The 2015 CrossFit Games were held on July 21–26, 2015 at the StubHub Center in Carson, California. Ben Smith, of Virginia, was the men's winner. A Games competitor every year since 2009, this was his first win. Smith secured the win in a dramatic final event by holding off 2014's second-place finisher Mat Fraser who many had predicted would be the 2015 champion. Iceland's Katrin Davidsdottir, making her third Games appearance, was the women's winner, overtaking countrywoman Ragnheiður Sara Sigmundsdottir, who led for much of the competition, in the final event. CrossFit Mayhem Freedom from Cookeville, Tennessee, captained by four-time individual men's champion Rich Froning Jr., won the Affiliate Cup. Approximately 273,000 participants signed up for the 2015 CrossFit Games Open, which was held over the course of five weeks in February and March. The top 20 men, 20 women, and 15 teams from the 12 American and Canadian regions, the top 30 men, 30 women, and 20 teams in the European and Australian regions, and the top 10 men, 10 women, and 10 teams from Latin America, Africa, and Asia qualified for the CrossFit Regionals. After three-day Regional competitions held around the world, the field advancing to the CrossFit Games was narrowed to 40 men, 40 women, and 40 teams. New for the 2015 Regionals, the 17 regions were combined into 8 "super-regions". As in previous years, the men's and women's competitions were similar, with the only differences being weights of lifted objects, heights of obstacles, etc. First-time elements in 2015 included open-ocean paddleboard racing and pegboard climbing. CrossFit also held a Masters competition where athletes aged 40 and above competed in their own age groups. Masters athletes qualified through the Open followed by an online Games qualification, called the Masters Qualifier, instead of Regionals. The top 20 Masters men and women in each age group were invited to participate at the Games. In 2015, the CrossFit Games added a Teenage competition to the Open in two age groups for boys and girls. Towards the end of the Open, it was announced that the top 10 in each age group after the completion of the Open would qualify to participate in the Games. The Teenage and Masters Games events were the same and took place from July 21–23.
Individual
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
Event 1: Pier Paddle
500 meter ocean swim
2 mile paddle
500 meter ocean swim
For the fourth straight year, the CrossFit Games began on the Wednesday before the traditional weekend events. The Games have started with a swim every year since 2011, with this year's event consisted of 500 meters of ocean swimming, followed by two miles of paddling on a paddleboard, and finished with another 500 meters of ocean swimming. Jonne Koski won the event for the men and Kara Webb won for the women.
Event 2: Sandbag 2015
The athletes moved weighted sandbags across the tennis stadium in the StubHub Center. They started by carrying/dragging the sandbags from the top of the stadium down to the floor, used a wheelbarrow to take them to the other side, and then pushed them over a wall and carried them to the top of the stadium. The men had to move 720 pounds and the women had 480 pounds total weight of sandbags. This event was nearly identical to an event held in 2010 except that the weight was increased and the wheelbarrows were specially made to handle the weight. Lukas Högberg and Anna Tunnicliffe won the event men's and women's events, respectively.
CrossFit's most famous hero workout, named for fallen sailor US Navy SEAL Lt. Michael P. Murphy, usually performed by American affiliates on Memorial Day. The weighted vests are 20lbs. for men and 14lbs. for the women. Björgvin Karl Guðmundsson won the men's event and Samantha Briggs won the women's. Samantha Briggs finished the event faster than any of the men aside from Guðmundsson.
Within each round, each snatch is heavier than the last, and the starting weight increases each round. Those who complete the ladder the fastest move on to the next round. Jon Pera won the men's event and Brooke Ence won the women's.
Event 5: Heavy DT
Five rounds for time, with a 205-pound barbell for the men and a 145-pound barbell for the women:
"DT" is a CrossFit hero workout named for fallen airman USAF SSgt. Timothy P. Davis, and usually performed with a 155-pound/105-pound barbell for men/women. Ben Smith won the men's event and Ragnheiður Sara Sigmundsdottir won the women's.
A sprint across the soccer field at the StubHub Center through four pylons in a zig-zag and over four hurdles. Sprint Course 1 started with the four pylons followed by the hurdles and Sprint Course 2 was in the opposite direction after one minute of rest. Dan Bailey won both events for the men and Lindy Barber won Sprint Course 1 for the women while Kristin Holte won Sprint Course 2.
The event took place on the soccer field and started with flipping a weighted box called a "pig". The box weight was 560 pounds for the men and 395 for the women, and the length was over 6 feet, making the flips more difficult than shorter objects that many athletes had trained with. The first two legless rope climbs were done on a 2-inch diameter rope and the last two on a 1.5-inch diameter rope. The handstand walks had to be completed in 50-foot unbroken increments. Ben Smith won the event for the men and Elisabeth Akinwale won for the women.
Each athlete gets two 20-second windows in which to attempt their heaviest clean and jerk for one repetition. Aaron Hanna won the event with a 350-pound lift for the men and Brooke Ence won with a 242-pound lift for the women.
Named "Triangle Couplet" because the repetitions per round are all triangular numbers. A thruster in CrossFit is a combination of a front squat and push press in one continuous movement and the weights were 165-pounds for the men and 115-pounds for the women. A bar muscle-up is a pull-up variant in which the athlete pulls themselves over the top of the pull-up bar and finishes with the bar at their hips. Mathew Fraser won for the men and Camille Leblanc-Bazinet won for the women.
The event took place inside the soccer stadium with the 400 meter run going up the stadium stairs, behind the jumbotron, and down the stars on the other side. The yoke, weighing 380 pounds for the men and 300 pounds for the women, was carried 300 feet across the soccer field. Jacob Heppner won for the men and Samantha Briggs won for the women.
The peg board ascents involved climbing a peg board using only two wooden pegs. The 24 calories were rowed on a Concept-2rowing machine. The 16 calories were pedaled on an Assault AirBike. The dumbbell squat snatches are performed with a 100-pound/70-pound dumbbell for the men/women respectively and done with alternating arms. Spencer Hendel won for the men and Margaux Alvarez for the women.
This event took place two minutes after Event 12. The handstand push-ups were performed against a wall. The row and bike were identical to the previous event. The deadlifts were performed with a 203-pound/124-pound kettlebell in each hand, and after every two lifts, the weights were carried forward. Spencer Hendel won again for the men and Katrin Tanja Davidsdottir won for the women.
Podium finishers
Individuals and teams
Masters men
* — Steve Marino originally finished in second place in the 55-59 division but was later disqualified for use of an anabolic agent. Heikens and Gantz were each moved up one position.
