Obsession (CrossFit Winners)

Rich Froning Jr won the CrossFit Games four consecutive years (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014).

Then Mat Fraser won the next five years (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020).

Justin Medeiros won the next two years (2021, 2022).

At first it seemed like a baton hand-off from Rich to Mat to Justin. But when you look at the number of events won by the games winner, a different story appears. And has continued since 2022 through this year’s CrossFit Games.

However, Justin only won a single event in 2021 and none in 2022.

And for the last four years, the World’s Fittest Man title has bounced around several individuals.

It’s interesting to look back at the dominance and consistency of Rich and Mat. They did not win every event but they often won more than 20% of them (excluding 2018).

I believe it comes down to obsession. They were both obsessed with the sport and winning. They did everything in their control to prepare themselves for the events. Not to say the others are not preparing as hard as them. But the level of dominance speaks for itself and I’d be looking into what they did differently.

Maybe I’ll append this post in 3 years after James has won the next 3 CrossFit Games. Maybe he’s on to something?