Madison says goodbye to CrossFit Games

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - The NOBULL CrossFit Games ended Sunday evening, which means Madison is saying goodbye to athletes from around the world.

Many languages, cultures and strengths fused together one last time in Madison.

“I think it was great. And for us, of course, being in Minnesota, it’s just drive a couple hours and were here,” Minnesota CrossFit Coach Molly Harren said. “It kind of feels like it’s in our own backyard. Being able to drive and get here quickly. It was super fun.”

Harren says the games helped her create lifelong friendships.

“There’s like 60 people all here supporting our coach, so it’s really fun to see the community come together in environments like this and to support one another,” Harren said.

Grant Ryznar from San Antonio points to Madison being the heart of adventure he’s been here a whole week.

“I have a lot of friends from San Antonio here, so it’s cool to see everybody from my hometown come here, and do what they’re doing,” Ryznar said.

Wales CrossFit Instructor Lois Masters believes Sunday was a teaching moment. She learned new techniques she will add into her own classes.

“That’ll be really fun going back home, but it just motivates you with your training, just watching them, how much grit they’ve got,” Masters said. “It really makes you want to push harder.”

The global turnout- a force in the local economy. In order to prepare for the Games, athletes supported Madison gyms like the one owned by Billie Buss.

“We’ve had drop-ins from all different countries here over the past week and that that’s been a lot of fun, a lot of different languages being spoken, workouts being translated,” CrossFit Citrine owner Billie Buss said.

Although the future host of the games is unknown, Buss mentions his gym will stay busy.

“We love working out with regular people and just the people of the east side and local Madison community training with them,” Buss said.

The CrossFit Games have been held in Madison since 2017. NBC15 previously reported that organizers have not announced the location of next year’s games.

Hungary’s Laura Horvath and Canada’s Jeffrey Adler won the Fittest Woman and Fittest Man on Earth Titles at the 2023 NOBULL CrossFit Games.

Horvath won five individual events en route to her first title, while Adler also won his first title.

On the team side, Team CrossFit Invictus from San Diego won the team title. Joshua Al-Chamaa, Jorge Fernandez, Devyn Kim, and Brittany Weiss won their second title comes after a pair of third-place finishes in 2019 and 2022.

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