Rich Froning Jr.

At 37th place, it was his worst-ever finish in a CrossFit Games event.

However, he finished strongly with three consecutive event wins in the final day to win a record fourth consecutive title.

Froning retired from individual competition after this Games.

He set the standard for the "Fittest Man on Earth" with his four consecutive CrossFit Games.

Rich Froning Jr. (born July 21, 1987) is an American professional CrossFit athlete known for his achievements participating in the CrossFit Games.

Upon graduating in 2005, Froning received a baseball scholarship to Walters State Community College.

Soon after, Froning decided to end his baseball career, and began working at the Cookeville Fire Department, while continuing his studies at Tennessee Tech.

Froning was introduced to CrossFit by one his professors at Tennessee Tech in 2009, and he soon developed a passion for CrossFit and started doing CrossFit workouts in his barn.

In 2010, he began coaching and competing.

Froning has competed at the CrossFit Games since 2010.

Froning qualified for the 2010 Southeast Regional competition through the Sectional Qualifiers, a precursor to the online-based Open.

Froning won the Regional, thereby qualifying for the fourth CrossFit Games at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California.

At the 2010 Games, Froning earned five top 5 finishes including two event wins, and never dropped below 19th.

He was leading heading into the final event, however the rope climb portion of the final event exposed "a chink in his armor" in terms of technique.

Froning did not use his legs and feet to wrap round the rope, and attempted the rope climbs only using his arms.

Fatigued, Froning fell from the rope multiple times.

The 2010 Games podium had Holmberg in first, Froning in second, and Chris Spealler in third.

He became the first person to win the CrossFit Games title of "Fittest Man on Earth" four times with his first-place finish in the 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014 CrossFit Games.

In 2011, Froning had a poor start at the Games in the Beach event that featured the first ever ocean swim, but performed consistently well in most of the other events, winning three events, including the event that featured rope-climbing, and placed second in three further events.

He topped the leaderboard with nearly a hundred points better than second place Josh Bridges, thereby winning his first CrossFit Games title.

Froning followed the 2011 Games win by winning every stage of the 2012-2014 Games season including the worldwide Open, Regionals, and the Games.

That winning streak lasted until he retired from Individual Competition.

His 12th-place finish on the final event opened up the space necessary for Graham Holmberg to move up to the top spot.

In the 2012 Games, Froning won three of the events (Chipper, Elizabeth, and Isabel), beating second-place Matt Chan to win again this year.

Both Froning and the winner of the women's competition Annie Thorisdottir were the first athletes to win the CrossFit Games twice.

In 2013, Froning again started poorly in the swimming event, finishing in 30th place.

However, he performed well in the most of the other events, and won the last three.

He topped the leaderboard, beating Jason Khalipa to win for the third time, thereby becoming the first ever three time winner of the Games.

At the 2014 Games, Froning faced a strong challenge from newcomer Mat Fraser.

He struggled in the heat in the Triple-3 event, and had to walk part of the run course.

In 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2021, and 2022 he led a team from CrossFit Mayhem to the first-place finish in the Team category in the CrossFit Games.

In addition to making a living off of CrossFit, Froning has won over $1,050,000 in prize money from winning the CrossFit Games four times.

Additionally, he has accumulated significant sponsorships from brands like Reebok, Oakley, and Rogue Fitness.

In early 2015, Reebok released a shoe designed, in part, by Froning.

Froning owns and operates the affiliate gym CrossFit Mayhem, located in Cookeville, Tennessee, and is a member of the CrossFit Level 1 Seminar Staff.

Froning was born in Mount Clemens, Michigan.

He moved to Cookeville, Tennessee, where he currently resides.

There he attended Cookeville High School where he played baseball and was an all-district, all-region second baseman.

He also participated in football.

In a documentary released in the summer of 2015, "Froning," documentary filmmakers from CrossFit, Inc., said that Froning was the Fittest Man in History.