Mathew Fraser

Mat Fraser, or simply "Mat" as he prefers to be called, is considered by many to be the best in the industry. CrossFit athlete of all time. Winner of five consecutive CrossFit Games (2016-2020), his meticulous approach, ability to constantly improve and unwavering work ethic led him to dominate an era of the sport like no other competitor.

Personal profile

Date of birthJanuary 25, 1990
Height: 1'68 cm / 5ft 6in
Weight: 86 Kg
ResidenceVermont, United States.

Son of two figure skating OlympiansMat grew up in a competitive environment. He began his athletic career in Olympic weightlifting, but a serious back injury in 2009 led him to discover CrossFit as part of his rehabilitation. Unbeknownst to him, he had found his new passion.

2021-2025: Retirement, legacy and life as a mentor

2025 - HWPO as a performance empire

In 2023, Mat and his wife Sammy welcomed their first daughter, marking the beginning of a new phase in his personal life alongside his role as an entrepreneur and mentor. Mat currently leads his brand HWPO Traininga global training program for athletes of all levels. He has built a strong community and leads a competitive team that participates in semi-finals and Games. He lives with his wife Sammy in Vermont, where they have developed several businesses together, including the popular culinary blog Feeding the Frasers.

2024 - Mentor and key figure in the community

Although away from competition, Mat is still present as a mentor, entrepreneur, and respected voice on the "Podium" podcast and interviews with media outlets such as Morning Chalk Up. He continues to promote the HWPO: Hard Work Pays Offwhich is already synonymous with his legacy.

2021 - Official retirement from competition

On February 2, 2021, he announces on his instagram that he will stop participating in CrossFit competitions. He said goodbye after five consecutive titles as Fittest on Earth. He will continue to be part of the community but without competing. He will focus on raising a family and taking care of those close to him.

In an emotional letter, he thanked the sport, his friends, his wife, and the community for accompanying him on that journey. He recalls how he found CrossFit and unexpectedly met his best friends, wife, business partners and 5 gold medals.

Book by Mat Fraser

Once he no longer has to keep secrets about his workouts, he decides to share his advice in an autobiographical book.

Controversy with Froning and reconciliation

That same year, Mat shared publicly in a podcast details about his estrangement with Rich Froning. He revealed that they went more than two years without speaking to each other. Froning responded by pointing out that "there are always two sides to the story." Shortly thereafter, the two posted a photo together on social media to show that they had put their differences behind them.

2020: The freehold

1st in the CrossFit Games (online)

In a special edition of the Games, divided into online and on-site phases, Mat swept the competitionwinning 6 events and never finishing lower than 8th place. He took 168 points second-placed Noah Ohlsen, making it clear that his level was above the rest.

1st in Strength in Depth and Rogue Invitational

Mat also won Strength in Depth and the Rogue Invitationalconfirming that even outside of the Gamess, it was still the most dominant.

2016-2019: Golden Era

2019 - 1st in the Games and Dubai CrossFit Championship.

Another perfect year. He won the Games by a comfortable margin and triumphed once again at the Dubai CrossFit Championship. He was already the undisputed figure of the sport.

2018 - 1st in the Games and transition to Cookeville.

That year Mat stopped training with Ben Bergeron and moved to CrossFit Mayhem to train with Tia-Clair Toomey. He also won the Dubai CrossFit Championship.

2017 - 1st in the Games

In 2017 he won with a historic lead. Upon finishing, he stated, "Tomorrow, my planning for the 2018 Gamess begins as early as tomorrow."

2016 - 1st in the Games

After two years of finishing second, Fraser finally reached the top and won his first Fittest on Earth title.

Fraser also changed his approach to training and focused on attacking all their weaknesses. Everything he wasn't good at was no longer an impediment to his claim to be the fittest man on the planet.

2014-2015: Promotion and motivation

2015 - 2nd in the Games, change of mentality.

For the second year in a row, he came in second. Although many would consider this an achievement, Mat saw it as a defeat. That was the turning point: he changed his diet, his approach, and set out to become unbeatable.

Although he does not claim to be a follower of any particular diet, as he is the paleo diet so famous in the sport, acknowledges that it follows a very similar line.

2014 - 2nd in the Games and rejection to Reebok

Mat was runner-up without sponsorship, the only one in the top 10 without support from a brand. He told how he was treated with contempt by a Reebok employee, and how he turned down their offer even when they offered him a contract after his success.

Fraser explained that when he was about 23 years old he was invited to Reebok headquarters in the USA along with other athletes.

There he had a run-in with one of the employees. Mat recognized that he had afro hair, a beard... and that he looked like a hobo. The worker kicked him out of the gym because he wasn't wearing Reebok, Mat told him that he didn't know he had to wear the brand and that in fact he was wearing what O'keefe had given him because he didn't have anything better. This worker asked him to stay outside until they came to pick them up, being very unpleasant with him. Fraser was offended with the treatment and told his manager. "Get the car we're getting out of here." 

In 2014, Fraser entered the Games with his hair cut and no beard, and placed 2nd. He was the only athlete inside the top10 who did not have a sportswear sponsorship. 

O'Keefe heard from Reebok again, they wanted to have dinner together. Mat accepted the proposal but when he got there he met again the same person with whom he had the bad experience at the Reebok gym but this time he was received in a different way: "Mat what a pleasure to meet you (with the change of look I didn't even know it was the same) what an illusion that you are part of the Rebook family". So, although Fraser recognized that he was in a financially delicate situation, he decided to behave in the same way: "O'Keefe Take the car we're getting out of here." 

From weightlifting to CrossFit

Fraser suffered a serious back injury in 2009 while training weightlifting. Although he managed to make a full recovery and returned to competing for another year, he acknowledges that had he not been injured, he probably would have continued his Olympic lifting career longer. The injury was the turning point that led him to discover CrossFit and begin a new athletic chapter.

Achievements in CrossFit Games

Your personal marks

Lifestyle and curiosities

In interviews he has recounted that he used to vomit before most major events. Nausea was a regular part of his pre-competition routine, to the point that he remembers few events where he did not retch or vomit before going out to compete.

Food and discipline

Fraser radically changed his diet after his second place finish. Although he does not follow a specific diet as a paleo, he focused on the functional nutrition. Your partner Sammy Moniz has been key in this change, and together they created Feeding the Frasersa healthy recipes platform.

Book: HWPO

In 2022 he published his book HWPO: Hard Work Pays Offwhere he shares his story, mentality, training and advice for athletes and people looking to improve in any area of their lives.

Tattoos with meaning

Mat has a tattoo on his left arm with the text of the Serenity Prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr, which speaks of accepting what cannot be changed, having the courage to change what can, and the wisdom to distinguish between the two. On his chest, he wears a bull skull with the phrase: "Thanks to all the bulls that bucked me off", an ironic tribute to those who underestimated him.

You've probably wondered at some point what it says on Mat's tattoo on his left arm.

The text comes from the American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr whose Serenity Prayer he says:

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.

God, give me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to understand the difference.

Passions: guns and coffee

He enjoys shooting sports and is a coffee fanatic. He has thoroughly studied its preparation, and usually starts the day with a quadruple espresso.

The athlete likes to disconnect from his workouts by firing his rifles, pistols and more weapons in your collection. Mat shares this hobby on his social networks.

Another quite different hobby is coffee. The athlete has studied to the millimeter how to prepare the best coffee, from the origin of the coffee, the machine, the best brewing process... He says he always starts his morning with a quadruple coffeeand often a double after lunch.

Legacy

Mat Fraser didn't just win more than anyone else: changed the standard of the sport. His meticulous approach, his obsession with weaknesses and his absolute mastery turned every Games into a spectacle of excellence. He was the first to make first place seem unattainable.

Its motto HWPO has transcended CrossFit, and his legacy lives on in athletes, coaches and fans around the world who are inspired by his story.

Mat Fraser was not only the fittest man on Earth. He was the most relentless, the most disciplined, and perhaps, the most complete of all time.