2023 CrossFit Adaptive Divisions — Who Is the Fittest on Earth® and Who Is Going to the Games?

The first 2023 CrossFit Games season champions have arrived. Five of the eight Adaptive Divisions have crowned their Fittest on Earth®. This year, Adaptive Divisions are not being represented at the Semifinals or Quarterfinals, so the victors were claimed after the results of the 2023 CrossFit Open were finalized. After undergoing significant changes in the 2023 CrossFit Rulebook that barred several previous top competitors from the 2023 season, the leaderboard has undergone some shake-ups. Top-placing athletes in Multi Extremity (formerly Multi Extremity), along with Upper Extremity and Lower Extremity, will be moving on to the 2023 CrossFit Games. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Hailey Melakian (@hailey_melakian) The top athletes in the other Adaptive Divisions — Vision, Short Stature, Seated With Hip Function, Seated Without Hip Function, and Intellectual — were crowned 2023’s Fittest on Earth®. Read on to find out who is the Fittest and who will be moving on to the 2023 Games. 2023 CrossFit Adaptive Division Winners The following athletes are the 2023 Fittest on Earth® in their respective divisions. The names in bold are the champions. Vision — Women This is the second consecutive crown worn by division-winner Erica James, who also took home the Fittest® title in 2022. Erica James Mary Colin Sarah Perry Vision — Men Champion Chris Fair finished second in the 2022 Adaptive Semifinal but was able to secure the crown with a second-consecutive Open win this year. Chris Fair Hunter Tribe Rafael Arevalo Short Stature — Women Eric Popovich has redefined “rookie year.” This was her first year competing in the CrossFit Open, and now she has been crowned the Fittest on Earth®. Erin Popovich Irene Wanandi Mariana Kurylo Short Stature — Men An unusual tie at the top of the leaderboard means that both Mike Witous and Tim Murray share the Fittest® title this year. Murray is a returning champ, having won the title in 2022. This is Witous’ first time wearing the crown. Mike Witous & Tim Murray N/A Juan Serrano Torres Seated With Hip Function — Women At this point, winning is second nature to Amalia Ortuño, who has taken home the crown in her division three times now. That means that the division has been hers every year since its inception. Amalia Ortuño Ellen Field Shana Coissard Seated With Hip Function — Men The 2008 Paralympian Tom Miazga is familiar with the crown, winning this division for the second time in his career. Tom Miazga Michael Egan Tom Green Seated Without Hip Function — Women Andrea Wilson is another dominant three-peat champion, having been crowned the victor every year since the Adaptive Divisions debuted in CrossFit. Andrea Wilson Rebecca Storm Nagel Neslie Bernardi Seated Without Hip Function — Men French athlete Simon Farre is back at the top of the podium after coming in second overall last year. He is now the 2021 and 2023 champion. Simon Farre Jedidiah Snelson Joshua Young Intellectual — Women A repeat champion, Hailey Malakian was the Fittest on Earth® in 2022. She is once again occupying the top slot in her division. Hailey Melakian Julia Lane Abby Frantz Intellectual — Men Lance King’s rookie year was 2022, when he finished seventh in the Semifinal. This year, he is taking home his first Fittest® title. Lance King Ricky Landgraff Jordan Green 2023 Adaptive Division CrossFit Games-Qualifying Athletes These are the top athletes in the following divisions that will be heading for the 2023 CrossFit Games, set to take place in Madison, WI, on Aug. 1-6. Multi Extremity — Women Noelle Henderson finished 12th last year in the Open and came in seventh at the Games. She will undoubtedly be seeking to move up in the leaderboard at this year’s Games. Noelle Henderson Jordan Ingalsbe Shannon Ogar Amea Reyna Courtnei Lopez Multi Extremity — Men This is Chris Rhyme’s first time competing in the Open, and it will be his first time at the Games. Chris Rhyme Mijail Pedrini James Brown Antonio Silverstro Jonathan Garson Upper Extremity — Women This year’s champion took the second-place slot on the podium at the Games last year. She aims to podium again this year. Christina Mazzullo Anne-Laure Coutenceau Genevieve Tidwell Skylar Devault Elaine De Rocco Upper Extremity — Men Once again, Casey Acree is atop the leaderboards. He has finished first in his division every year since the Adaptive Division’s inception. Acree will be aiming for his third consecutive CrossFit Games victory this year. Casey Acree Xabier Osa Mendes Alexis Fiorucci Breki Þórðarson Samuel Pera Lower Extremity — Women This certainly won’t be two-time champ Valerie Cohen or 2022 podium-finisher Amy Bream’s first trip to the Games. But Bayleigh Hooper will be heading to the Games for the first time. Bayleigh Hooper Amy Bream Valerie Cohen Molly Moore Lauren Farhat Lower Extremity — Men Rogan Dean finished second at the Games in 2022, and will undoubtedly be hoping to make a repeat podium appearance. Last year’s champ Charles Pienaar and 2021 champ Ole Kristian Antonsen will also be aiming for top spots. Rogan Dean Séraphin Périer Charles Pienaar Ole Kristian Antonsen Hildon Carvalho 2023 CrossFit Adaptive Division Season The 2023 CrossFit season has not been without controversy for the Adaptive Divisions. When CrossFit released the details of the 2023 Adaptive season, it announced new restrictions and requirements for any Adaptive athletes wishing to compete in the season. This season, CrossFit declared that a medical diagnosis was no longer sufficient to allow an athlete’s participation in the Open. Instead, all potential Adaptive athletes were subjected to a battery of physical tests and assessments before being allowed to compete. In its statement, CrossFit wrote that athletes’ impairments must be “present consistently” and visible on camera at all times to be eligible for competition in Adaptive Divisions. The statement went on to say that: “This means some athletes who were eligible for competition in 2021 and 2022 will not be eligible for the adaptive divisions in 2023. Those athletes are encouraged to register as individual, team, or age-group competitors.” This proved to be the case for many Adaptive athletes. Morgan Johnson was crowned the Fittest on Earth® in the Neuromuscular division in 2022 (which will now be called the Multi Extremity division). Leila Ives and Alyssa Kobela placed fourth and fifth in that division, respectively. All of these athletes are now ineligible to compete. Ives and Kobela both appealed, but their appeals were denied by CrossFit. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Alyssa Maltese Kobela (@alyssa.kobela) Former men’s champ in the same division Brett Horchar and former podium-finisher Jeremie Perera are also ineligible to compete under the new testing standards. CrossFit announced in the same statement that: “n 2024, we will be inviting all adaptive divisions to compete at the CrossFit Games Finals, as long as the divisions have enough participation to allow for a competitive field.” It remains to be seen whether the restrictions in place for the 2023 season will remain in effect during the 2024 season. On to the 2023 CrossFit Games While the Individual, Team, and Age Group athletes are taking on the 2023 Semifinals, the Adaptive Divisions won’t have a Semifinal this year. Instead, the next time these athletes will be in competition will be in Madison this summer. Stay tuned to BarBend for continued coverage of the 2023 CrossFit Games season. Featured Image: @hailey_melakian / Instagram

2023 CrossFit Adaptive Divisions — Who Is the Fittest on Earth® and Who Is Going to the Games?

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