Bayley Martin Returns to Competition at This Weekend’s Down Under Championship
The Down Under Championship (DUC) returns to Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia, this weekend, October 24-26.
- For the second year, the DUC features two elite divisions: individual and same-gender pairs. This is in addition to RX, intermediate, age-group, and adaptive divisions.
In 2024, Aimee Cringle and Peter Ellis topped the podium in the Elite Individual category. In the Elite Team division, Ricky Garard and Aniol Ekai won for the men, and Charlotte Baldwin and Julia Hannaford won for the women.
One athlete we’re excited to see take to the competition floor once again is New Zealand’s Bayley Martin.
- Martin had to withdraw from the Torian Pro in June after suffering a minor heart attack. He recovered in the months that followed and safely resumed training.
Take a look at the full leaderboards for all divisions, schedule, and workout details.
Here’s a guide to who we are keeping our eyes on this weekend:
Elite Individual Women
Christina Livaditakis
This will be Livaditakis’ fourth consecutive year competing at the DUC, just months removed from her CrossFit Games debut. She finished third in 2022 and 2024.
Ella Price
Price finished in fifth place at last year’s DUC, behind Aimee Cringle and Jessi Smith, neither of whom is competing this year.
- With fellow competitor Gabi Napper, Price took first place at Perth’s RFX Competition Series just weeks ago, and her on-the-floor confidence is hopefully still buzzing.
Gabi Napper
We’ve been watching young Napper for some time now, as she’s shown off her impressive lifts and gym feats. At just 19 years old, Napper already has some competition experience under her belt – she competed on a team at last year’s DUC, as well as at regional competitions.
Here’s one of our favorite Napper compilations:
Daisy McDonald
McDonald is one of Oceania’s accomplished competitors, a 2024 Games athlete, a four-time Torian Pro, and a two-time DUC competitor. In 2023, McDonald finished in fifth place at DUC.
Elite Female Pairs
The 2024 CrossFit Affiliate Cup winner and HWPO Training athlete Emily De Rooy, along with her partner Charlotte Baldwin, who also won the 2024 Female Elite Pairs, are on the roster.
Also included are Briony Challis and Marnie Sykes, two experienced veterans of the sport and well-known figures in Oceania.
- Sykes has competed in the DUC for the last three years, with last year being her best finish, when she came in 6th.
Another team we’re watching is Maisie Wilde and Games athlete Georgia Pryer. She competed at the 2025 Torian Pro, just missing out on a qualifying spot.
Elite Individual Men
Bayley Martin
Martin is the most decorated and experienced athlete competing in the Individual division this upcoming weekend.
A three-time Games athlete (twice as an Individual and once as a Teen), he has competed at Torian Pro for five consecutive years, and he’s thrown down at the DUC and the Rogue Invitational.
Although it’s not the first time they’ve taken the floor as competitors, Bayley will face his brother, Riley Martin.
Isaac Newman
The 2025 CrossFit Games rookie qualified via the Torian Pro, where he finished in fifth place. (Jay Crouch and Ricky Garard, who finished ahead of him, had already qualified via the In-Affiliate Semifinals).
- At the 2024 DUC, Newman finished in third place, racking up an event win in the process.
Riley Martin
Brother to Games vet, Bayley, and known for his heavy lifts, Riley is guaranteed to hype the crowd.
- At the 2024 DUC, he won the snatch event, where athletes selected their weights for a five-rep, three-rep, and one-rep max lift. He finished in 14th place overall.
Hiko O Te Rangi Curtis
A well-known Torian Pro competitor, New Zealand’s Curtis, is another fan-favorite.
- A former teen competitor, Curtis took third place in the 16-17 division at the 2021 CrossFit Games.
Here he is making easy work of 352-pound/160kg clean and jerk – hoping a heavy lift shows up in the DUC programming:
Elite Male Pairs
Zac Thomas is teaming up with the one and only Khan Porter, one of Oceania’s most well-known and well-loved athletes.
- A nine-time CrossFit Games competitor and 2024 Affiliate Cup winner, Porter has also competed throughout the world over the course of his career – at Wodapalooza, Pandaland, Fittest in Cape Town, and Torian Pro, just to name a few.
Porter’s name draws in a crowd for good reason, not only is he a fierce competitor, but he’s a showman as well.
Among others, Thomas and Porter will be facing Jake Marconi and Jake Douglas. This marks the second year the two Jakes have competed as a team at the DUC, representing HWPO Training. Last year, they finished in second place.
Check out their big moment from 2024:
Credit: @downunderchampionship / Instagram
