Although we took a very different path to get here, this year’s CrossFit Games have yielded the same end result: Fraser, Toomey, and CrossFit Mayhem stand atop the podium. 

Since Friday it’s been nothing but the Tia-Clair Toomey show on the women’s side of competition. And the final day was no different. Toomey started the day by absolutely destroying the field on the Swim Paddle event, not only beating all of the women but all of the men as well, besting the men’s winner Matt McLeod by less than a second.

The following two events brought the women back inside under the lights of the coliseum with back-to-back events titled Ringer 1 and Ringer 2 that involved calories on the bike, toe to rings, burpees, and overhead squats. 

Toomey finished with strong fourth- and third-place finishes, respectively, but the real standout performance on both these events came courtesy of Katrin Davidsdottir. Davidsdottir crushed the calories on the bike during Ringer 1 and went on to fly through the burpees and overhead squats to claim back-to-back event wins. The wins were good enough to get Davidsdottir into third place narrowly ahead of Jaime Greene by three points heading into the final event.

Moving on to the final event, titled The Standard, Toomey had mathematically locked up her third consecutive Games title, and the rest of the field was left to battle for a place on the podium. For the final, athletes had to complete 30 clean and jerks, 30 ring muscle ups, and 30 snatches. Toomey made quick work of the clean and jerks to take an early lead on the event and never looked back, claiming the top time by nearly a minute. 

Jaime Greene, who started the final event just three points behind third place, delivered a stellar performance finishing in second place and earning her spot on the podium. Kristin Holte did what she needed to do to hold on to her second-place podium finish and completed the event with a time good enough for fourth place. Davidsdottir, who needed to beat Greene in order to stay on the podium, came up short, finishing in ninth place on the event, dropping her down to fourth place overall.

With a very different format and scoring structure, Toomey still looked as dominant as ever over the field, winning five of the 12 events and finishing 195 points ahead of second. Can anyone catch Toomey in 2020? 

It was a completely different story on the men’s side of competition. Heading into the final day Noah Ohlsen owned the leader’s jersey with a 15-point lead over reigning champ Fraser. The day started less than ideal for Fraser who finished in fifth place on the Swim Paddle event, while Ohlsen took third, distancing himself by more points. 

Heading into the coliseum for Ringer 1 and Ringer 2, Fraser needed to make his move and make his move he did. The champ took second on Ringer 1, just barely losing the top time to James Newberry, who absolutely sold his soul on the bike to get the top time. Fraser then went on to win Ringer 2, edging out Iceland’s Bjorgvin Karl Gudmundsson. The back-to-back top performances were good enough for Fraser to leapfrog Ohlsen for the top spot and give him a lead of 25 points. 

The battle for first came down to the final event with 30 clean and jerks, 30 ring muscle-ups, and 30 snatches for time. Ohlsen not only needed to beat Fraser, but also have at least three other men place between him and Fraser. 

The event started with Ohlsen and Fraser trading the lead back and forth during the clean and jerks. Fraser advanced to the rings first. Ohlsen arrived at the rings just a handful of reps behind, but over the course of the 30 reps took the lead heading into the snatches with Fraser and Gudmundsson closely behind. Ohlsen and Gudmundsson began their snatches with singles adding to their lead on Fraser. Fraser went touch and go for his snatches and quickly made up ground and passed Ohlsen and Gudmundsson to take the event win and claim his fourth-straight CrossFit Games championship.

Fraser joins Rich Froning as only the second man ever to win four straight CrossFit Games titles. Despite what the leaderboard said, this was still a very dominant performance for Fraser. The champ won six of the 12 events on the weekend and only trailed Ohlsen on the leaderboard in part due to the new scoring system and a penalty from the ruck run event. The same question as last year prevails, can anyone ever beat Fraser?

Ohlsen looked incredible all weekend and defied the inevitable longer than many thought was possible. The Games vet looked more focused, controlled, and happy than he ever has in competition and now has many wondering if he has what it takes to win in 2020. We’re sure excited to see what the next year holds for Ohlsen. 

Now, let’s talk about the team division. Coming into this year’s Games there was a lot of uncertainty on whether Mayhem could claim the title yet again. After a less-than-ideal performance at Wodapalooza and then again at the Rogue Invitational, one may have thought that Froning and friends had lost step. Turns out that thought couldn’t be further from the truth. 

From the beginning of the competition to the end, Mayhem looked absolutely phenomenal. Froning and crew took the lead early on Thursday and never looked back. Mayhem distanced themselves so much that by the final day they essentially had the title locked. 

Day 4 started with a Swim and Paddle event with each athlete having to complete a 1000m swim and 1000m paddle. Team Invictus came out of the water event with the top time, followed closely by Mayhem and Krypton. With only one event left on the final day, the race to watch on the team’s side was for third and fourth. 

The final event titled The Trio brought together two classic girl CrossFit workouts—Grace and Isabell—and added what’s now becoming a routine test, 30 ring muscle-ups. Athletes had to complete Grace, 30 muscle-ups, and Isabel all for one scored final event. Leaving no doubt, Mayhem easily took the top time in this final test, with Krypton finishing in second place and Invictus taking third. 

Those who doubted Mayhem before the Games are now left to wonder if anyone can stop them. Mayhem has stood atop the podium in four out of the last five years of the Games. Froning announced after their win that Dre Strohm will be retiring after this win and that Mayhem will return next year.

That wraps up the 2019 CrossFit Games. What are your thoughts on the new Games format? Were the cuts fair? Were the top ten men and women really the fittest top 10? Let us know what you think and what you would like to see next year.