2026 CrossFit Open Week 1 Recap

The 2026 CrossFit Open, presented by Air National Guard, kicked off at Moffett Air National Guard Base, home of the 129th Rescue Wing, a California National Guard unit. 

After Dave Castro announced Open Workout 26.1, four of CrossFit’s most elite athletes — Colten Mertens, Jayson Hopper, Austin Hatfield, and Dallin Pepper — were the first to throw down in the 12-minute burner. 

Over the next four days, more than 200,000 athletes worldwide completed the same workout. 

Take a look at a recap of the first week of the Open, including Open Workout 26.1 winners, a workout analysis by Beyond the Whiteboard, and how to prepare for Week 2.

The Workout

Open Workout 26.1 

For time:

20 wall-ball shots

18 box jump-overs

30 wall-ball shots

18 box jump-overs

40 wall-ball shots

18 medicine-ball box step-overs

66 wall-ball shots

18 medicine-ball box step-overs

40 wall-ball shots

18 box jump-overs

30 wall-ball shots

18 box jump-overs

20 wall-ball shots

Time cap: 12 minutes

Open Workout 26.1 Winners

Women’s Division: Mirjam von Rohr

2025 CrossFit Games athlete and two-time CrossFit Open winner Mirjam von Rohr completed Open Workout 26.1 in an impressive 9:50, more than 2 minutes ahead of the time cap. 

Men’s Division: Bjarni Leifs

Iceland’s Bjarni Leifs started competing in the CrossFit Open just five years ago, getting as far as the Quarterfinals stage. He was the only male competitor to finish 26.1 in under 11 minutes, coming in just shy at 10:59.

Open Workout 26.1 Analysis by BTWB

The first week of the 2026 CrossFit Open, presented by Air National Guard, featured a pyramid-type rep scheme with some twists. The primary movements were box jump-overs and wall-ball shots, with medicine-ball box step-overs coming into play near the top of the pyramid. The wall-ball shots were done in a 20-30-40-66-40-30-20 rep scheme. These alternated with 18 reps of box jump-overs or medicine-ball box step-overs, for a total of 354 reps. The workout had a very aggressive 12-minute time cap, with fewer than 1% of the athletes finishing the Rx’d workout.

The workout had a total of 246 wall-ball shots, which is quite a bit more than the 150 reps in a benchmark like Karen, Morrison, or Open Workouts 12.4 or 13.3. The format rewarded athletes who were able to consistently perform big sets of this movement.

Since there were no high-skill movements or advanced loads in 26.1, the majority of athletes were able to attempt the Rx’d version. The squat portion of the wall-ball shot combined with the box jump-overs was a painful combination for the legs, due to the high reps with relatively light loading. There was nowhere to hide in this workout and a big part of an athlete’s score came down to their ability to put their head down and power through the discomfort.

Up Next: Open Workout 26.2

The second week of the CrossFit Open will start at CrossFit Black Edition in Cascais, Portugal. 

Tune in to the CrossFit Games website, app, or YouTube page to watch the live announcement of Open Workout 26.2, presented by Velites, followed by an epic athlete matchup featuring Lucy Campbell, Mirjam von Rohr, and Aimee Cringle.