Day 1 of the 20th CrossFit Games in San Jose, CA, was busy, to say the least. Athletes competed in seven events, arguably the highest-volume Day 1 in CrossFit Games history.

At the end of Day 1, Aimee Cringle leads all women with 458 points, while James Sprague tops the men’s standings with 414, but Dallin Pepper is only one back at 413 heading into the rest day.

Individual Top-10 Leaderboard, End of Day

Men	Women
1) James Sprague — 414	1) Aimee Cringle — 458
2) Dallin Pepper — 413	2) Lucy Campbell — 420
3) Justin Medeiros — 392	3) Maddie Sturt — 407
4) Jay Crouch — 387	4) Haley Adams — 372
5) Ricky Garard — 386	5) Emma Lawson — 364
6) Moritz Fiebig — 355	6) Alex Gazan — 325
7) Roman Khrennikov — 348	7) Aline Wirz — 313
8) Jayson Hopper — 304	8) Arielle Loewen — 300
9) Colten Mertens — 298	9) Ellie Turner — 288
10) Saxon Panchik — 295	10) Elisa Fuliano — 280

Here are five performances from day 1 that raised the bar.

Aussie Power Couple Wins Event 1

The day began with the first workout that was ever programmed at the Games in 2007: “The Hopper.”

For time:

• 1,000-meter row

Then, 5 rounds:

• 25 pull-ups
• 7 push jerks, 135/95lbs

It was PRVN athletes, training partners, and soon-to-be-married life partners Maddie Sturt and Jay Crouch who stole the show.

• Sturt finished in a time of 8:03, seven seconds ahead of Lucy Campbell. She picked up her first-ever event win at the Games. Shortly after that, Crouch dominated Heat 1, putting up a time of 7:11, which was just enough to hang on to the event win over Colten Mertens.

Though they’re a team off the competition floor, Crouch said in a post-event interview that during the Games, they tend to “stick in our own lanes for the week,” as competing at the Games well needs to be “a pretty selfish weekend.” But it’s what he thinks will give them their best chance of achieving their ultimate goal together.

• “I hope we can take home $500,000 or $600,000…It would be a pretty special year to win the CrossFit Games and get married.” 

Worth noting: Two more PRVN athletes, Ricky Garard and rookie Bergrós Björnsdóttir, also put up top 10 performances, finishing eighth and ninth respectively. 

• Prior to the Games, both Garard and Sturt told The Morning Chalk Up that their training days with the PRVN crew in Nashville, TN are often harder and filled with more volume than the Games. So we’ll be paying extra attention to how well they handle the 20 events this week in San Jose.

Cringle Commands Early

UK’s Aimee Cringle had an impressive three-event sweep on the opening day of the Games. 

Her first win came in Event 2, the 7200m run. Not only did she beat the next-fastest woman, Haley Adams, by 27 seconds, but she also bested 25 of the 30 men.

• Maybe even more impressive is that Cringle turned around and picked up a second win in a completely different event — a one-rep max deadlift (425 pounds) — further highlighting how well-rounded she has become.

Riding the momentum, in the sixth event of the day, a 20-lap bike race, Cringle pulled away from the lead pack on the final lap and scooped her third win of the day, seven seconds ahead of both Emma Lawson and Lucy Campbell.

Records Fall in the CrossFit Total

Unlike other years, the three lifts of the CrossFit total — the one-rep max back squat, shoulder press and deadlift — were scored as three separate 50-point events. It’s still worth noting that there are two new CrossFit Total record holders after today.

Alex Gazan put up a total of 920 pounds, 30 pounds more than the previous record holder, eight-time CrossFit Games champion Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr.

• Gazan’s individual lifts included an event win on the shoulder press with 170 pounds, a second-place finish on the deadlift with 420 pounds, and a fourth-place finish on the back squat with 330 pounds.

On the men’s side, Colten Mertens hit a 555-pound back squat (first), a 565-pound deadlift (eighth), and a 260-pound shoulder press, setting a new CrossFit Total record of 1,380 pounds. The previous CrossFit Total record was held by Royce Dunne (1,255 pounds).

9 Men Join the 500-Pound Back Squat Club

Nine men hit at least 500 pounds on Wednesday — and two more hit 495 pounds — up from seven in last year’s one-rep max back squat event at the Games.

Looking further back, in 2020, no man hit a 500-pound back squat in the CrossFit Total event. The heaviest lift that year was 492 pounds by Mat Fraser. Two years earlier, in 2018, only one man reached 500 pounds (Scott Panchik).

• Further, in 2018, only 12 men, or 30 percent of the field, achieved at least a 450-pound back squat. On Wednesday in San Jose, 53 percent of the field reached that mark.

Photo Finish on the Grass Oval Race

The most exciting finish of the day had to be the men’s 20-lap bike event, where a herd of eight men crossed the finish line within two-and-a-half seconds of each other, making it impossible to know in the moment who took the win.

• Germany’s Moritz Fiebig snagged the event win in 18:55.77, just ahead of Dallin Pepper (18:55.91) and Jay Crouch (18:16.16). 

James Sprague, Jayson Hopper and Ricky Garard rounded out the top six, with Roman Khrennikov and Justin Medeiros just behind them. 

The Big Picture

Tomorrow, athletes will get a well-deserved rest day before resuming competition on Friday morning. And if Wednesday is any indication, fans can expect plenty more standout performances — and perhaps a few more records — to fall before the weekend is over, as the fittest men and women in the world vie for the title Fittest on Earth.