Patrick Vellner is a Canadian

CrossFit CrossFit is a branded fitness regimen that involves constantly varied functional movements performed at high intensity. The method was developed by Greg Glassman, who founded CrossFit with Lauren Jenai in 2000, with CrossFit its registered trad ...

athlete who has eight individual appearances at the

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 ...

, including three 2nd and two 3rd place finishes.

Early life

Vellner was born in

Red Deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or Hart (deer), hart, and a female is called a doe or hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Ir ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, Canada to Marty and Tikki Vellner. He has two brothers, Jonathan and Mitchell. Vellner competed in

gymnastics Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...

and

lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

from the age of eight, and he also played

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby union: 15 players per side *** American flag rugby *** Beach rugby *** Mini rugby *** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side *** Rugby tens, 10 players per side *** Snow rugby *** Tou ...

. After retiring from gymnastics in 2010, he continued to play lacrosse for a team in

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

while he was studying in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. He studied

kinesiology Kinesiology () is the scientific study of human body movement. Kinesiology addresses physiological, anatomical, Biomechanics, biomechanical, Pathology, pathological, neuropsychological principles and mechanisms of movement. Applications of kines ...

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

in Montreal from 2012 to 2015, and was introduced to CrossFit by friends while a student there. He graduated from McGill with an honors degree, and went on to study

chiropractic Chiropractic () is a form of alternative medicine concerned with the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mechanical disorders of the musculoskeletal system, especially of the spine. It is based on several pseudoscientific ideas. Many c ...

at the

Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College (CMCC) is a Canadian private chiropractic education school in the North York, Toronto, founded in 1945. CMCC awards Doctor of Chiropractic degrees under ministerial consent from the provincial Ministry of ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, graduating in 2019.

Career

Vellner first competed in the CrossFit Open in 2013. In 2014, he finished well enough in the Open to qualify for the Canada East Regional, though he finished fifth and not enough to move on to the Games. The next year, in 2015, he qualified for his first CrossFit Games as a member of CrossFit Plateau. The team took home 5th in the East and 20th in the world at the

2015 CrossFit Games The 2015 CrossFit Games were the ninth CrossFit Games, which were held on July 21–26, 2015 at the StubHub Center in Carson, California. Ben Smith was the men's winner, and Katrin Davidsdottir was the women's winner. The Affiliate Cup was won by ...

2016–2018: Podium finishes

In 2016, Vellner earned his first

invite after finishing 8th in the World (1st in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

) in the Worldwide Open and 3rd in the East Regional. Though his highest event finish was 2nd overall, Vellner finished 3rd place, and was named Rookie of the Year. After the Games, Vellner competed on Team Canada at the CrossFit Invitational, earning a 4th-place finish alongside Michele Letendre, Carol-Ann Reason-Thibault, and

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 ...

. In 2017, Vellner made his 2nd individual CrossFit Games appearance. He placed 11th in the Worldwide Open, earning a spot at the East Regional, where he finished 2nd place. Vellner finished third in the CrossFit Games with two individual event wins after officials disqualified Ricky Garard for failing drug tests ( Testolone and

Endurobol GW501516 (also known as GW-501,516, GW1516, GSK-516, cardarine, and on the black market as endurobol) is a PPARδ receptor agonist that was invented in a collaboration between Ligand Pharmaceuticals and GlaxoSmithKline in the 1990s. It entered ...

) at the

2017 CrossFit Games The 2017 CrossFit Games are the eleventh CrossFit Games and were held on August 3–6, 2017, at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. This was the first Games held outside the state of California. The men's competition wa ...

. In 2018, Patrick Vellner had his best Open finish, best Regionals finish, and best

finish, where he finished 5th, 1st, and 2nd respectively. He captured his 3rd event win of his career in the 9th Event of the weekend, Chaos.

2019–2020

2019 introduced the Sanctionals Circuit to the

2019 CrossFit Games The 2019 CrossFit Games was the 13th iteration of the annual competition in the sport CrossFit Games, CrossFit held from August 1–4, 2019, at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. The men's competition was won by Mat Fr ...

qualification season. Although Vellner narrowly missed qualifying for the Games at the Open, his 1st place finish at

Wodapalooza Wodapalooza Fitness Festival (WZA) is an annual four-day functional fitness festival held in Miami centered on a CrossFit competition. The event was first established in 2012 and has since developed into one of the largest fitness festival in th ...

earned him a spot in the competition. He also competed at the

Rogue Invitational The Rogue Invitational is an annual sporting event that includes a CrossFit competition and a Strongman competition. The event, organized by Rogue, started in 2019 as a CrossFit sanctioned competition, but has since become a major competition ...

later in the season where he finished 2nd. With no event finishes inside the Top 10, Vellner was cut after a penalty for stepping on the line in the 6th event, and finished 16th. In the 2020 season, Vellner finished first Worldwide at the Open, which earned him a spot at the CrossFit Games. However, a quirk in the scoring system meant that despite finishing 1st in the world, he was not crowned the Canadian National Champion. He then compete at the Dubai CrossFit Championship, earning 2nd, repeat as the Wodapalooza Champion, and take home 1st in the Rogue Invitational, which moved online in response to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. During the online Stage 1 of the 2020 CrossFit Games, Vellner finished 9th, failing to qualify for the in-person Stage 2 event.

2021: Return to podium

The 2021 CrossFit Games season brought about additional changes to the qualifying process. Vellner finished 20th in the World and 13th in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

in the Worldwide Open, earning a spot in the Online Quarterfinal. During the quarterfinals, he finished 4th overall on the continent, earning a post in the semifinals. Travel restrictions between Canada and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, as well as in person event restrictions in Canada, meant that Vellner was forced to compete in the 2021 Atlas Games, which were conducted online. He took home 1st place, and a spot in the Games. Despite a disappointing finish in the 1st Event of the weekend, Vellner took home three event wins, bringing his career total to six, and earning 2nd place behind Justin Medeiros at the Games. He worked as a chiropractor in

Nanaimo Nanaimo ( ) is a city of about 100,000 on the east coast of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. "The Harbour City" was previously known as the "Hub City", which was attributed to its original layout design with streets radiating fr ...

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

Personal life

Vellner announced his engagement to Michelle Workun-Hill, a doctor, in October 2019. Their first son Owen William was born on June 11, 2021, and their second Ethan Avery in February 2024. They married in September 2021.

CrossFit Games results

References

External links

Patrick Vellner
at CrossFit Games {{DEFAULTSORT:Vellner, Patrick CrossFit athletes Living people 1990 births Sportspeople from Red Deer, Alberta Canadian sportsmen McGill University alumni Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College alumni 21st-century Canadian sportsmen