Tia-Clair Toomey has won the most CrossFit Games titles in history, male or female. Toomey’s six consecutive Fittest on Earth titles puts her ahead of Mat Fraser, who won five times, and Rich Froning, who won four titles as an individual.
Toomey has competed at the CrossFit Games eight times beginning in 2015. She settled for runner-up behind Katrin Davidsdottir those first two years in 2015 and 2016. But once the Games moved from Carson to Madison, no one has been able to match Toomey in the women’s field.
With what may have been Toomey’s last time on the competition floor, we take a look back at her six victories and rank them.
#6) 2020 CrossFit Games
Let’s face it, 2020 was a strange year. And the 2020 CrossFit Games was no exception. With lockdowns and travel bans thanks to COVID-19, the CrossFit Games was in question. But CrossFit was determined to crown the Fittest on Earth and figured out a way to hold a small competition at Dave Castro’s Ranch in Aromas, California.
The in-person competition was limited to just five athletes. No fans were in attendance. To say it was a far cry from the loud Coliseum in Madison would be an understatement.
As for the competition, Toomey looked as strong as ever. Of course, with a smaller field, the more well-rounded athlete was going to take advantage. The smaller field meant less specialists could take event wins, especially when an event didn’t fit one’s strengths.
Of course, Toomey showed her dominance with five event victories against the limited field. And while she ran away with the title that year, beating Davidsdottir by 360 points, taking the title against only four other athletes in person puts this victory as #6.
#5) 2018 CrossFit Games
Alright, we are back to Toomey’s victories with a full field in Madison. Coming off her first Games title in 2017, Toomey was back to defend her title in 2018 while Kara Saunders was looking to avenge her heartbreaking loss.
The field featured former champions in Katrin Davidsdottir, Annie Thorisdottir and Camille Leblanc-Bazinet as well as plenty of athletes looking for their first Games title. Kara Saunders, Kari Pearce, Kristin Holte and Sara Sigmundsdottir were all expected to make a run in 2018.
And while Toomey was the reigning Fittest on Earth, no one knew just how dominant Toomey could be.
The 2018 CrossFit Games could be summed up in one word…parity. The women’s field definitely had a large group of athletes who could, and did vie for the title. This also meant that there would be large swings in points as athletes would finish in the top 5 one event and then follow up with a 20th or even 36th place finish.
Toomey was the only athlete to avoid a disastrous finish throughout the week. Her worst finish came on the Marathon Row where she walked away in 14th place. It was also her only event finish outside the top 10. Every other athlete had at least a 21st or worse place finish in an event.
Toomey’s consistency was what propelled her to victory in 2018. With only two event wins, the CrossFit Total and the Madison TriPlus, Toomey managed to grind out top 5 finishes consistently to put points between her and her fellow competitors.
Toomey would end up beating Laura Horvath, a rookie, by 64 points.
Tia-Clair Toomey has won the most CrossFit Games titles in history, male or female. Toomey’s six consecutive Fittest on Earth titles puts her ahead of Mat Fraser, who won five times, and Rich Froning, who won four titles as an individual.
Toomey has competed at the CrossFit Games eight times beginning in 2015. She settled for runner-up behind Katrin Davidsdottir those first two years in 2015 and 2016. But once the Games moved from Carson to Madison, no one has been able to match Toomey in the women’s field.
With what may have been Toomey’s last time on the competition floor, we take a look back at her six victories and rank them.
#6) 2020 CrossFit Games
Let’s face it, 2020 was a strange year. And the 2020 CrossFit Games was no exception. With lockdowns and travel bans thanks to COVID-19, the CrossFit Games was in question. But CrossFit was determined to crown the Fittest on Earth and figured out a way to hold a small competition at Dave Castro’s Ranch in Aromas, California.
The in-person competition was limited to just five athletes. No fans were in attendance. To say it was a far cry from the loud Coliseum in Madison would be an understatement.
As for the competition, Toomey looked as strong as ever. Of course, with a smaller field, the more well-rounded athlete was going to take advantage. The smaller field meant less specialists could take event wins, especially when an event didn’t fit one’s strengths.
Of course, Toomey showed her dominance with five event victories against the limited field. And while she ran away with the title that year, beating Davidsdottir by 360 points, taking the title against only four other athletes in person puts this victory as #6.
#5) 2018 CrossFit Games
Alright, we are back to Toomey’s victories with a full field in Madison. Coming off her first Games title in 2017, Toomey was back to defend her title in 2018 while Kara Saunders was looking to avenge her heartbreaking loss.
The field featured former champions in Katrin Davidsdottir, Annie Thorisdottir and Camille Leblanc-Bazinet as well as plenty of athletes looking for their first Games title. Kara Saunders, Kari Pearce, Kristin Holte and Sara Sigmundsdottir were all expected to make a run in 2018.
And while Toomey was the reigning Fittest on Earth, no one knew just how dominant Toomey could be.
The 2018 CrossFit Games could be summed up in one word…parity. The women’s field definitely had a large group of athletes who could, and did vie for the title. This also meant that there would be large swings in points as athletes would finish in the top 5 one event and then follow up with a 20th or even 36th place finish.
Toomey was the only athlete to avoid a disastrous finish throughout the week. Her worst finish came on the Marathon Row where she walked away in 14th place. It was also her only event finish outside the top 10. Every other athlete had at least a 21st or worse place finish in an event.
Toomey’s consistency was what propelled her to victory in 2018. With only two event wins, the CrossFit Total and the Madison TriPlus, Toomey managed to grind out top 5 finishes consistently to put points between her and her fellow competitors.
Toomey would end up beating Laura Horvath, a rookie, by 64 points.
#4) 2019 CrossFit Games
With back-to-back titles, Toomey now entered the 2019 CrossFit Games as the favorite. But 2019 was a different CrossFit Games. The field, usually made up of 40 athletes exploded to 129 as the qualifying format changed to include national champions.
Most of these national champions were not expected to compete with the likes of Toomey, but with the field being cut multiple times throughout the week, including after the first and second events, a bad event could have ended Toomey’s run for three consecutive championships.
Toomey didn’t let a looming cut slow her down. She beat all 128 other competitors in the first event, First Cut, to take 100 points. She followed up with a 12th place finish on the Second Cut event. That would be Toomey’s worse finish this year.
Once the field narrowed down to the top 10, Toomey dominated the field once again…much like she did in 2020. Toomey won four of the six events against the small field of ten athletes. The only athlete to win an event at this point was Davidsdottir who won the Ringer 1 and Ringer 2 events.
Toomey blistered the field with the adjusted scoring from the 10-woman field, beating 2nd place finisher Kristin Holte by 195 points.
#3) 2022 CrossFit Games
A record breaking sixth CrossFit Games title. How is this not #1? Well, the biggest reason I’m putting this as her third best performance is her lack of consistency. From a 23rd place finish on the Skill Speed Medley and 17th on The Alpaca, Toomey did not look to be as dominating as previous years.
Yes, the mistake on single-unders during the Skill Speed Medley was not due to a lack of fitness, but one slip-up that cost her dearly as it prevented her from finishing the first round in the top 20 to advance in the event.
But something about her performance last week just seemed a bit off. She only notched two event victories. Toomey had seven Top 3 event finishes showing she had the consistency, but we have been so accustomed to her dominating event after event. The question is whether this was due to Toomey being a bit off or has the women’s field gotten tougher.
That question is a bit hard to answer. Several known veterans did not qualify this year – Sara Sigmundsdottir, Katrin Davidsdottir, Jamie Greene. Add Kristin Holte not competing and Annie Thorisdottir going team, the usual faces we have been accustomed to seeing were not there.
But replacing the veterans were Mal O’Brien, Emma Lawson and Haley Adams. All three women are under 21 years old and while they finished in the top 10, none are likely even close to their prime.
So it appears the women’s field is undergoing a bit of a transition and this year it was Toomey’s title to lose. Everyone expected her to win the Games…and she did not disappoint.
#2) 2017 CrossFit Games
That leaves the 2017 and 2021 CrossFit Games as Toomey’s best performances. Coming in second was her first Games victory in 2017.
It was the first year the Games were held in Madison and would be the first year Toomey would be the Fittest on Earth. After falling just short to Davidsdottir the past two seasons, Toomey wanted to make a statement.
However, Kara Saunders would have something to say about that. The two Australians battled throughout the weekend. Heading into the final event, Toomey led Saunders by just six points. It was the closest any battle had been for the top spot in Games history.
Saunders would end up taking 7th place in the Fibonacci Final, beating Toomey by just 0.19 seconds in 8th. The four point difference was not enough for Saunders to snatch the top spot from Toomey as she fell just two points short.
Toomey only finished with 994 points, way less than her other Games victories. Most of that is because Toomey was not finishing in the top 3 almost every event. She only had two event victories and six top 3 event finishes.
However, after taking silver two years in a row, making that leap to the top spot makes her 2017 performance number two on this list.
#1) 2021 CrossFit Games
The 2021 CrossFit Games brought back some normalcy, mostly. COVID-19 was still a factor (ask Bethany Shadburne, Kari Pearce and Danielle Brandon). However, the athletes were back in Madison and the field was back down to 40.
Toomey, looking to tie Mat Fraser with her fifthh consecutive title, put on a display of sheer dominance. Toomey started the 2021 CrossFit Games with three 1st place finishes. She would go on to win nine of the 15 events and her worst finish was 6th place in Event 5.
Out of 1,500 total points possible, Toomey ended the competition with 1,435 points, the most is CrossFit Games history. On top of that, Toomey beat 2nd place finisher, Laura Horvath, by 256 points!
Toomey’s dominating performance in 2021 is something we never saw before at the Games and will probably never see again. It did not matter if the event was a long-distance cardio-based event, had gymnastics or featured a heavy barbell. Toomey was going to win the event, or if she didn’t, she was going to be right there near the top. And that is why Toomey’s 2021 CrossFit Games performance gets the #1 spot.
