Friday, March 13 marks the end of this year's CrossFit Open—and it's been a brutal three-week journey. The competition wrapped up today with the final workout, 26.3, featuring burpees over bar, thrusters, and cleans at increasing weights every two rounds.
This year's CrossFit Open put serious emphasis on lower body endurance. Open 26.1 consisted entirely of wall balls and box jump overs, while Open 26.2 had some upper body work with pull-ups and muscle-ups, but was still more lower body-focused with overhead walking dumbbell lunges and dumbbell snatches. By the time athletes hit the final workout, their legs were already screaming.
CrossFit Open Workout 26.3 brought a fast-paced test of burpees over the bar, cleans, and thrusters with a 16-minute time cap. The combination forced athletes to manage weight changes on their own—no outside help allowed. In the live announcement, three of the best female CrossFit athletes went head to head, with Arielle Loewen finishing at 277 reps, Olivia Kerstetter at 285 reps, and Danielle Brandon at 274 reps.
Now that the Open is in the books, the top performers move forward. For athletes chasing the CrossFit Games, the Open is step one of four: after the Open comes the Quarterfinals (March 26-30), then in-person Semifinals (April–June). For everyone else, this was the competition—and that's the whole point. Want to get involved next year? Registration is $20 and gives you access to all three workouts, score tracking, and your global leaderboard ranking.