Henrik Haapalainen Returns to Rogue Invitational, One Year Post-Achilles Tendon Rupture
The 2025 Rogue Invitational is just days away. The roster touts some of the top athletes in the sport, but there’s one name in particular that many of us were excited to see — Finnish athlete Henrik Haapalainen.
Remind me: At the 2024 Rogue Invitational, the fourth iteration of “The Duel” series was a short, intense event featuring fast-paced burpee box-jump-overs on a tall box, taking about 35 to 40 seconds for the top women and 30 to 35 seconds for the top men.
Gabriela Migała injured her left leg when she landed on her fourth jump over the box during the third round. She did not finish the event, and the medical staff had to help her off the floor.
After the women wrapped up, the men took the stage, and Haapalainen suffered a similar injury during his first jump over the box in the second round. Like Migała, he was helped off by the medical staff, ending his competition early.
- After the second round, due to injuries, the organizers adjusted the event to ensure athlete safety. The five burpee box-jump-overs were changed to five burpee up-and-overs to reduce the rebounding stress on athletes’ legs.
Both Migała and Haapalainen had ruptured their Achilles tendons, and they spent the following year undergoing surgery, treatment, recovery, and rebuilding.
Haapalainen is ready to compete once again, and, significantly, his first event back will be the 2025 Rogue Invitational.
The details: This will be Haapalainen’s fourth time competing at Rogue, as he was on the roster in 2021, 2022, and 2024. Before he had to withdraw from last year’s event, he had racked up two top-10 finishes. Haapalainen is also a four-time CrossFit Games competitor.
In an interview with the Morning Chalk Up, Haapalainen shared that, just three months into his rehab, he had set a specific goal to recover in time for Rogue.
As he began to see the quick progress he was making, his motivation increased, with Scotland on his mind.
- “My mindset is really good,” Haapalainen said. “I’m feeling more excited than in a long time to compete. Of course, there are some thoughts of how I will compare to others, but overall, I feel ready.”
Haapalainen shared that his recovery was not done alone and emphasized the support he has received.
- “My community has given me huge support at my gym, and they have been cheering for me through rehab. I’ve also gotten a lot of messages from people dealing with similar injuries and giving their learnings to me,” he said.
He recently shared via social media that he spent a training weekend with friends running, lifting, and tackling metcons.
Recently, Rogue Fitness teased a “Road to the Invitational” episode featuring Haapalainen to be released soon. Stay tuned.
Featured image: @hingane / Instagram
