CrossFit Games

Rich Froning Announces Retirement from Team Competition, Leaves Door Open for Masters

October 25, 2022 by
Photo Credit: Patrick Clark (@athleteseyephotography)
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Rich Froning revealed he plans to retire from the team competition portion of the CrossFit Games after winning his 10th title this summer, six team and four straight individual titles. 

  • “I’ve exhausted that point in my career doing teams. I enjoyed it, loved every minute of it,” Froning said on The Sevan Podcast

The announcement puts to rest speculation this would be his final season first reported by Morning Chalk Up more than a year ago in an exclusive sit down interview.

Going deeper: Froning, now 35 years-old, left the door open to competing as a Masters athlete but revealed that he’s going to be taking the next six to eight weeks to rehab a “nagging” shoulder issue hoping to avoid surgery. 

  • “If I can get that back to doing good and compete at a level I want to I’ll definitely do the Open, do the age group online qualifiers and then Semifinals for Masters.
  • “If I feel like it’s not going to take away from the summer with the kids and doing some fun stuff, then from year to year I’ll decide if I want to compete or not.”

One big thing: Froning’s exodus from team competition leaves a large hole to fill in the team division, which has been dominated by Froning since he switched from individual competition in 2015. Since then, Mayhem has only lost one Games. 

  • CrossFit HQ is adjusting the rules for teams next season that will allow for the return of super teams which could make competition more interesting.

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