Opinion | Is Rich Froning a better team athlete than individual? Sporting icon readies competition in lieu of CrossFit Games

Rich Froning is arguably the “fittest man in history”. There’s a documentary titled as such from his record-setting fourth consecutive CrossFit Games win in 2014. That year Mat Fraser, as a rookie, took second. Since then, Fraser’s resume is impressive enough to demand a conversation about which of the two four-time champions is the “fittest in history”.

Following the 2014 Games, Froning retired from individual competition and has since been competing on the team side of things. What is a little surprising is that Froning has more experience as a team athlete than as an individual.

Froning, who competed in the 2012-16 Reebok CrossFit Invitationals, is tied with Kara Saunders for the most experience in that competition. Even from the very first year, he was the “ace in the hole” on the US team, according to event analysts.

In recent years, as the captain and leader of CrossFit Mayhem Freedom, opportunities to compete in lucrative competitions have increased. Froning has competed on three-person teams at Wodapalooza, and a number of two- or three-person events in the Cookeville area (many of which he’s also helped in organising or programming).

Finally, with the introduction of the Sanctional season, we saw him compete three times in year once and twice in the shortened second season. Additionally, he was responsible for the team programming at Dubai’s event in December 2019, and hosted the Mayhem Classic in January before the coronavirus forced the cancellation of all CrossFit events.

This brings us to the 2020 team competition he will be hosting in Cookeville, Tennessee (August 2-9) in lieu of having a traditional CrossFit Games for the teams this year. What has already been illustrated is that Froning is both capable and qualified to put on a team event worthy of testing, and separating, the best teams in the world.