• 2020
  • Andrea Nisler- 10th
• 2021
  • Mallory O’Brien- 7th
• 2022
  • Emma Lawson- 6th
  • Alexis Raptis- 10th

Clearly there are some incredible names on this list, including five athletes who would go on to become CrossFit Games champions: Rich Froning, Mathew Fraser, Justin Medeiros, Camille Leblanc-Bazinet, and Tia Clair Toomey.

There are six men (Ohlsen, Vellner, Fikowski, J. Smith, Cournoyer, and La. Dukic) and four women (Horvath, Greene, Lawson, or Raptis) who, should they win this year, add themselves to that list.

*Clearly there is a ton of back end work here, and we acknowledge the possibility of a bookkeeping error at some point along the way. The big picture themes are clear either way, but if you find an error and want to let us know, we appreciate it.