Elisa Fuliano Makes Italian CrossFit History with 9th-Place Finish in San Jose
At the 2026 CrossFit Games, Elisa Fuliano rewrote the record books for Italian CrossFit.
Competing in San Jose, California, on her fourth trip to the sport’s biggest stage, she finished 9th in the world, the highest placement ever achieved by an Italian woman at the Games. It’s a massive leap from her previous finishes and caps a journey that included a year away from the Games.
From Doubt to Top 10
Fuliano’s road to the SAP Center just weeks ago wasn’t a straight line. After a devastating 2024 Games experience, she declined her 2025 qualification – a deliberate step back from the sport.
- “I experienced some of the worst feelings in my entire life at the Games in 2024,” Fuliano told the Morning Chalk Up. “But I also experienced some of the most amazing moments there in 2022 and 2023, memories that are very precious and that will stay with me forever. So I decided I wanted to create more of those memories, hoping that some lessons had been learned from 2024.”
While preparing for the Games, Fuliano faced setbacks that altered her training.
She’d spent nearly a year managing patellar tendon issues that limited how much she could squat, and the weeks before the Games brought personal challenges that left her worried about how she’d perform. But something clicked the moment competition began.
- “Honestly, I was so surprised to realize that on Wednesday, as soon as the warm-up for the first event started, everything disappeared. I found myself 100% focused on the competition and nothing else,” Fuliano said.
Setting Goals…and Blowing Past Them
Fuliano entered the weekend with goals, starting with the most fundamental for any veteran of the Games: staying healthy.
- “My primary goal for the Games was actually not to get injured. Competing is always risky because you push yourself beyond your limits, and with 20 workouts you never know what can happen,” Fuliano said.
From there, her ambitions climbed. A top-15 finish was the next goal. That goal then shifted to a top-ten finish, and as the workouts rolled out and her body responded, that began to look realistic.
She finished 9th.
Part of what made the difference this time was experience. As a four-time Games athlete, Fuliano entered as a veteran with a clear sense of what to expect and used that knowledge to get ahead of the season’s curveballs. She had trained movements such as the yoke, outdoor bike, long run, swim, and handstand obstacle walk before they were officially announced. She also broke from her usual routine by training outdoors, something she rarely does during Games prep.
- “Competing outside under the sun feels different, so I wanted to get used to it. And honestly… I ended up enjoying it a lot!” she said.
The adjustment proved to be a hidden advantage: with temperatures in her hometown regularly topping 100°F/38°C before the Games, the milder conditions in San Jose, CA, were a welcome relief to her.
The Tiny Machine’s Best Moment
Fuliano finished in the top three in two separate events – third in “Event 19: Roll to Support” and second in “Event 11: Handstand Sprint” – heartbreakingly close to winning both.
She’s no stranger to that particular flavor of near-miss: back in 2023, she finished second in the Inverted Medley by just a few seconds.
- “I really thought this was going to be the time, but not… yet!” she said of the Handstand Sprint, where her score was topped by just seven seconds. “But that’s what athletes are like… we’re never truly satisfied!”
Ask her for a favorite moment, though, and Fuliano points elsewhere: “Event 15: 2020 Speed Snatch,” where she finished third in a field that included some of the sport’s strongest, heaviest hitters.
- “It was such a big satisfaction to finish third while being probably the lightest and shortest athlete in the field, behind what were probably the two strongest and heaviest girls,” she said. “The Tiny Machine did her job on that one, and that’s probably the performance I’m happiest and most proud of.”
Looking Ahead
Now that the dust has settled, Fuliano is leaning into gratitude and the grind that brought her here.
- “It’s incredibly demanding, very all-consuming, and right now I’m completely all-in on CrossFit. Every single day is dedicated to becoming a better athlete, showing up to the gym with the hope that all the work will lead to even greater achievements in the future,” Fuliano said.
That work, she says, is a shared effort. Fuliano credited her coach and Demantur programming for believing in her career and helping her reach this milestone. “I definitely wouldn’t have made it this far without him,” she said.
With a top-10 finish now on her resume and a new national standard set for Italian women in the sport, Elisa Fuliano’s fifth trip to the Games will be one to watch. We predict she’ll only get better.
