“It Was Finally My Time”: Scott Panchik on Winning the 2025 Masters CrossFit Games
After competing at the CrossFit Games nine times as an individual and twice as an age-group athlete, Scott Panchik has finally done it. He has finally broken onto the podium. And in a big way.
- Panchik won the 35-39 men’s division at the Masters CrossFit Games by Legends in Columbus, OH, on Sunday, August 24.
The details: The 37-year-old owner of CrossFit Mentality in Ohio racked up 680 points over three days and eight events, narrowly beating Marquan Jones by just 11 points.
- Khan Porter, a five-time individual Games veteran, finished third, just three points behind Jones.
For Panchik, the entire weekend exemplified what made him fall in love with the sport in the first place.
- “The experience had grassroots vibes. It was incredible to see all the different walks of life taking on the same weekend of workouts. The age-group athletes truly love and embrace everything our community is built on,” he told the Morning Chalk Up.
Remind Me
In his nine years competing at the Games as an individual, Panchik never finished worse than 11th place and nearly reached the podium seven times out of his nine appearances.
- He finished fourth three times, fifth once, and sixth another three times.
Panchik announced his retirement from individual competition after the 2021 Games, but he returned to compete at the Syndicate Crown Semifinal the next year.
In 2023, Panchik, a father of two, turned 35 and competed at the Games as a masters athlete for the first time, and it seemed his alleged podium curse followed him. He finished fourth again.
Despite coming close many times, Panchik insists he “never felt cursed” and that he learned a lot about himself each year.
- “Each year was a different story that energized me to want to keep showing up,” he said.
And he plans to continue showing up, competing “as long as I can,” he said.
Breaking Through
Panchik’s journey in the men’s 35-39 age division in Columbus began slowly, with 17th and 10th place finishes in the first two events. However, he then found his rhythm with an event win, followed by two more top-three finishes.
- Panchik secured another win in the seventh event and took the lead into the final, but Jones, Porter, and Chase Smith were still in contention.
After four rounds of two rope climbs, six wall walks, and four snatches, it was Panchik who stole the show, securing another event victory and the CrossFit Games title.
And so, after more than a decade of being regarded as the best CrossFit athlete never to reach the podium, Panchik finally got the monkey off his back.
- “It was finally my time,” he said.
Credit: @stutters.media / Instagram
