The 2025 Masters CrossFit Games by Legends kicks off this Thursday in Columbus, OH.

Featuring many former individual CrossFit Games stars, here are seven athletes we expect could be crowned champions of their age groups by Sunday evening.

Carolyne Prevost: Women’s 35-39 Division

Carolyne Prevost is the only athlete who competed in the individual CrossFit Games this season and will participate in the Masters CrossFit Games.

• Prevost, a former professional hockey player and four-time Games athlete, received a backfill invitation to this year’s Games after Alex Gazan withdrew due to a foot injury. Prevost finished 25th overall. 

Prevost told the Morning Chalk Up that she didn’t have big goals or expectations as an individual at the Games this year – that just being there made it a “successful season,” but the same isn’t true for the Masters Games.

• “My goal is to try to win,” she said.

Scott Panchik: Men’s 35-39 Division

Scott Panchik competed at the Games as an individual nine times, but he never reached the podium.

• Panchik placed fourth three times, sixth three times, and earned fifth once as an individual.

As an age-group athlete, his pattern of nearly reaching the podium continued in 2023, as he finished fourth at the Games once again.

• Can Panchik finally fend off formidable challengers like Chase Smith, Khan Porter, and Sam Dancer and reach the podium this year?

Whether he does or not, we know he remains one of the fittest men in the world. He finished 40th in the worldwide Open as an individual and has already won the Age Group Semifinals this season.

Andreia Pinheiro: Women’s 40-44 Division

Just one year ago, Brazil’s Andrea Pinheiro competed in the Games as an individual and finished 28th. Less than three weeks later, she competed at the Masters CrossFit Games and finished second (she also finished second in that division in 2023).

• The question is, at age 42, can Pinheiro finally claim the top spot?

She will face challenges from several former individual Games athletes, including Hope Cicero and Rebecca Voigt Miller, as well as contenders like Age Group Semifinals winner Amanda Cummins and two-time Masters Games competitor Janine Shillington.

Val Voboril: Women’s 45-49 Division

Val Voboril is another accomplished former individual Games athlete, having competed six times between 2009 and 2017, with two podium finishes (2010 and 2013).

When Voboril retired from individual competition, she admitted it was difficult for her to want to compete as a Master’s athlete for several years. 

• “I had an all-or-nothing mindset: I’m either an individual athlete or nothing at all,” Voboril told the Morning Chalk Up about how she felt after her “ego was a little hurt” when she finished 32nd at her final CrossFit Games in 2017 at the age of 38.

She persevered through everything, and now, at 46 years old, Voboril is excited to compete again. She finished third at the Games last year and second at this year’s Age Group Semifinals, but Voboril said she isn’t planning to focus on the leaderboard at this weekend’s Games.

• “I always feel the least pressure if I don’t have a plan,” she said.

Instead, she’s choosing to focus on having fun with other fit women.

• “Almost everyone is a mom, juggling their job and fitness,” Voboril said. “That’s a neat leveling of the playing field that’s kind of fun, and there’s a lot of camaraderie.”

Jason Grubb: Men’s 45-49 Division

It’s supposed to get harder to win as you become one of the more senior competitors in your age group, right?

Someone forgot to tell Jason Grubb, as he has won the Men’s 45-49-year-old division for the past four years (and won the 40-44-year-old division in 2019).

• Can Grubb, now 49 and the oldest in his age group, do it again this year?

He’s coming off yet another victory at the Age Group Semifinals, so it looks likely that Grubb will secure his sixth career Games title this weekend.

Laurie Meschishnick: Women’s 60-64 Division

Laurie Meschishnick is one of the most experienced masters athletes, with 11 CrossFit Games appearances, including seven podium finishes and three titles.

• The 61-year-old, who finished second in this season’s Age Group Semifinals, will aim to defend her title from last year.

We’re predicting that she will.

Joe Ames: Men’s 60-64 Division

Like Meschishnick, Joe Ames is a three-time Games champion and the reigning champion in his division.

No longer the youngest in his division, Ames will likely face a more formidable challenge this year than last, especially with the previous year’s second-place finisher, David Powell, back in the lineup.

• Powell finished second in the Age Group Semifinals this year, while Ames was sixth. However, the scorecard resets at the Games, and Ames has more Games experience than Powell. 

Regardless of what happens, we expect a close battle between these 61-year-olds in Columbus.

The Big Picture

As the masters athletes take center stage this weekend in Columbus, the talent and dedication across all age groups highlight that elite fitness has no age limit. 

As a result, we expect to be inspired, as always, by the human body’s capabilities, despite its age.

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