With the 2025 CrossFit Games season finished, dedicated fans are already looking forward to 2026 and a new wave of athletes they expect to rise. Some will chase redemption, while others aim for their breakout moment.

Before we enter a slower offseason, we want to highlight five athletes who have one thing in common: They’re on the verge of something big in 2026.

Hannah Black

Hannah Black has been on the rise since 2023, when she qualified for her first Semifinals and finished 16th.

A year later, she shifted to team competition and qualified for the Games with a team that finished eighth overall.

In 2025, Black returned to individual competition, competing nonstop throughout the CrossFit Games season, off-season events, and the World Fitness Project (WFP).

• Black finished 10th overall at the Dubai Fitness Championships last December and seventh with a team at TYR Wodapalooza.

She also competed in three In-Person Qualifying Events. She narrowly missed a CrossFit Games invite by one spot at the Fittest Experience, while finishing 13th at the Mayhem Classic and 12th at the Torian Pro.

A former competitive Olympic weightlifter, Black’s best clean and jerk is 265 pounds, and she can snatch 230 pounds. Needless to say, she has always excelled at strength events, but she has also become more well-rounded in recent months. 

• Black told the Morning Chalk Up that 2026 will be the year she’s planning on doing “everything possible thing I can” to qualify for the CrossFit Games.”

Considering this and all the valuable competition experience she gained in 2025, we believe 2026 could very well be Black’s year.

Nate Ackermann

Missing out on a Games ticket by just one spot is always heartbreaking, and it was especially tough for Nate Ackermann at the final In-Person Qualifying Event of the 2025 season, the Northern California Classic.

Remind me: In the final event of the competition, which featured a triplet including legless rope climbs, box jump overs, and squat cleans, the men’s final barbell was originally set to 335 pounds. However, organizers made last-minute adjustments and reduced the final barbell weight to 325. 

Athletes were then responsible for changing their own plates as the barbell weight increased throughout the event.

• In the men’s final heat, Ackermann reached his last bar with enough time to load the weight and cross the finish line before Jorge Fernandez and the other athletes, earning his Games invitation. However, there was some confusion about which plates to load, which cost Ackermann too much time.

He eventually made the lift and crossed the finish line, but the damage was too severe. The time he lost figuring out which plates to load cost him his spot in the Games. 

Ackermann finished the weekend tied with Fernandez, who earned the ticket in a tiebreaker.

• Worth noting: Ackermann also competed in the Men’s Pro Division at the WFP’s Tour Stop I, where he finished 22nd after placing third in the online qualifier. He has qualified again for the Pro Division at the upcoming Tour Stop II in Mesa, AZ. 

Ultimately, when something heartbreaking happens to an athlete, we often see them come back hungrier than ever, and we expect this to be true for Ackermann, who is only 21 years old, as we enter the 2026 season.

Reese Littlewood

Still only 18 years old, it’s impossible not to include Reese Littlewood on this list.

• Littlewood narrowly missed qualifying for the Games by just one spot at the Syndicate Crown In-Person Qualifying Event. She was also close to earning a Games invite through the In-Affiliate Semifinals, finishing 18th. 

Furthermore, Littlewood already knows what it’s like to compete at the Games, having participated three times as a teenager, finishing fourth twice and winning the 16-17-year-old Girls title in 2024. 

Remember the name heading into 2026. We will.

RJ Mestre

Like Littlewood, RJ Mestre is a former teenage champion, a title he earned twice. 

• Mestre won the Boys 16-17 division in 2024 and the 14-15 division in 2022.

Still just 18 years old, Mestre finished 52nd in this season’s In-Affiliate Semifinals and placed 21st at the Syndicate Crown In-Person Qualifying Event.

With another year to build his strength and grow into his body, we believe Mestre can be competitive next season. 

Also, he’s a PRVN athlete. 

• In case you missed the PRVN team’s performances at this year’s Games, being a PRVN athlete has proven to be a secret weapon for CrossFit Games success.

Miley Wade

If there’s an athlete competing at the Teenage CrossFit Games by Pit Throwdown this weekend who has a chance to qualify as an individual next season, we believe it’s Miley Wade.

• She finished fourth at the Teenage CrossFit Games last year, second in 2023, and has already started making her mark as an individual this season at age 17.

Wade, a Mayhem athlete, finished eighth at the Syndicate Crown In-Person Qualifying Event this year and impressively secured 32nd place overall in the In-Affiliate Semifinals. 

• Additionally, she finished fourth in the Women’s Challenger Division at the World Fitness Project Tour Stop I.

There always seems to be one female teen who earns her spot in the Games during her first year as an individual. Lucy McGonigle was that girl this season, and Wade might be that person in 2026.

But first, she will focus on winning the Teenage CrossFit Games this weekend in Columbus, OH.

The Big Picture

The margin between qualifying for the Games and missing out is razor-thin. Nobody knows this better than Ackermann, Black, and Littlewood, all of whom missed qualifying for the Games by just one spot in 2025.

And although we don’t yet know the season structure and qualification process for the 2026 CrossFit Games, we’re watching them – along with Wade and Mestre – to see if they can make the leap and become individual Games athletes next summer.

Featured image: Scott Freymond