For the second straight year, the Rogue Invitational will be held in Aberdeen, Scotland, at the P&J Live Arena. Like always, it will be a showcase of some of the very fittest men and women in the world fighting for their piece of the million-dollar-plus prize purse.

Remind Me

The 20 men and 20 women who will compete from October 31 to November 2 in Aberdeen earned their spots either via an invitation based on the Rogue Points System or through “The Q,” Rogue’s online qualifier.

• Rogue has committed $1 million in cash, as well as an additional $275,000 worth of Bitcoin purchased at $95,000 per coin. Any rise in the coin’s value will be paid out at the valuation when the prize purse is finalized.

Last year’s men’s champion, Jeff Adler, will return this year looking to defend his title, while last year’s women’s champion, four-time Rogue Champion Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr, will not be in Scotland next week, so a new female champion will be crowned.

Our Podium Picks

Women

Laura Horvath 

Last year’s second-place Rogue Invitational finisher, Laura Horvath, is the most decorated female athlete on this year’s roster, with both a CrossFit Games title and two Rogue Invitational titles to her name. 

• Burnout has been a hot topic this season. With the addition of the World Fitness Project season, many athletes have competed significantly more this year than in the past. However, we don’t expect this to be an issue for Horvath, who chose to skip the 2025 CrossFit Games season. 

Horvath won the WFP’s Tour Stop II in August, and if she is at the top of her game, we believe she is the one to beat.

Lucy Campbell

One competitor we believe will challenge Horvath is this year’s second Fittest Woman on Earth, Lucy Campbell.

• Campbell has been a force to reckon with all season, beginning last January when she surprised everyone, including herself, by winning TYR Wodapalooza.

She turned around and finished fourth at the WFP’s Tour Stop I and fifth at Tour Stop II, now heading into the WFP finals in second overall. 

• Between those competitions, she secured second place at the CrossFit Games, finishing behind only the eight-time champion Toomey-Orr.

If Campbell keeps doing what she has done all season, it’s hard to imagine she won’t land on the podium next weekend.

Danielle Brandon

Seven-time Games veteran Danielle Brandon is always a formidable competitor, and we believe she’s poised for a podium breakthrough.

• Fourth at this summer’s CrossFit Games, Brandon sits in fifth place overall on the WFP season leaderboard and has looked as fit and consistent as she has ever been this season.

Three More Contenders

Alex Gazan 

While Gazan would normally be on our podium picks list, she’s a bit of a wildcard right now because she has been rehabbing a foot injury in recent months (Gazan fractured her foot in a car accident the week after she won the NorCal Classic In-Person Qualifying Event in June). 

• Before her injury, the three-time Games veteran was hitting her stride. She won the WFP’s Tour Stop I and was a strong contender for the podium at the CrossFit Games. However, her foot injury caused her to withdraw from both the CrossFit Games and the WFP’s Tour Stop II.

Despite Gazan’s return to the lineup at the Rogue Invitational, it remains uncertain if she is performing at her peak.

Olivia Kerstetter

Still just a teenager, 19-year-old Olivia Kerstetter also cannot be overlooked, something she proved at the Games this summer when she edged Brandon out for the final podium spot.

• If Kerstetter can repeat what she did at the Games in August, she could also be in the hunt for a podium finish. 

Emma Lawson

Like Horvath, Emma Lawson decided to sit out the 2025 CrossFit Games season, citing a nagging injury.

• Instead, Lawson chose to focus entirely on the WFP season – she is currently ranked sixth overall in the WFP – so she should be more refreshed than many of the other competitors in Aberdeen.

It’s been a while since we’ve seen Lawson on the podium at a major competition, but we know she’s more than capable of it, as she proved in 2023 when she finished second at the CrossFit Games.

Finally, four other contenders on our radar for next weekend include Emma Tall, Grace Walton, the consistently reliable Arielle Loewen, and veteran Emily Rolfe, who, like Gazan, has been sidelined by injuries for much of the 2025 season.

Men

James Sprague

We have done it before, but not this time: we’re not counting James Sprague out.

• The 2024 CrossFit Games champion has consistently proven that, regardless of the competition, he is not only a podium threat but also a contender for the top spot.

This season so far, Sprague won TYR Wodapalooza in January and finished on the podium at the CrossFit Games for the second consecutive year. Additionally, Sprague was second at the WFP’s Tour Stop I, second at Tour Stop II, and he holds the top spot heading into the WFP Finals. 

He’s our pick for the top spot at Rogue.

Jayson Hopper

It wouldn’t feel right to leave out this year’s CrossFit Games champion, Jayson Hopper, on our list of podium picks.

• Hopper is one of the athletes who competed the most this season – eight times – behind only Nick Mathew, who competed nine times. The only question we have about Hopper is whether all that competing has taken a toll on his body and mind.

He finished eighth at the WFP’s Tour Stop II just four weeks after winning the Games, so it will be interesting to see which Hopper will show up in Scotland. (With the prize purse as big as it is, we expect a Games-style Hopper on the competition floor).

Jeff Adler

Last year’s Rogue champion and 2023 CrossFit Games winner, Jeff Adler, is another athlete we expect to contend for both the podium and the title.

• That being said, Adler hasn’t had the year we expected so far: he finished fourth at the WFP’s Tour Stop I and only eighth at the CrossFit Games. However, it appears he might not have been fully healthy then, as he withdrew from Tour Stop II later that month due to an injury.

If Adler is fully healthy again, we expect him to compete as if he has something to prove in an effort to defend his Rogue title.

Three More Contenders

Ricky Garard

Australia’s Ricky Garard earned his second CrossFit Games podium finish last summer when he came in second to Hopper. We expect he’ll be in the mix again next weekend.

• He also finished fourth at the 2025 TYR Wodapalooza and is currently seventh on the WFP’s season leaderboard.

Garard, however, has never finished on the podium at the Rogue Invitational. He was fourth last year, fifth in 2023, and 10th in 2022. 

Pat Vellner

Though Pat Vellner often jokes about his age (35) and how he’s trying to “keep outrunning Father Time,” he continues to prove that he can do so.

• Vellner is another athlete who opted out of the 2025 CrossFit season, and although he finished an uncharacteristically low 23rd at Tour Stop I, Vellner proved it was but a blip on the radar when he returned at Tour Stop II in August and snagged a podium finish (third).

One thing is certain: the five-time CrossFit Games podium finisher has been a formidable threat since 2016, and he remains one today. 

Dallin Pepper

Second at the 2024 Games and fourth last summer, Dallin Pepper remains a strong contender in the competitive Rogue Invitational men’s field.

• Pepper finished fifth at the Rogue Invitational last year and is now fourth overall on the WFP season leaderboard. 

The bottom line is, no matter the competition, Pepper always seems to be at least knocking on the podium door.

Finally, four other competitors we’re keeping our eye on in Aberdeen include Roman Khrennikov, Justin Medeiros, Jay Crouch, and Austin Hatfield.

The Big Picture

The Rogue Invitational always lives up to the hype, but what makes this year’s competition particularly exciting is the parity on both the men’s and women’s sides. 

• Between former champions, seasoned veterans, and young rising stars, we believe 10 men and 10 women have a real shot at the podium. 

Ultimately, there are no obvious favorites, and we’re expecting close battles on both sides in Scotland.