The 2016 CrossFit Games were the tenth

CrossFit Games The CrossFit Games is an annual athletic competition owned and operated by CrossFit, LLC. Athletes compete in a series of events at the Games, which may be various standard CrossFit workouts consisting of metabolic conditioning exercises, weight ...

held on July 19–24, 2016 at the

StubHub Center Dignity Health Sports Park is a multi-use sports complex located on the campus of California State University, Dominguez Hills, in Carson, California. The complex consists of the 27,000-seat Dignity Health Sports Park soccer stadium, the Dign ...

Carson, California Carson is a city in the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay and the Los Angeles Harbor Region, Harbor regions of Los Angeles County, California, located south of downtown Los Angeles and approximately away from Los Angeles International ...

and on a ranch in

Aromas, California Aromas (Spanish for "Scents") is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Monterey County and San Benito County, California, United States. The population was 2,708 at the 2020 census. The CDP straddles the border of the t ...

, United States. The men's competition was won by Mathew Fraser, the women's by Katrín Tanja Davíðsdóttir, and the Affiliate Cup was awarded to CrossFit Mayhem Freedom. Over 324,000 from 175 countries participated in the Open this season. At the Games, the women's competition was tightly fought, with the lead changing many times over the course of the Games, but Davíðsdóttir managed to hold off a strong challenge from

Tia-Clair Toomey Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr (née Toomey; born 22 July 1993) is an Australian weightlifter and CrossFit Games athlete. After winning her seventh title at the 2024 CrossFit Games, Toomey has more title wins than any other athlete in the history of the ...

to win a second time. In the men's competition, Mat Fraser won with a 197-point lead over second-place Ben Smith, at the time the biggest margin of victory in the history of the Games, marking the beginning of Fraser's dominance at the Games for the next four years until his retirement after the 2020 Games.

Qualification

Open

The Open was held over five weeks from February 25 through March 28, 2016. Five workouts were released, one per week, for the athletes to complete. 324,307 competitors from 175 countries registered to participate in the Open. As with the 2015 Games, athletes from the Open in 17 regions were funnelled into 8 super regions, and 260 (40 men, 40 women and 30 teams of 6) from each of the 8 regions went on to compete in the Regionals. Noah Ohlsen and Jamie Greene were the respective winners of the men's and women's competitions at the Open.

Regionals

The Regionals were held over 3 weekends between May 13 and May 29. As with the 2015 Games, the scoring system for Regionals was no longer the same as the Open, instead the scoring system from the Games was used (100 for first, 95 for second, etc.). From each Regional, the top 5 of each division qualified for the Games; in total 40 men, 40 women and 40 teams were invited to the Games.

Individual

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

In celebration of the tenth Crossfit Games, the first day of events for the Individual Men and Women divisions took place at the site of the first three CrossFit Games at the Ranch in

(a site owned by the family of the director of the CrossFit Games, Dave Castro). The competitors left Carson in the morning and flew into

San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

, in order to participate in the first three events. The first three events were based on the first three events held for the 2009 Games, but with some modifications. In event three,

Medicine ball A medicine ball (also known as an exercise ball, a med ball, or a fitness ball) is a weighted ball whose diameter is about a shoulder-width. The size of a medicine ball is approximately , often used for rehabilitation and strength training. T ...

instead of sandbag was used for the hill run, with wall ball shots and GHD added before the run. The athletes returned to Carson that evening; however,

Southwest Airlines Southwest Airlines Co., or simply Southwest, is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States that formerly operated on a low-cost carrier model. It is headquartered in the Love Field, Dallas, Love Field neighborhood ...

suffered a technical glitch grounding several flights and creating many delays. Some athletes reported that they did not return to their Carson hotel until after midnight Thursday morning.

Events 1: Ranch Trail Run

* 7 kilometer trail run Event 1 was a seven kilometer run was based around a similar event in the 2009 CrossFit Games. Mat Fraser and

Samantha Briggs Samantha "Sam" Briggs (born 14 March 1982) is an English CrossFit athlete best known for winning the CrossFit Games in 2013. She has qualified for the CrossFit Games seven additional times: in 2010, 2011, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, and 2021. She fin ...

were the winners of this event.

Event 2: Ranch Deadlift Ladder

Deadlift The deadlift is a strength training exercise in which a weight-loaded barbell is lifted off the ground to the level of the hips, with the torso perpendicular to the floor, before being placed back on the ground. It is one of the three powerlifting ...

ladder The second event, a

deadlift The deadlift is a strength training exercise in which a weight-loaded barbell is lifted off the ground to the level of the hips, with the torso perpendicular to the floor, before being placed back on the ground. It is one of the three powerlifting ...

ladder, followed 10 minutes after the runners finished, but with the athletes lifting in the reverse order that they finish the run. The event was similar to Event 2 of 2009 but with heavier weights since many were able to lift the heaviest weights in 2009. The men's weight started at 425 pounds and ended at 615 pounds while the women's weight started at 275 pounds and ended at 415 pounds. The last place finisher of the ranch run event start the event first, ten minutes after completing the run. Sam Dancer (the last place finisher on the run) and Brooke Wells (who took 37th of 40 on the run) both won the event by completing the ladder.

Event 3: Ranch Mini Chipper

*50 wall ball shots *25

medicine ball A medicine ball (also known as an exercise ball, a med ball, or a fitness ball) is a weighted ball whose diameter is about a shoulder-width. The size of a medicine ball is approximately , often used for rehabilitation and strength training. T ...

GHD

sit-up The sit-up is an abdominal endurance training exercise to strengthen, tighten and tone the abdominal muscles. It is similar to a curl-up (that targets the rectus abdominis and also works the external and internal obliques), but sit-ups have a ...

s *Hill sprint with medicine ball The last event was a "chipper," a workout involving multiple exercises done sequentially without returning (as in "chipping away" at the number of repetitions) for the fastest time. The competitors started with 50 wall ball shots, a squat into tossing a medicine ball 9 or 10 feet up to target on a wall. Once completed, they performed 25 sit-ups with the medicine ball on a glute-hamstring developer (GHD), a piece of equipment where the feet lock in and the sit-up is performed at a greater range of motion. The chipper was finished with a hill sprint while carrying the medicine ball. The men used a 30-pound medicine ball and the women used a 20-pound medicine ball.

Brent Fikowski Brent Fikowski is a Canadian CrossFit athlete known for his eight appearances at the CrossFit Games. He finished second behind Mat Fraser at the 2017 Crossfit Games, and third in 2021 and 2024. He serves as the president of the Professional Fi ...

and Annie Thorisdottir won the event. Mat Fraser was the overall leader in the men's competition after 3 events and he kept the lead all through the Games.

Thursday, July 21, 2016

Event 4: Ocean Swim

*500 meter ocean swim The only event of day two was an out-and-back ocean swim at

Redondo Beach, California Redondo Beach (Spanish for ) is a coastal city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located in the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay region of the Greater Los Angeles area. It is one of three adjacent Beach Cities, beach c ...

and Jonne Koski won with times of 7:28 and 6:54 respectively.

Friday, July 22, 2016

Event 5: Murph

While wearing a weighted vest: * 1 mile run * 100 pull-ups * 200

push-ups The push-up (press-up in British English) is a common calisthenics exercise beginning from the prone position. By raising and lowering the body using the arms, push-ups exercise the pectoral muscles, triceps, and anterior deltoids, wit ...

* 300 air squats * 1 mile run This specific workout was created in honor of US Navy SEAL Lt. Michael P. Murphy, who was killed in Afghanistan on July 28, 2005. " Murph" is probably CrossFit's most famous "Hero" workout (a specific routine named in honor of a fallen hero) and Murph is usually performed by American affiliates on

Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. It is observed on the last Monday of May. It i ...

. The announcement of this event was controversial because it was also done in the 2015 CrossFit Games where a number of athletes suffered serious heat injuries. The weighted vests were 20lbs. for men and 14lbs. for the women. The exercises between the runs was broken up into five rounds of 20 pull-ups, 40 push-ups, and 60 air squats. Josh Bridges and Kari Pearce won the event.

Event 6: Squat Clean Pyramid

* 10 squat cleans at 245 lbs for men and 165 lbs for women * 8 squat cleans at 265 lbs for men and 180 lbs for women * 6 squat cleans at 285 lbs for men and 195 lbs for women * 4 squat cleans at 305 lbs for men and 205 lbs for women * 2 squat cleans at 325 lbs for men and 215 lbs for women Squat cleans are a common movement used in

weightlifting Weightlifting or weight lifting generally refers to physical exercises and sports in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells, barbells or machines. People engage in weightlifting for a variety of different reasons. These can ...

with the requirement that the competitor must squat below parallel on the clean. The athletes performed a decreasing number of repetitions at increasing weights. Alex Anderson and Kara Webb won the event.

Event 7: Double DT

10 rounds for time with a 155-pound barbell for the men and a 105-pound barbell for the women: * 12 deadlifts * 9 hang power cleans * 6 jerks "DT" is a CrossFit hero workout named for fallen airman USAF SSgt. Timothy P. Davis, and usually performed for five rounds. In the 2015 Games, fans were given a vote for either Heavy DT or Double DT and the heavy version was chosen, so Double DT was programmed for the 2016 Games.

Katrín Davíðsdóttir Katrín Tanja Davíðsdóttir (; born 10 May 1993) is an Icelandic former CrossFit athlete known for her ten appearances at the CrossFit Games. That was from 2012 to 2023, with the exception of 2014 and 2022. She is the women's champion of the 2 ...

and Samuel Kwant won the event.

Saturday, July 23, 2016

Event 8: Climbing Snail

Three rounds for time of: *500 meter berm run *2 rope ascents *40 foot snail push *2 rope ascents – except for the final round. The event took place inside the soccer stadium and consisted of running across the field and through the rope climbing rig and then up the stairs and behind the

jumbotron A jumbotron, sometimes referred to as jumbovision, is a video display using large-screen television technology (video wall). The original technology was developed in the early 1980s by Mitsubishi Electric and Sony, which coined JumboTron as a ...

at the

. On the return, the athletes then had to climb up a rope in the middle of the field. The rope was situated so that the bottom of the rope was above the heads of the athletes so that they had to jump up to grab the rope and do the first pulls without using their legs. The final movement was pushing what was called a "snail," a large heavy barrel that had to be rolled for 40 feet. The event was won by

and Brent Fikowski.

Event 9: The Separator

This event was performed in a different order for the Men and Women's competition. ;Men's Event 9 *12 ring handstand push-ups *15 back squats at 225 pounds *20 burpees *9 ring handstand push-ups *18 front squats at 205 pounds *20 burpees *6 ring handstand push-ups *21 overhead squats at 185 pounds *20 burpees ;Women's Event 9 *15 back squats at 165 pounds *20 burpees *6 ring handstand push-ups *18 front squats at 145 pounds *20 burpees *4 ring handstand push-ups *21 overhead squats at 125 pounds *20 burpees *2 ring handstand push-ups The

handstand push-up The handstand push-up (press-up) - also called the vertical push-up (press-up) or the inverted push-up (press-up), also called "commandos" - is a type of push-up exercise where the body is positioned in a handstand. For a true handstand, the exer ...

s were done with gymnastic rings and it was the second time the movement has featured at the CrossFit Games. It also had strict point penalties for any athletes that could not either finish the first set for the men or one push-up for the women. The event was won by Kari Pearce and Cole Sager.

Event 10: 100%

For time: *40 box jump overs (30 inches high for men, 24 inches high for women) *20 D-ball cleans (150 pound ball for men, 100 pound ball for women) This event was won by Alessandra Pichelli and Brent Fikowski.

Sunday, July 24, 2016

Event 11: Handstand Walk

* 280 foot handstand walk for time Jacob Heppner and Katrín Davíðsdóttir won.

Event 12: Suicide Sprint

* 840 foot shuttle sprint for time On the same field that the handstand walk, the athletes ran one-third of the way down and back, two-thirds of the way down and back and then all the way down and back. Tia Toomey and Roy Gamboa won.

Event 13: The Plow

* 560 foot plow drag (235 pounds for men, 190 pounds for women) Garret Fisher and Katrín Davíðsdóttir won. Davíðsdóttir had to be helped off the field after collapsing at the finish line, but she took over the lead from Toomey after this event.

Event 14: The Rope Chipper

* 200
SkiErg
* 50 doubles unders for men, 40 for women * 200m row * 50 double unders for men, 40 for women * 0.4 mile Assault AirBike * 50 double unders for men, 40 for women * 200 m row * 50 double unders for men, 40 for women * 200m SkiErg * 90 foot sled pull (310 pounds for men, 220 for women) Anna Tunnicliffe and Brent Fikowski won.

Event 15: Redemption

* 3

peg board Perforated hardboard is tempered hardboard which is pre-drilled with evenly spaced holes. The holes are used to accept pegs or hooks to support various items, and perforated hardboards are therefore used for purposes such as tool boards in worksh ...

ascents * 21 thrusters * 2 peg board ascent * 15 thrusters * 1 peg board ascent * 9 thrusters The event featured the return appearance of the peg board ascents that premiered one year earlier. Many competitors failed to complete the peg board ascents in the previous year, hence, the name of this event being "Redemption." A thruster in CrossFit is a combination of a front squat and

push press A push press is a weight training exercise for the anterior head of the deltoid (shoulder). Execution The push press is similar to the military press, in that the bar is held just above chest height and is pushed upwards before being lowered b ...

in one continuous movement and the weights were 135-pounds for the men and 85-pounds for the women. Zak Carchedi and Alexis Johnson won. Mat Fraser won the competition with a 197-point lead over Ben Smith, the biggest margin of victory in the history of the Games thus far. Katrín Tanja Davíðsdóttir defended her 2015 title with a narrow win over Tia-Clair Toomey to become a repeat champion in the women's competition. Patrick Vellner was the rookie of the year.

Team events

* Team Murph * Buddy Swim * Triple Deadlift * Climbing Worm * Worm Sprint * Triple Double * Berm Bok * Sprint Relay * Double-Slug Bob * Finals

Podium finishers

Individuals and teams

Masters men

Masters women

Teens

Guns controversy

In 2016, CrossFit announced that winners of the 2016 Games would receive

Glock Glock (; stylized as GLOCK) is a brand of polymer- framed, short-recoil-operated, striker-fired, locked-breech semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Austrian manufacturer Glock Ges.m.b.H. The firearm entered Austrian military an ...

handguns A handgun is a firearm designed to be usable with only one hand. It is distinguished from a long barreled gun (i.e., carbine, rifle, shotgun, submachine gun, or machine gun) which typically is intended to be held by both hands and braced aga ...

as prizes, which resulted in a backlash from some CrossFit members and other sponsors. The

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

post announcing the decision attracted more than 4,000 comments, with many members drawing attention to the recent spate of

mass shootings A mass shooting is a violent crime in which one or more attackers use a firearm to Gun violence, kill or injure multiple individuals in rapid succession. There is no widely accepted specific definition, and different organizations tracking su ...

in the US. One Facebook user wrote "As a reward for fitness you can potentially shoot people?...After the worst mass shootings in USA, I hardly feel bringing a community together via guns is in the spirit of Crossfit. Shameful." Title sponsor

Reebok Reebok International Limited ( ) is an American footwear and clothing brand that is a part of Authentic Brands Group. It was established in England in 1958 as a companion company to J.W. Foster and Sons, a sporting goods company which had bee ...

said in a statement: "While we understand CrossFit’s foundations are tied to military and first responders, we do not agree with this decision, particularly in light of current events in the United States." A

Change.org Change.org is a website which allows users to create and sign petitions in an attempt to advance various social causes by raising awareness and influencing decision-makers. The site is a US-based for-profit company and claims to have 551 million ...

petition gathered more than 19,000 signatures against the partnership with Glock. In response to the criticism, director of the games, Dave Castro said, “I am one of millions of people in the U.S. who own guns for recreational and legal purposes. I compete in competitive shooting events, and I have a lot of friends in the shooting industry. Glock offered up pistols as prizes, I agreed to it.” Castro later added, “Unless the state and federal laws regarding gun ownership in California and the U.S. change in the next week, then no, nothing is changing.”

References

External links

2016 CrossFit Games
Individual events on CrossFit official YouTube channel
2016 CrossFit Games
{{CrossFit Games International sports competitions hosted by the United States

CrossFit