Of the 60 men and women who qualified for the 2025 CrossFit Games, 17 will be competing at the finals for the first time.
But this year’s rookie class is no stranger to the competition floor. For many, the dream of qualifying for the CrossFit Games has been years in the making. Starting with the worldwide Open and whittled down to the fittest few, advancing through every stage of the CrossFit Games season is no small feat.
Meet the rookies about to embark on the ultimate test to determine the Fittest on Earth.
WOMEN
Lucy McGonigle
Ireland | CrossFit Resplendent
Lucy McGonigle is one of the most decorated teenage girls in CrossFit. In all four years she has qualified for the CrossFit Games as a teenager, she has finished on the podium, taking home the title of Fittest on Earth twice (2022 and 2023).
As soon as McGonigle aged out of the division last year, she was ready to take on the big dogs. She might be 18 years old, but her strength and talent are no match for her seniors.
Finishing the 2025 CrossFit Open in 12th place worldwide, McGonigle headed to Montpellier, France, to secure a spot at the Games at the French Throwdown In-Person Qualifier. With a third-place finish, she was granted her fourth consecutive CrossFit Games appearance.
And most impressively, she accomplished all of this before even graduating from high school.
“What a dream,” McGonigle said on Instagram. “I remember back in lockdown, wondering how on earth I’d ever even qualify for the Games as a teenager. Qualifying as an Individual wasn’t even something I thought I could dream about at the time. But it turns out that with a whole lot of self-belief, effort, and an incredible support system, things just seem to fall into place.”
Siria Meha
Albania | CrossFit Hunstman
Photo credit @siriameha on Instagram
Siria Meha’s journey to the CrossFit Games started just three years ago.
She participated in her first CrossFit Open in 2022 and in that same year became the fittest in Albania— a title she held for the next three years. Just two years later, Meha qualified for Semifinals, finishing the 2024 season in 31st place at the Europe Semifinal.
In her offseason, Meha ramped up her training and returned in 2025 fitter than ever. She finished the 2025 CrossFit Open in 25th place overall and won the In-Affiliate Semifinals, earning her first ticket to the Games.
Anikha Greer
Canada | Peak 360 CrossFit
Anikha Greer started competing in CrossFit as a teenager, first joining the CrossFit Open in 2018 when she was just 14 years old. She finished the competition in 10th place overall in the Girls 14-15 division, advancing to the 2018 Age-Group Quarterfinal.
Greer fought for a ticket to the CrossFit Games for the next three years, until her 18th birthday aged her out of the teenage division. She would now have a new pool of women — many who had several Games appearances under their belts — to compete against.
But that didn’t intimidate her.
Greer qualified for the 2021 Individual Semifinals in her first year in the Individual Division, finishing just one spot out of a Games-qualifying position at the Atlas Games. She continued fighting for a ticket for another four years.
In her eighth year trying, Greer finished within the top 1% at the 2025 CrossFit Open and took fourth place during the In-Affiliate Semifinals, finally earning her long-awaited ticket to the CrossFit Games.
“Hard to beat a person who won’t give up. 14 year old Anikha had no idea how many more times she would get shoved back on her ass but 21 year old Anikha is so fucking proud she got back up every time,” Greer wrote on Instagram.
Mirjam Von Rohr
Switzerland | CrossFit Öuf
Photo credit @mirjam_v.r on Instagram
Although Mirjam Von Rohr first started competing in the CrossFit Open in 2021, her name became widely known last year after winning the 2024 Open. It seemed as though this rising star came out of nowhere. That win was no fluke, as she again won the Open this year.
Advancing to the second stage, Von Rohr finished the In-Affiliate Semifinals weekend in 14th place, just three spots out from a Games-qualifying position. So, she packed her bags and headed to France to have a second try at the French Throwdown In-Person Qualifier, where she finished the weekend in ninth.
This wasn’t the end of her season, though.
Weeks after returning home from France with no ticket in hand, scores were finalized for the In-Affiliate Semifinals, bumping Von Rohr into Games-qualifying 10th place.
“I’m beyond excited – this qualification is the greatest athletic achievement. Yes, I’ve won multiple European and World Championships and set several world records. But qualifying for the CrossFit Games has been, by far, the biggest challenge – physically and mentally. That’s why this means so much to me,” she said in an Instagram post.
Jennifer Muir
United Kingdom | CrossFit Kirkintilloch
Just one week before punching her ticket to the Games, three-time Semifinals athlete Jennifer Muir was in the gym teaching herself how to split snatch.
Battling a shoulder and hip injury since December, Muir found a way to adapt her snatch for one of the programmed Semifinals workouts — Heavy Isabel.
Using a split snatch allowed her to finish the event at the Wodland Fest In-Person Qualifier, securing a time of 8:54, but she didn’t fall within a Games-qualifying spot by the end of competition.
“Then Heavy Isabel came up again in the inaffiliate semifinals. I knew my time wouldn’t be quick enough so I went back into the gym and played about with snatches again. I originally tried to touch & go split snatches but it wasn’t working. I tried the same narrow starting stance for power snatches & took 3 minutes off my time—ultimately punching my ticket to the CrossFit Games,” Muir posted on Instagram.
Muir took the final ticket to the Games out of the In-Affiliate Semifinals with her 11th-place finish.
“Moral of the story: show up. Even when it feels like the odds are stacked against you. Adapt & trust that it’ll pay off in ways you can’t predict yet.”
Mariana Meza
Mexico | CrossFit Wodex Fitness
Mariana Meza has been participating in the CrossFit Open since 2016, but last year was the first time she qualified for Semifinals in the Individual Division.
This season, after finishing the 2025 CrossFit Open in 197th worldwide, she decided to gamble with her ticket to the Games and put all of her chips on the Far East Throwdown In-Person Qualifier.
Not only would she be travelling to South Korea, but this would be the only shot at qualifying for the Games.
After two first-place and two second-place finishes, Meza finished the competition in second place and was awarded her ticket.
“Even though we knew it wouldn’t be easy, something always told me in my heart that here I would find what for many years I was looking for,” she said on Instagram.
Christina Livaditakis
Zimbabwe | CrossFit CrossAxed
Christina Livaditakis has been close to qualifying for the CrossFit Games for the last four years. In fact, she has fallen short of a ticket to the Games by just one spot twice in her career.
Yet she continued to try. And this year, she finally did it.
After finishing the In-Affiliate Semifinals in 51st, she took another chance at qualifying at the Rebel Renegade Game In-Person Qualifier later that month. It all paid off when Livaditakis stood atop the podium at the end of the weekend.
Luiza Marques
Brazil
This won’t be Luiza Merques’ first time at the CrossFit Games. She’s actually been four times before.
Marques first qualified as a teenager from 2016-2018. In 2021, she also qualified for the Games on a team. Since then, she has been vying for a spot on the women’s individual roster.
After finishing the 2025 CrossFit Open in 134th worldwide, Marques took her chance at securing her first ticket to the Games in the Individual Division at the Copa Sur In-Person Qualifier.
With a finale win, Marques finished in second place with a Games qualification in hand.
What’s her goal now that she has accomplished that? Finish within the top 20 at her first CrossFit Games as an individual.
Lydia Fish
United States | CrossFit Chippewa Falls
Three-time Semifinals athlete Lydia Fish found herself just shy of a Games-qualifying spot after the close of the 2025 Syndicate Crown In-Person Qualifier.
But because that ticket was just two spots away, she had one final chance to qualify at the Hustle Up Last-Chance Qualifier.
With five workouts to complete in four days, only the top woman would secure the final ticket and round out the official individual roster for the 2025 CrossFit Games.
Determined to secure that ticket, Fish tackled the workouts with the guidance from her coach, Perrin Behr (CF-L2). Some workouts were repeated multiple times. Some were even done at midnight before the score submission deadline.
By the end of competition, Fish finished at the top, earning the final CrossFit Games spot in the Individual Division.
“This sport is hard. The level of competition is brutal, the number of spots are few, and the rules keep shifting. If you can’t adapt – if you’re not willing to take a punch and keep moving – you’re going to have a hard time weathering the storms. So kudos to every athlete who showed up for a last shot. It takes guts,” said Behr. “Battling adversity builds character – in sport and in life. Hard decisions, uncomfortable moments, choosing not to fold – those experiences shape who you are far beyond the leaderboard.”
MEN
Henrique Moreira
Brazil | BRV CrossFit
Henrique Moreira first started competing in the CrossFit Open as a teenager in 2018, vying for a spot at the CrossFit Games for the next three years.
When he aged out of the division, his mission to qualify for the CrossFit Games continued. He joined both the Individual and Team Divisions, securing his first ticket to the Games on a team in 2023.
This year, Moreira attended the 2025 Copa Sur In-Person Qualifier and took home the championship title and his first ticket to the Games as an individual.
Colin Bosshard
Switzerland | CrossFit Bern
Colin Bosshard is the three-time fittest man in Switzerland. But his first time competing in the CrossFit Games season was just three years ago.
Bosshard’s first CrossFit Open was in 2022, where he also qualified for the Quarterfinals. This gave him the competitive itch, recruiting two coaches to help him make it to the next stage of competition.
Sure enough, the next year he qualified for Semifinals. To his surprise, he also finished just one spot out from a CrossFit Games qualification. Also narrowly missing a Games ticket in 2024, Bosshard returned to the 2025 season determined to redeem himself.
With a 12th-place overall finish in the 2025 Open and a 10th-place finish at the In-Affiliate Semifinals, Bosshard was finally awarded his spot at the Games.
“There was nothing I wanted more over the past few years than to qualify for the CrossFit Games. I remember watching the athletes compete on the big stage, dreaming of being there one day,” he said on Instagram.
Toby Buckland
United Kingdom
Photo credit @toby_buckland on Instagram
Toby Buckland has competed in off-season CrossFit competitions in the past, but he doesn’t have much experience competing at live CrossFit Games season events.
In fact, this is the first year he’s ever competed at a live Semifinals event.
After finishing the 2025 CrossFit Open in the top 1%, Buckland packed his bags and traveled to South Africa to compete at the Rebel Renegade Games In-Person Qualifier. He left South Africa with a first-place trophy and his first ticket to the CrossFit Games in hand.
Isaac Newman
Australia
Three-time Semifinals athlete Isaac Newman has been vying for a spot at the CrossFit Games since 2021.
He has been inching closer year after year, taking top-10 finishes in both 2023 and 2024. This year, his fifth-place finish at the 2025 Torian Pro In-Person Qualifier was enough to finally secure his spot at the Games.
Newman will be the first man from Western Australia to compete at the Games.
Morteza Sedaghat
Iran | Raptor Crossfit Box
Photo credit @mortezasedaqat on Instagram
Update (July 8, 2025): Morteza Sedaghat will be unable to compete at the 2025 CrossFit Games due to visa issues.
Five-time Semifinals athlete Morteza Sedaghat qualified for the CrossFit Games in 2023 after taking second place at the Far East Throwdown but was unable to secure a visa to attend. This year, Sedaghat secured another ticket to the Games after taking first place at the Far East Throwdown In-Person Qualifier.
Tiago Luzes
Portugal | CrossFit Odivelas
Tiago Luzes first started competing in the CrossFit Open in 2017. Five years later, he advanced to his first Quarterfinals and Semifinals in 2022, finishing his season in 11th at the Lowlands Throwdown. For the next two years, though, Luzes narrowly missed a spot at Semifinals out of the Quarterfinals stage.
After finishing within the top 1% in the 2025 Open, Luzes finally advanced to Semifinals again and took his first chance at punching his ticket to the CrossFit Games at the French Throwdown In-Person Qualifier. He didn’t make the cut.
“When you pray for the rain, you need to deal with the mud and that’s exactly what I did. In Asia, I found, again, that dog in me. To fight for what I want!” he said in an Instagram post.
After giving it his all, Luzes finished the Far East Throwdown in second place, just one place shy of a Games-qualifying position.
On July 8 he was notified that his hard work earned him a backfill position at the 2025 CrossFit Games after Morteza Sedaghat declined his invite due to visa issues.
Ty Jenkins
United States | CrossFit Tailwinds
Ty Jenkins may be a rookie in the Individual Division, but he is no stranger to the CrossFit Games.
Jenkins is the three-time CrossFit Games champion in the Boys Division, making him the most decorated male in this rookie class. In fact, he has won every Games he has ever been to.
After aging out of the teenage division heading into the 2024 season, Jenkins didn’t make it past the Individual Quarterfinal. So, for the 2025 season, he packed up his life at 18 years old and moved to Jacksonville, Florida, to train with Brute Strength’s Fee Saghafi and Dallin Pepper at CrossFit Tailwinds.
That decision paid off. Jenkins took home first place at the Syndicate Crown In-Person Qualifier, earning him his fourth trip to the Games. This time, as an individual.
Bill Leahy
United States | CrossFit Mandeville
When Bill Leahy first started CrossFit, he gave himself four years to qualify for the CrossFit Games.
In year one, he qualified for Quarterfinals. In year two, he advanced to Semifinals. The next year, he vied for his spot at the Games, and by his final year of trying, he had a ticket within his grasp.
But at the 2024 North America West Semifinal, he tore his Achilles, and his dream of qualifying for the CrossFit Games expired.
That couldn’t be where it ended. Leahy decided to give it one last try.
Taking 19th at the 2025 In-Affiliate Semifinals, Leahy put all his cards on the table at the final In-Person Qualifier for the 2025 season: the Northern California Classic.
This time, Leahy took home first place and his long-awaited CrossFit Games ticket.
“Fulfillment comes not from the goal, but from overcoming the struggles and learning the lessons along the way,” Leahy said on Instagram.
Jorge Fernandez
United States | CrossFit Mayhem
Jorge Fernandez is already a familiar name within the Team Division.
Fernandez competed at the CrossFit Games from 2021-2023 on Team CrossFit Invictus, where the team won the Affiliate Cup in his final year.
Heading into the 2024 season, after hitting his goal of winning the CrossFit Games on a team, he decided to branch off and test his fitness in the Individual Division. His season ended after finishing in 26th place at the 2024 North America East Semifinal.
This year, Fernandez secured his fourth ticket to the CrossFit Games at the last In-Person Qualifier, taking second place at the Northern California Classic.
“Trust the process. It doesn’t matter what your goal is. It’s going to take time. There’s going to [be] ups and downs, but if you don’t stop chasing it, you’ll get there,” he said.
Watch the Rookies at the 2025 CrossFit Games
You can watch these rookies compete live in Albany, New York, from Aug. 1-3. Single and multi-day tickets are available.