James Sprague is the Fittest Man on Earth.
The final day of the 2024 CrossFit Games in Fort Worth, TX, saw the second-year Games athlete log consistent performances over the tremendously difficult weekend — both physically and emotionally — to claim the throne.
There were 200 points up for grabs in the final two events on Sunday, and 22-year-old Sprague took full advantage.
He knew what he needed to do to beat out Games veteran Brent Fikowski, who had a 60-point lead with eight events in the rearview.
The youngster went full send to end the weekend.
- “To just be able to come out here and prove whatever hits me mentally, physically, I know that my spiritual strength is going to carry me through any challenge,” Sprague said during his post-event interview.
Catch up: Head here for full 2024 CrossFit Games results!
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James Sprague at the 2024 CrossFit Games
Check out Sprague’s entire performance at the 2024 CrossFit Games below:
- Event 1 “Lake Day” — 7th Place
- Event 2 “Midline Climb” — 7th Place
- Event 3 “Firestorm” — 4th Place
- Event 4 “Track and Field” — 4th Place
- Event 5 “Chad” — 1st Place
- Event 6 “Clean Ladder” —21st Place
- Event 7 “Push Pull 2.0” — 17th Place
- Event 8 “Dickies Triplet” — 2nd Place
- Event 9 and 10 “Final 2421, Final 1815” — 4th Place
A Recap of Sprague’s Big Weekend
Sprague started his competition weekend off with a top-10 finish in Event 1: “Lake Day.”
- The young teen-athlete-turned-individual continued to lead even after a tumultuous first day when it wasn’t clear if the competition would even continue.
After a day of canceled events, the athletes who chose to continue competing made a somber return on Friday for Event 2 “Midline Climb.” Sprague did well here, finishing in seventh place.
- The next event “Firestorm” was a great event for him as he held onto fourth place by dominating the Echo bike and fast burpees.
Athletes closed out Friday with a Friday Night Lights track event, where he also finished fourth, thanks to his speedy sprint capacity and ability to dig deep into the pain cave.
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Saturday brought about its own set of challenging workouts, including Event 5 “Chad,” a clean ladder, and a twist on an iconic Games workout.
Sprague was a bit all over the map in terms of his finishes on Saturday, but his crowning achievement was his first-place finish in “Chad.”
- This event was Sprague’s first Games event win as an individual athlete and proved to the entire field of competitors he was here to fight.
The clean ladder was his worst placement all weekend, 21st, but it didn’t hurt his overall scores that badly. He took 17th in “Push Pull 2.0,” a new and improved version of the 2014 event.
- Sprague, known more for his aerobic capacity than strength, was able to pull out a second-place finish in the “Dickies Triplet,” which was a workout that tested the athletes’ grit and overall willingness to hurt, especially during those 200-meter runs.
The final two events of the weekend proved to be a condensed version of “moving day,” with 200 points up for grabs.
Sprague came into the event in second place and 41 points behind Fikowski.
He knew he had to make some major moves on the workouts and he did just that to clinch the title of Fittest Man on Earth.
USA, USA
The title returned to the United States after Canadian Jeffrey Adler was crowned Fittest Man on Earth at the 2023 CrossFit Games.
Prior to that, Americans dominated the top spot, including Justin Medeiros, Mat Fraser, Ben Smith, and Rich Froning.
Featured image: Susana Rodriguez, @ideyafilms_ / Instagram
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