Here’s Every Athlete Competing at the 2020 Reebok CrossFit Games

• Age — 29
• Height — 5’5
• Weight — 139lb

Venäläinen placed third in the Norwegian CrossFit Championship but was the only athlete on the podium who had not yet qualified for the Games (Migała and Solberg finished first and second, respectively). Therefore, her invite to her Games debut was earned.

Andrea Nisler (USA)

• Age — 31
• Height — 5’6
• Weight — 154lb

Nisler earned her spot in the 2020 Games by placing 15th in the Open. In an interview with BarBend, we learned that placing in the top 20 was not even a priority for Nisler. She was more focused on competing in the Team division, where she has spent her previous four appearances at the Games. She has competed twice on team Timberwolf CrossFit (2016, 2017), once for team CrossFit OC3 (bronze finish in 2018), and once for team OC3 Black (fourth place in 2019). This year will be her Games debut as an individual.

Samantha Briggs (UK)

• Age — 38
• Height — 5’7
• Weight — 135lb

Through a leg injury sustained in Open workout 20.4, the 2013 Fittest Woman on Earth, Samantha Briggs will return for her seventh Games appearance by way of a third-place finish at the Dubai CrossFit Championship. Despite being the oldest female competitor in the 2020 Games field, she managed to rank ninth overall in the Open worldwide. She is the reigning five-time British National Champion.

Brooke Haas (USA)

• Age — 31
• Height — 5’3
• Weight — 154lb

Haas finished 22nd in the Open and secured her invite to the Games because of a declined invitation by Annie Thorisdottir (second overall in the Open) due to her pregnancy and Alana Fisk Colon (21st overall in the Open) being ineligible due to drug sanctions. Haas‘ debut at the Games took place in 2019 and culminated in a 53rd place finish.

Laura Clifton (New Zealand)

• Age — 26
• Height — 5’4
• Weight — 165lb

Clifton will make her Games debut in 2020 by way of the Australian CrossFit Championships, where she placed third. Kara Saunders, who won that event, already qualified via the Open, and Mia Hesketh declined the invite to compete in Teams competition. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Related: 14 CrossFit Games women reveal their daily macros]

There are seven different countries represented among the 30 women in this year’s field. Sixteen athletes represent the USA, seven represent Canada, three represent Australia. Russia, Finland, Iceland, and the UK each have one athlete.

2020 CrossFit Games Men’s Roster

Tim Paulson (USA)

• Age — 30
• Height — 6’1
• Weight — 215lb

Paulson finished seventh in the USA and 15th overall in the Open worldwide to cash in a ticket to his fourth appearance at the Games. In 2019, he fell to 105th place after finishing in 19th and 29th place in 2017 and 2018, respectively. 

Samuel Cournoyer (Canada)

• Age — 24
• Height — 5’11
• Weight — 205lb

There is some steep competition in Canada, but Cournoyer managed to place fourth in the country and 12th overall in the Open worldwide. He will have the opportunity to improve upon his debut in 2019, where he ranked 35th.

Cole Sager (USA)

• Age — 30
• Height — 5’11
• Weight — 202lb

Sager made it in the top 20 for the second year in a row in the Open worldwide at the 19th rank. This will be his seventh appearance at the Games. He already has a trio of top 10 finishes with his best performance being fifth place in 2016. In 2019, he locked in an 11th place finish overall.

Tyler Christophel (USA)

• Age — 30
• Height — 5’10
• Weight — 190lb

After going at it alone for a long time, Christophel began working with coach Mike Cantris and it paid dividends. He ranked 9th overall in the Open worldwide and third in the USA behind Patrick Vellner and Mathew Fraser — that’s some pretty good company. 2020 marks his Games debut as an individual athlete as his two previous appearances in 2017 and 2018 were with team CrossFit 417 (ranked 12th and 5th, respectively).

Patrick Vellner (Canada)

• Age — 30
• Height — 5’11
• Weight — 195lb

In addition to ranking first in the Open worldwide, Vellner has had an exceptionally competitive year. He won both the Rogue Invitational and Wodapalooza. He predicted himself making the finals and should be one of the names to watch to dethrone Mathew Fraser potentially. 2020 will be Vellner’s sixth appearance at the Games. He has three podium finishes in 2016 (bronze), 2017 (bronze), and 2018 (silver). 

Jonne Koski (Finland)

• Age — 25
• Height — 5’7
• Weight — 185lb

Koski will be the lone male athlete representing Finland. He ensured his place at the Games via his 11th rank in the Open worldwide — his second time in the top 20 in the past three years. The four-time Finnish National Champion has competed at the Games five times since 2014 (2018 being the outlier), and his best finish was ninth in both 2015 and 2017.

Travis Mayer (USA)

• Age — 29
• Height — 5’11
• Weight — 198lb

Running back his 14th rank overall in the Open worldwide from 2019 in 2020 paved the way for Mayer to make his fifth appearance at the CrossFit Games. A reasonably consistent athlete on the biggest stage, his previous four appearances in 2014, 2016, 2017, and 2019 have seen a 10th place finish and two 12th place finishes.

Jeffrey Adler (Canada)

• Age — 26
• Height — 5’9
• Weight — 197lb

Adler’s first time in the top 20 of the Open worldwide came in 2020 with a 5th place rank. Armen Hammer predicted that Adler will be one of the top 5 men to advance to the finals in October, which is a massive vote of confidence for the Canadian. This will be Adler’s second consecutive appearance at the Games, coming off his 33rd place finish in 2019.

Scott Tetlow (USA)

• Age — 27
• Height — 5’3
• Weight — 175lb

Tetlow trains without a coach but does follow a specific training routine (Comptrain). It paid off for him in 2020 as he finished in the top 20 in the Open worldwide for the first time in his CrossFit career. He is 17th on the leaderboard heading into his first-ever Games.

Alexandre Caron (Canada)

• Age — 24
• Height — 5’11
• Weight — 195lb

Caron did not crack the top 20 in the Open worldwide with his 23rd place rank but scored the invitation to the Games after Jean Simon Roy-Lemaire (eighth in the Open) had to withdraw due to injury. 2020 will be Caron’s second appearance as an individual — his debut was a 39th place finish in 2018. In 2019, he competed on team PRO1 and placed ninth. 

Mathew Fraser (USA)

• Age — 30
• Height — 5’7
• Weight — 195lb

Fraser is the reigning 4-time Fittest Man on Earth and earned a chance to compete for a record five wins after ranking second in the Open worldwide (he ranked first the previous three years). Fraser had to recover from an injury earlier this year that caused him to withdraw from competing at the Rogue Invitational, so hopefully, he will be 100% coming into the Games.

Of his six appearances at the Games thus far, Fraser has never missed the podium. In addition to his four wins, he has two runner-up finishes in 2014 and 2015.

Samuel Kwant (USA)

• Age — 24
• Height — 5’11
• Weight — 200lb

Kwant earned the right to compete in his fourth consecutive Games for ranking 15th overall in the Open worldwide. Kwant has finished in the top 20 at the Games every time he has competed but has yet to break into the top 10. His career-best finish of 13th place came in 2019.

Jacob Heppner (USA)

• Age — 30
• Height — 5’7
• Weight — 195lb

After achieving the 18th rank in the Open worldwide, Heppner will return for his fifth career appearance at the Games. In his previous four appearances, Heppner has three top 10 finishes and has never placed lower than 18th.

[Related: How CrossFit Games athlete Jacob Heppner recovers]

Björgvin Karl Guðmundsson (Iceland)

• Age — 27
• Height — 5’10
• Weight — 185lb

Gudmundsson ranked fourth in the Open worldwide to be the lone male athlete in the field representing Iceland at the 2020 Games. He is a six-time Icelandic National Champion and has four top-five finishes at the Games, including bronze finishes in 2015 and 2019. Since his 26th place debut in 2014, “BKG” has never ranked worse than eighth at the Games.

Bayden Brown (Australia)

• Age — 25
• Height — 5’10
• Weight — 198lb

The reigning 2-time Australian National Champion will make his way to his second consecutive CrossFit Games by way of a seventh-place finish in the Open worldwide. Brown is competing this year with the goal to improve upon his 104th place finish in 2019. 

Chandler Smith (USA)

• Age — 27
• Height — 5’8
• Weight — 195lb

Smith narrowly missed the top 20 in the Open worldwide at his 22nd rank, but it was still strong enough for an invite as 4-time Fittest Man on Earth Rich Froning (20th in the Open) declined his invite, and Lefteris Theofanidis of Greece (third in the Open) was ineligible to compete due to drug sanctions. Had that not happened, he would have still qualified as the winner of the CrossFit Mayhem Classic.

2020 will be Smith’s second appearance at the Games. At his debut in 2019, he finished in 15th place.

Noah Ohlsen (USA)

• Age — 29
• Height — 5’7
• Weight — 190lb

Ohlsen placed second in the national Open and sixth in the Open worldwide. He is arguably one of the most consistent athletes on the Games stage. Ohlsen has five top 10 finishes in six appearances, the outlier being his 15th place finish in 2016. In 2019, Ohlsen had his best Games performance yet, making the podium as the runner-up to Mathew Fraser.

Roman Khrennikov (Russian Federation)

• Age — 25
• Height — 6’0
• Weight — 209lb

The Russian Federation representative at the 2020 Games got his invitation by way of a 10th place rank in the Open worldwide. The 2020 Russian Federation National Champion will be making his CrossFit Games debut after being forced to withdraw the previous two years due to travel visa issues.

Brent Fikowski (Canada)

• Age — 29
• Height — 6’2
• Weight — 217lb

Fikowski earned his way back to a fifth consecutive CrossFit Games for his win at the 2019 Dubai CrossFit Championship. Until 2019’s 23rd place finish at the Games, Fikowski had never ranked lower than fourth place — where he finished in 2016 and 2018. 2017 was his career-best Games performance — a runner-up finish.

[Related: Brent Fikowski’s training plan, recovery, and competition tips]

Khan Porter (Australia)

• Age — 30
• Height — 6’0
• Weight — 205lb

Porter will return for his sixth Games appearance (5th as an individual) by way of his win at the Pandaland CrossFit Challenge. His best finish as an individual came in 2018 (24th place), but he has not yet cracked the top 20 in his career. In 2019, he competed in the Teams division as a member of team Project X to a 13th place finish.

Pete Shaw (Canada)

• Age — 30
• Height — 6’1
• Weight — 215lb

Shaw will make his CrossFit Games debut in 2020, entering as the SouthFit champion. At that event, he bested fellow 2020 Games rookie Jay Crouch and Gonzalo Hard by less than 25 points.

Luke Schafer (USA)

• Age — 26
• Height — 5’8
• Weight — 185lb

Schafer was the runner-up at the CrossFit Mayhem Classic to Chandler Smith, but received the invite as Smith was able to qualify via the last slot from the Open. 2020 will be Schafer’s third consecutive year at the Games, but his debut as an individual. He ranked 19th with team CrossFit Kilo in his debut and fourth place in 2019 with team OC3 Black.

Justin Medeiros (USA)

• Age — 21
• Height — 5’8
• Weight — 190lb

Medeiros will make his Games debut in 2020 as the winner of the Filthy 150, where he stood on the podium with fellow Games athletes Roman Khrennikov and Tim Paulson. Alongside fellow Games rookie Jay Crouch, Medeiros is the youngest male athlete in the 2020 field.

Saxon Panchik (USA)

• Age — 24
• Height — 5’9
• Weight — 185lb

Panchik will return for his third consecutive Crossfit Games with his invitation from Wodapalooza. He ranked fourth at that event, which meant that the invitation slid through Patrick Vellner, Cole Sager, and Noah Ohlsen who finished on the podium, as they all qualified through their top 20 finishes in the Open worldwide. At the Games in 2018 and 2019, Saxon ranked 19th and 9th, respectively.

David Shorunke (UK)

• Age — 30
• Height — 6’2
• Weight — 220lb

Shorunke punched his ticket to the 2020 Games through his runner-up finish at Strength in Depth UK. The only athlete that bested him that weekend was 4-time Fittest Man on Earth Mathew Fraser who qualified for the Games as the runner-up in the Open worldwide. The 2020 Games is Shorunke’s debut as an individual. His only other appearance was on team CrossFit Nordic in 2016.

Griffin Roelle (USA)

• Age — 28
• Height — 5’10
• Weight — 205lb

Roelle earned his debut as an individual Games athlete by winning the Norwegian CrossFit Championship. Previously, Roelle competed at the Games as a member of team CrossFit Dwala in 2018 to a 31st place finish.

Jay Crouch (Australia)

• Age — 21
• Height — 5’9
• Weight — 181lb

Crouch will make his Games debut as an individual for winning the Australian CrossFit Championship, where he edged out Games veteran James Newbury by just six points. In 2017 and 2018, Crouch competed as a member of team Reebok CrossFit Frankston to a 33rd and 10th place finish, respectively.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Related: CrossFit Games rookie Jay Crouch on training and preparing for a virtual comp]

Adam Davidson (Canada)

• Age — 28
• Height — 5’10
• Weight — 195lb

Davidson first appeared on the competitive CrossFit scene in 2018 and will make his Games debut in 2020 by way of his victory at the Brazilian CrossFit Championship — where he bested runner-up Josh Miller by just 12 points. After an ACL tear in 2018 sidelining him for a while, he came back in force this past season, including a podium finish at the Pandaland CrossFit Challenge.

Brandon Luckett (USA)

• Age — 25
• Height — 6’0
• Weight — 200lb

After missing the 2019 CrossFit Games following his 36th place debut in 2018, Luckett is back after ranking 13th in the Open worldwide. This was his first time cracking the top 20 in the Open as his previous highest finish was 32nd in 2018.

Rogelio Gamboa (USA)

• Age — 33
• Height — 5’8
• Weight — 195lb

At 33 years of age, Gamboa is the oldest male athlete in the 2020 field. He earned his way to his fourth Games appearance through an invite that slid down to his 21st ranking in the Open worldwide. This will be Gamboa’s third time competing at the Games as an individual, previously placing 35th and 23rd in 2016 and 2018, respectively. In 2019, he ranked 6th with team Don’t Stop.

Feature image via CrossFit Games Instagram page: @crossfitgames