For the last 19 years, the CrossFit Games have set out to answer one question: “Who is the Fittest on Earth?”
General Manager of Sport Dave Castro has spent the last year strategically programming and testing each of the 10 events featured at the 2025 CrossFit Games to answer that question.
How? Utilizing the root of the CrossFit methodology.
From “What Is Fitness?”, the 2002 CrossFit Journal article, “CrossFit makes use of three different standards or models for evaluating and guiding fitness. Collectively, these three standards define the CrossFit view of fitness. The first is based on the ten general physical skills widely recognized by exercise physiologists. The second standard, or model, is based on the performance of athletic tasks, while the third is based on the energy systems that drive all human action.”
Put this into perspective in relation to the 2025 CrossFit Games.
The first standard: The events test the athlete’s competency in the 10 general physical skills, showcasing how well they have trained these skills leading up to the competition.
The second standard: Some events are released a few weeks before the start of the Games, and some are released just minutes before athletes take the floor. Some events include skills never before seen in CrossFit programming, such as the pegboard introduced at the 2015 Games and double-under crossover introduced in 2022. This is the ultimate test in preparation for the unknown and unknowable.
The third standard: Each event tests energy output across multiple time and modal domains. Some are light-weight sprints, some include long endurance work, and some include high skills and heavy weights.
By the end of the three-day competition, the winner who performs statistically best in every event throughout the weekend will be crowned the Fittest on Earth.
“I’ll say this, when I test, you’ll never hear me talk about, ‘I wonder what so-and-so will get.’ I’m not worried about what someone will get,” Castro said. “I think about the limits of what someone is capable of, what these athletes, as a collection of people, can do at the extreme limits.”
Follow the journey Castro and his team take in deciding every rep, movement, and combination that goes into the programming of the 2025 CrossFit Games events.
Individual Event 1: Run/Row/Run
This event is a pure test of endurance, showcasing an athlete’s competence with cardiovascular/respiratory endurance and stamina in a long test. Athletes finished this event between 45 and 55 minutes.
For time:
4-mile run
3,000-meter row
2-mile run
Individual Event 2: All Crossed Up
This event tests athletes in challenging gymnastic skills and a heavy dumbbell. Athletes finished this event between the 6- and 9-minute time frame.
For time:
20 wall walks
10 dumbbell shoulder-to-overheads
20 double-under crossovers
30 toes-to-bars
20 double-under crossovers
10 dumbbell shoulder-to-overheads
20 double-under crossovers
30 toes-to-bars
20 double-under crossovers
10 dumbbell shoulder-to-overheads
Women: 70-lb dumbbell
Men: 100-lb dumbbell
Individual Event 3: Climbing Couplet
This event pairs high-skill and high-weight strength elements, testing agility, grip strength, and coordination. The pegboard may have been first introduced at the 2015 CrossFit Games, but it’s not new to CrossFit. It first appeared in the CrossFit Journal article “The Garage Gym” in 2002, a nod to the fundamentals of CrossFit.
4-3-2-1 reps for time of:
Pegboard
Squat clean + front squat
Women: 145, 165, 185, 205 lb
Men: 235, 265, 285, 305 lb
Individual Event 4: Albany Grip Trip
Just minutes before the athletes took to the competition floor, Castro announced a surprise twist to Event 4. The run was increased from 300 to 400 meters, and the handstand walk would increase to 150 feet in the last round, making this the longest handstand distance in CrossFit Games history.
5 rounds for time of:
400-meter run
12 deadlifts
100-foot handstand walk
*150-foot handstand walk on final round
Women: 220-lb deadlift
Men: 350-lb deadlift
Individual Event 5: 1RM Back Squat
This event is purely a test of strength.
1-rep-max back squat
Individual Events 6 & 7: Throttle Up and Hammer Down
These sprint events test athletes in endurance, speed, and their competency in gymnastics skills. The intensity is increased by adding weight vests to Event 6’s chest-to-bar and box jump-overs.
For time:
35-calorie ski erg
28 chest-to-bar pull-ups
24 burpee box jump-overs
Women: 16-lb vest, 20-inch box
Men: 22-lb vest, 24-inch box
Starting 7 minutes after IE6:
35-calorie C2 bike
28 bar muscle-ups
24 burpee box jump-overs
Women: 20-inch box
Men: 24-inch box
Individual Event 8: Going Dark
This event combines endurance and strength while implementing a challenging gymnastics movement with the deficit handstand push-ups. Athletes are expected to finish this event in under 15 minutes.
For time:
50/40 calories on the Echo bike
100-foot yoke carry
30 deficit handstand push-ups
100-foot yoke carry
50/40 calories on the Echo bike
Individual Event 9: Running Isabel
This event is another sprint event, pairing a short sprint on the AirRunner with a light-weight snatch. Athletes are expected to finish this event in under 5 minutes.
5 rounds for time of:
200-foot run
6 snatches
Women: 105 lb
Men: 155 lb
Individual Event 10: Atlas
This event was released the night before the athletes took the floor, providing an element of surprise to end the 2025 CrossFit Games.
For time:
9/15/21 thrusters
3/5/7 rope climbs
Then,
100-foot overhead walking lunge
Men: 95 lb
Women: 135 lb