“This isn’t a retirement post, this is more like a I’ll see you around post,” shared Cole Sager in an Instagram reel Wednesday afternoon. Sager, who competed in 11 consecutive CrossFit Games, said he will no longer compete as an athlete in the CrossFit Games season.
Sager qualified for his first CrossFit Games in 2014 after winning the North West Regional. He would go on to take 17th at the Games that year.
Over the course of the next 10 years Sager would end up with three Top 10 finishes at the CrossFit Games, including his best finish in 2016 where he took 5th overall.
Sager built a reputation throughout his career as the ‘comeback kid’. In multiple Regional/Semifinal events Sager entered the final day, and in most cases the final event, outside of the cut line to qualify for the CrossFit Games. But somehow he managed to pull off the unthinkable time after time.
One of the more memorable comebacks was in 2016. Sager entered Day 3 in 9th place overall with only five spots earning a bid to the CrossFit Games. He would go on to win the final event and secure a 5th place finish.
According to Apollo Performance Analytics, Sager finished with 13 career event wins, 131 top 10 event finishes, and two competition wins – 2014 North West Regional and 2021 West Coast Classic (Semifinal) over the course of this career.
During his 11-year stretch of competing, Sager has also experienced plenty of life-changing events off the competition floor. He and his wife, Genasee, got married in 2014 after his first CrossFit Games appearance.
In 2021 the couple welcomed their first child into the world and in late 2023 their second child was born.
While Sager finished 96th in the world in the 2025 CrossFit Open, the news of Sager’s retirement is likely not a shock to many. Sager took over as the Elite Athlete Head Coach at CompTrain in June 2023.
At the time, Sager said he would take on the role while still competing at the highest level. After two years of the dual role, Sager is hanging up his NOBULL’s for good.
Congrats to Sager on a storied CrossFit Games career.
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