The numbers are in… 344,396 athletes* registered for the 2024 CrossFit Open. This was a 6.7% increase over the 2023 CrossFit Open participation. While the year-over-year growth was positive, there are some interesting findings if you dig into the numbers. Let’s take a look.
[note: this includes all divisions – Open, Teenagers, Masters and Adaptive athletes]
OPEN DIVISION
The Open division includes the 16-17 Teenage Boys and Girls and Masters divisions from 35-54 years old. This division’s registration increased 6.2%. However, the bulk of the growth came from the Masters divisions that are including in the Open division.
When looking at the just the 18-34 age group of the Open division, the men’s participation actually decreased.Â
| Â | 2024 Open | 2023 Open | +/- | % Change |
| Men | 82,606 | 82,759 | (153) | -0.2% |
| Women | 73,154 | 70,375 | +2,779 | +3.9% |
| 18-34 Total | 155,760 | 153,134 | +2,626 | +1.7% |
As you can see, men’s participation in this age range decreased 0.2% while the women’s side increased 3.9%.
TEEN DIVISIONS
The teen division saw a decrease in registrations across the board in all segments.
| Â | 2024 Open | 2023 Open | +/- | % Change |
| 14-15 Boys | 1,480 | 1,482 | (2) | -0.1% |
| 14-15 Girls | 1,317 | 1,386 | (69) | -5.0% |
| 16-17 Boys | 1,669 | 1,697 | (28) | -1.6% |
| 16-17 Girls | 1,603 | 1,658 | (55) | -3.3% |
| All Teens | 6,069 | 6,223 | (154) | -2.5% |
MASTERS DIVISIONS
This is where the growth is coming from compared to last year’s CrossFit Open. In fact, every Masters division saw growth most most experiencing double-digit growth. The slowest growth segment was the men’s 35-39 division with +8.5% year-over-year growth. The highest growth was seen in the 65+ women’s division where it experienced a +33.0% growth rate.
| Â | 2024 Open | 2023 Open | +/- | % Change |
| 35-39 Men | 37,639 | 34,684 | +2,955 | +8.5% |
| 35-39 Women | 28,220 | 24,815 | +3,405 | +13.7% |
| 40-44 Men | 27,824 | 25,530 | +2,294 | +9.0% |
| 40-44 Women | 20,876 | 18,523 | +2,353 | +12.7% |
| 45-49 Men | 17,087 | 15,439 | +1,648 | +10.7% |
| 45-49 Women | 12,718 | 10,981 | +1,737 | +15.8% |
| 50-54 Men | 10,400 | 9,340 | +1,060 | +11.3% |
| 50-54 Women | 7,284 | 6,430 | +854 | +13.3% |
| 55-59 Men | 5,859 | 5,145 | +714 | +13.9% |
| 55-59 Women | 4,414 | 3,874 | +540 | +13.9% |
| 60-64 Men | 2,987 | 2,600 | +387 | +14.9% |
| 60-64 Women | 2,690 | 2,131 | +559 | +26.2% |
| 65+ Men | 1,929 | 1,535 | +394 | +25.7% |
| 65+ Women | 1,775 | 1,335 | +440 | +33.0% |
| All Masters | 181,702 | 162,362 | +19,340 | +11.9% |
ADAPTIVE DIVISIONS
This year, the Adaptive CrossFit Games are hosted by WheelWOD. The official registration form and leaderboard for these divisions are now on Competition Corner.
Because of that, the official number reported by CrossFit for the 2024 CrossFit Open participation does not include the adaptive divisions. However, we have decided to include them in our analysis.
However, the numbers are not rosy. While the number of adaptive divisions increased from eight in 2023 to 15 in 2024, participation was down significantly. In fact, participation in the adaptive divisions decreased 24.1%.
| Â | 2024 Open | 2023 Open | +/- | % Change |
| Men | 556 | 709 | (153) | -21.6% |
| Women | 309 | 431 | (122) | -28.3% |
| Adaptive Total | 865 | 1,140 | (275) | -24.1% |
As you can see in the table above, moving the adaptive division off the CrossFit Games website appears to have hurt participation even though more divisions were included this season.
NEW PARTICIPANTS/RETENTION
In releasing the Open participation figures, CrossFit shared that 34% of participants (roughly 117,000) this year completed their first Open. That means nearly 226,000 returned. While we don’t have exact calculations, this means approximately 30% of people who did the 2023 CrossFit Open did not return for the 2024 CrossFit Open.
While it’s not feasible to assume no turnover, if everyone from the 2023 Open returned, we would have have well over 400,000 participants this year.
TAKEAWAYS
In looking through the numbers, it’s always good to see year-over-year growth. While CrossFit was likely looking to repeat double-digit percentage growth (+10% or more), growing 6.7% over last year is positive.
However, the decline in teenage participation combined with no growth in the 18-34 male demographic is concerning for the future growth of the CrossFit Open. Additionally, with roughly 30% of athletes not returning from last season, that level of turnover makes it difficult to continue to grow year after year.
Fortunately, CrossFit was able to attract more Masters athletes to drive growth again this season. The question, though, is whether this demographic can continue to carry the growth in the sport or if CrossFit can begin to attract younger athletes to participate in the Open.
