Five Men Likely to Punch their First Ticket to the CrossFit Games in 2023

Earlier this week, we published our women’s rookie predictions, and now it’s time for the men. Last season, 12 rookie men competed at the Games and the year before, nine. How many rookies will break through this year is anyone’s guess, but here are five we have been keeping a close eye on and think have some of the best chances to qualify to their first CrossFit Games this summer. This content is available exclusively to Members Become an member and start enjoying full access to all our community and sports content, and an ad-free experience. PROMO Exclusive content Ad-Free web/app experience Comments on articles Exclusive 15% WIT discount $1 per month for the first 4 months, $8 each month after Get Started for $1 Exclusive content Ad-Free web/app experience Comments on articles Exclusive private Facebook Group Regular coffee breaks hang outs Exclusive 15% WIT discount Get Started $5/month billed annually Already a member? Log In. James Sprague While James Sprague is still only 21 years old, he has been around for a while now, having competed at the Games in 2017 and 2019 as a teenager. But as is the case for most teenage boys, it takes a couple years to make the transition from the teen to individual division. As a result, Sprague has chipped away for the last two seasons, placing 22nd at the CrossFit West Coast Classic Semifinals in 2021 and sixth at the Syndicate Crown Semifinals last season, missing out on Games qualification by just one spot. Now at the age of 21, and with two Semifinals under his belt, we think Sprague has the strength to break through this season. Fabian Beneito Spain’s Fabian Beneito has been seriously knocking on the door for three years now. The 27-year-old actually did qualify to the Games in 2020 when he became the Spanish national champion in the Open, but the global pandemic caused a reshuffling of invitations, so he never got the chance to compete. The following year, 2021, Beneito missed qualifying to the Games by one spot in 2021 when he was sixth at the German Throwdown Semifinals. Then last year, he missed by just three spots when he placed eighth at the CrossFit Lowlands Throwdown Semifinals. After last season, Beneito said he considered retiring, partially because he was “mentally exhausted,” he said. Instead, he took three months to recover his body and mind and came back stronger than ever at the Dubai Fitness Championships last December, where he won the whole competition in an exciting tie-breaker finish, beating out Games veteran Brent Fikoswki in the process. Though Beneito said he isn’t putting too much pressure on himself and “just wants to enjoy it as much as I can,” his talent is too great to ignore. This includes the fact that he heads into Semifinals as Europe’s top athlete from Quarterfinals. Jack Farlow Like Sprague, 21-year-old Jack Farlow gained CrossFit Games experience as a teenager in 2019, when he placed sixth in the 16-17-year-old division. Since then, Farlow has been slowly gaining the necessary strength and fitness to compete with the best in the world, placing 19th at the Atlas Games Semifinals in 2021 and 9th last year. He was also 19th at this season’s 2022 Rogue Invitational. Most recently, though, Farlow proved he is ready when he finished 17th in the world in Quarterfinals, good enough to head into the North America East Semifinals as the sixth best athlete in a region where 12 men will punch tickets. Finally, Farlow has what can only be considered a secret weapon: His girlfriend, and frequent training partner, is last year’s CrossFit Games Rookie of the Year Emma Lawson. It might be just what Farlow needs to believe it’s possible to break through, which is often half the battle for first time competitors. Reggie Fasa Another athlete we have kept our eye on is 28-year-old British athlete Reggie Fasa, who has competed for a while, but has really come on strong the past two seasons. Fasa, a former rugby player, had solid showings at the last two Semifinals—13th in 2021 and 10th last season—as well as at the Dubai Fitness Championship last December, where he placed 11th overall. Most recently, Fasa had an impressive performance in Quarterfinals, finishing 26th worldwide, and sixth in Europe, a region that will send 11 men to this summer’s Games. Bayley Martin Though lesser known, we’re looking to Bayley Martin—a 2017 CrossFit Games teen athlete—to make a statement and potentially punch his ticket at the upcoming Torian Pro Semifinals in Brisbane, Australia. The 23-year-old from New Zealand placed eighth at the Torian Pro in 2021, and sixth last season. He went on to compete and place 13th in the Last Chance Qualifier. Martin didn’t do as well at the recent Quarterfinals (eighth in Oceania) but he has proven he can compete well at Semifinals—and with Australia’s top male competitor Ricky Gerard out due to injury, and with one more year of training under Martin’s belt—we think the third time might just be a charm for this young athlete. The big picture: Those are our top five, but there are plenty of other athletes with a great shot at qualifying to Madison this summer, and the most obvious place to look is at the top 40 from the recent Quarterfinals, where there are seven other would be rookies, most of whom are international athletes. These athletes include Victor Hoffer (10th), a former team athlete from France, Harry Lightfoot (16th) from the UK, Aniol Ekai (23rd) from Spain, Lewis Oscar Mora (26th) from Mexico, Alex Kotoulas (38th) from Greece, and Americans Jack Rozema (37th) and Matt Poulin (40th), and arguably any one of them could find themselves joining this summer’s rookie Games roster.

Five Men Likely to Punch their First Ticket to the CrossFit Games in 2023

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