Jayson Hopper

Jayson Hopper is an American athlete who broke into CrossFit after winning the Mid Atlantic CrossFit Challenge 2021 Semifinal. In 2025 he achieved his first CrossFit Games victory and became the Fittest on Earth 2025.

2025

CrossFit Games 2025 Winner

Jayson Hopper turned in his best performance to date in Albany and was crowned for the first time as Fittest on Earth. After a 2023 where he failed to make the cut to the final and a 2024 in which he finished fourth, in 2025 he demonstrated maturity, consistency and the ability to compete under pressure.

From the first day he was at the top of the leaderboard. His victory in event 3 (Climbing Couplet) propelled him into a shared lead with Jay Crouch, and he was able to remain among the top finishers throughout the weekend. Although he did not dominate every event, Hopper was consistently competitive, earning the top 5 in four events:

• 🥇 1st in Climbing Couplet (IE3) - 5:34
• 🥈 2nd in Going Dark (IE8) - 8:26.17
• 🥉 3rd in Atlas (IE10) - 7:57.48
• 4th in All Crossed Up (IE2) - 6:33.43

His best performance was 17th in the event 6.

The key to his victory was consistency. While other athletes alternated great performances with more discreet results, Hopper knew how to always stay in the fight, even when he was not among the first. His strategic management of the weekend was reflected in the final, where he arrived as leader and, despite finishing third, managed to seal the championship.

Hopper's triumph is the result of years of steady progression. In 2025 he established himself as a complete, resilient and tactically flawless athlete. His name is already among CrossFit's historic elite.

Sevan Podcast interview after the Gamess

🧠 Mental state during competition.

• It was very anxious and stressed throughout the weekend, especially because of the fear of failure and the desire to see all his year of training pay off.
• Is emotionally isolated in competition: although he is usually a joker, when he competes he becomes very serious, introspective and reserved.
• Its objective was to not having to gamble everything on the last eventso in event 9 he tried to secure the victory... but missed the last snatch and lost that tactical advantage.

💪 Your physical evolution and training.

• Weighed 230 lbs (104 kg) during the Games, possibly the heaviest champion in history.
• He attributes his victory not so much to his weight as to having corrected his training strategyfocusing on less volume, more intensity.
• Decided to train onlyThe goal is to help them face their "mental demons", without music and without distractions, in order to improve their performance without the need to compare themselves with others on a day-to-day basis.

🔋 Nutrition and recovery

• During preparation I ate more than 6,000 kcal per daywith supplements such as dextrose and Gatorade.
• After Games he usually loses weight due to lack of appetite, and allows himself to eat more "junk food".
• He plans to compete again soon, so he will be more disciplined this time.

🏋️‍♂️ Relationships with other athletes and environment

• Although he is part of the podcast "Boys Interrupted" with Justin Medeiros and Dallin Pepper, during the Gamess they hardly spoke at all by the intensity of the competition.
• Highlights the Dallin's maturity to take on the defeat and its strong mentality.
• He deeply appreciates the support of his coach JRwho he sees as an older brother, and his wife Grace Annewho believed in him more than anyone else.

🔄 Key changes in your mindset.

• I used to constantly look for external validation and compete to prove himself to others.
• Although it still has that tendency, it is now trying to compete for himself and his family.
• He attributes part of his maturity to an experience in Vermont where he learned to train with intention and not for meaningless volume.

📍 Other fun facts

• He does not like Madison as a venue for the Gamess; prefers Albany by the change of environment and less heat.

World Fitness Project Tour 1

He finished third in the first edition of the WFP.

Online Semifinal

You qualify for the CrossFit Games 2025 through the Online Semifinals that were held in an affiliated box.

Mayhem Classic

Attempts to qualify for the CrossFit Games 2025 in the Mayhem Classic but his final position was 5th. His worst result was in Isabel's event, 30 snatches, where he was 13th.

2024

Leaves HWPO and joins Brute Strength

The December 11, 2024left his previous program with HWPOafter four years of training there.

Hopper explained that he was looking for change: new programming, structure and vision. That's when he joined Bruteunder the command of Coach Elcanah "El" Senouvor

CrossFit Games 2024

He finished fourth in the overall men's standingstied with Patrick Vellner with 742 points, just one point behind the podium.

2023

ROGUE Invitational

He received an invitation to the Rogue invitational 2023 after finishing 6th in the online qualifier. Finally finished 7th overall in the on-site final of this competition.

CrossFit Games 2023

He did not pass the first cut to 30 athletes and finished in 31st place. 3 events above 30th place did not allow him to continue and became his worst result in the highest competition.

North America East Semifinal

He achieves a second place that grants him a pass to the CrossFit Games 2023.

Wodapalooza

Participate as a team with Good Dudes along with James Sprague and Dallin Pepper, finished in 4th place. He did not compete in the individual edition.

2022

ROGUE Invitational 2022

He won the first event called the Texas Trail, a vest running event that was not broadcast live.

Despite his good start, he was last in the second event and finished the competition in 7th place.

CrossFit Games 2022

Ternina in 7th position.

After the first 3 events he was in 32nd position. The 4th event scored double points and Jayson was 4th and 8th so he moved up to 16th overall.

He is facing the Husafell again and improves his performance compared to the previous year. He was 5th at The Capitol, where he had to carry this heavy sand bag on the last leg.

Syndicate Crown

He earned his spot to CrossFit Games 2022 at the Syndicate Crown. This time Justin Medeiros took the win and Hopper was 2nd.

Wodapalooza 2022

Finished 11th in the individual category.

Of course it's not the ending I wanted, but I leave with a lot learned and a long list of things to keep working on. Although I made some mental mistakes that cost me a lot of time, I have a lot to celebrate. Each event was amazing in its own way and doing it in Miami is something I will never forget. I'm sure I'll be back for more fun.

The sandbag appeared again, but this time it had a better result.

2021

Joins Mat Fraser's HWPO programming.

CrossFit Games 2021

He finished 19th in his first participation in the top competition.

Obviously there were a lot of expectations of me that were not met. I'm fine with that. I have nothing to prove to anyone. I know those closest to me are proud.

As a rookie, I'm proud of the way I fought even when I took some hits. I had so many things thrown at me this week that I wasn't prepared for that unfortunately showed up on the biggest stage.

It won't happen like that again. That I guarantee. I learned a lot about myself and this sport that I'm looking forward to applying in the next year of training.

Other than that - very frustrated with the result. Not because I felt I let anyone down, but because I wanted to win for myself. The best has always been my standard and that will never change. I'm leaving Madison today with more gusto than when I came here and that makes me excited for the days ahead - brighter days ahead!

We saw Hopper suffer a lot with the Husafell Sandbag in event 5 and he came to the finish line with a lot of difficulties.

Nike

He announced he was joining the Nike athlete team by posting a photo featuring a handwritten note from Mat Fraser with the five-time champion's special edition Metcons.

"Welcome to the Nike team! I'm thankful that our paths have crossed and excited to see what you do in your rookie year. You have all the tools to have a very bright future in CrossFit, it's up to you to do something about it. The people in your life are there regardless of the outcome, so make sure you go out there and make yourself proud. above all, hard work pays off!"

Participated in a CAMP with PRVN, prior to the 2021 Games.

Mid Atlantic CrossFit Challenge 2021

We met him for the first time in this competition where he finished in first position at only 4 years old in this sport. Justin Medeiros was 3rd.

The athlete acknowledged that beating some of the best athletes in the sport was a huge confidence booster for him to believe he could be at the top.

Hopper's performance captivated Mat Fraser himself, who would later become his coach.

2020

It was to participate in the Sanctional Atlas Games in Canada, but was finally cancelled.

That year, an unknown Justin Medeiros won the Sanctional Filthy 150 and Hopper was hoping to pull off an upset as well.

Brands

History before CrossFit

Before CrossFit, he played baseball, but ended up quitting for football. The best team he ever played for was the Clemson Tigers of Miami.

At this time, his workouts included sprints, running, weightlifting movements such as cleans, squats and bench presses. The intensity was not very high but the intention was always to gain muscle mass.

He took a year off and decided to try CrossFit to stay in shape. He immediately fell in love with the competitive side of the sport. A year later he returned to soccer but realized he liked CrossFit better.