Wood, 27, is an all-around athlete. A former Level 10 artistic gymnast, flat-water sprint kayaker, and surf life saver, Wood now competes in CrossFit, surfing and Olympic weightlifting.

Fittingly, she has trained at an affiliate named CrossFit Athletic since 2011. Last July, she got her first taste of Games-level competition as a part of CrossFit Athletic’s team, which took 11th overall.

In Wollongong, Wood earned top-five finishes on Tommy V, the handstand walk, snatch and finale. Randy was her worst event (15th, 3:19.7), followed by 10th on both the chipper and the strict deficit handstand push-up triplet.

Regional Competition History

5th - 2015 Pacific Regional

1st - 2014 Australia Regional (CrossFit Athletic)

5th - 2013 Australia Regional (CrossFit Athletic)

21st - 2012 Australia Regional



Games Competition History

11th - 2014 (CrossFit Athletic)

Facebook (Sammy Wood)

A senior in high school, Myers is the youngest athlete to compete in the individual division at the Games since Colleen Maher qualified at 17 in 2012.

While injured, the competitive rock climber decided to try out the CrossFit affiliate near her climbing gym in New Mexico. Fast forward a couple years, and now the 18-year-old is one of the fittest women in the world.

She drew attention when she finished 32nd worldwide in the 2015 Open. At the South Regional, the incredibly strong athlete’s best event was the finale, where she sped through the 15 muscle-ups and ascending ladder of cleans in 1:29.9 for third, a fraction of a second behind Camille Leblanc-Bazinet (1:29.6) and 8 seconds behind event record holder, Amanda Goodman (1:21.0)

With the exception of the finale, none of her regional finishes were flashy. With consistent performances, she earned the final qualifying spot to the Games.

This fall she will move to San Diego to attend college. She intends to train at CrossFit Invictus.

Regional Competition History

5th - 2015 South Regional

Instagram (@maddy.myers1)

For two consecutive seasons, Parker, 25, missed Games qualification by one spot—last year individually, and the year prior as part of her team, CFC Crew. In 2014 and 2013, only the top two from Canada West advanced to Carson.

Parker was one of 10 women worldwide to finish the Chipper within the 26-minute time cap. The Canadian reached her finish mat with 35 seconds to spare, in 25:25.1.

She held onto top-13 finishes for six of the seven events. Sunday’s triplet with strict deficit handstand push-ups was her worst event by far; she was unable to finish the event within the time cap (26th, CAP+66).

Regional Competition History

5th - 2015 West Regional

3rd - 2014 Canada West Regional

3rd - 2013 Canada West Regional (CFC Crew)

Facebook (Alex Parker)

Gelin, 30, may be a rookie at the Games, but she has been training for this moment for years. A two-time Florida state champion in weightlifting and All-State softball player in high school, Gelin went on to play softball at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she studied exercise and sports science, and psychology.

The years of work paid off. Months after she started CrossFit, she qualified for the 2013 Mid Atlantic Regional, but chose to compete on College Hill CrossFit's team instead.

Unsurprisingly, Gelin stood out on the max snatch (third, 175 lb.) as well as Tommy V (third, 10:51.3). Like Muhammad, her worst finishes were on the two events that involved handstands, the 250-foot handstand walk (19th, CAP+5) and the triplet with strict deficit handstand push-ups (20th, CAP+50).



Regional Competition History

5th - 2015 Atlantic Regional

6th - 2014 Mid Atlantic Regional (College Hill CrossFit)

8th - 2013 Mid Atlantic Regional (College Hill CrossFit)

Instagram (@whitgelin)

Bramblett, 24, started training at CrossFit Oyster Point just a few months before the 2014 Open. Even with limited experience, the natural athlete qualified for the 2014 Mid Atlantic Regional, where he went on to finish two spots outside of Games qualification.

Bramblett grew up playing lacrosse and hockey before a tear to his groin sidelined him.

With his long blonde hair pulled back into a bun, Bramblett excelled on the Chipper (fourth, CAP+50), 250-foot handstand walk (fifth, 1:42.8), and triplet with strict deficit handstand push-ups (fourth, 11:51.1).

His worst finishes were on Tommy V (14th, 9:29.3), the max snatch (11th, 261 lb.), and muscle-up/speed clean ladder (16th, 1:27.9).



Regional Competition History

5th - 2015 Atlantic Regional

5th - 2014 Mid Atlantic Regional

Instagram (@nathan_bramblett)

Melton, 25, has competed in regionals every year since 2012.

Originally from Valley CrossFit—the affiliate that once claimed Kris Clever, Becca Voigt, Katie Hogan and Lindsey Valenzuela as its members—Melton trained with some of the best athletes in the sport.

His success this year came down to the triplet of rowing, chest-to-bar pull-ups and strict 4-inch deficit handstand push-ups that opened the final day of competition. Melton earned second in the event in 11:15.4, edging out Dan Bailey and Josh Bridges by 4 and 9 seconds.

Thanks to his other strong finishes—Randy (Melton fifth, Bridges 25th) and the max-effort snatch (Melton fourth, Bridges 18th)—Melton was able to maintain his lead even when Bridges beat him in the final event (Melton 11th, Bridges eighth). At the end of the weekend, Melton was in fifth with 496 points, 15 points ahead of the three-time Games competitor.

Regional Competition History

5th - 2015 California Regional

8th - 2014 SoCal Regional

13th - 2013 SoCal Regional

19th - 2012 SoCal Regional

Instagram (@_chadmelton_)

Hesketh, a Brit, will represent the Africa Region at the 2015 Games. To make matters more confusing, 12 months ago he came one spot away from representing the Asia Region at the 2014 Games.

How is that possible?

Fortunately, it’s simple. It comes down to a job opportunity in Dubai, and shifting region borders. Last year, CrossFit Games organizers considered the Middle East as part of Asia; now, it’s part of Africa.

Prior to CrossFit, Hesketh was a semi-professional Rugby Union player for Blackburn in Lancashire, England. He started CrossFit in 2012 to supplement rugby, but eventually the training became his sport.



Regional Competition History

5th - 2015 Meridian Regional

2nd - 2014 Asia Regional

14th - 2013 Europe Regional

Instagram (@philhesketh)

For Garard, 26, it all came down to the final regional event. The athlete from New South Wales completed the 15 muscle-ups and 205-, 225-, 245-, 255- and 265-lb. cleans in a little over a minute (1:17.9) to win the event and the final Games berth.

Since then, the owner of Bent On CrossFit has been preparing for Carson by doing past Games events. On his Instagram, you can see him and his younger brother, Ricky, racing through the ZigZag Sprint. He even chopped his own log for the Burden Run.

The day he discharged from the Australian Army, in 2012, he set the goal of qualifying for the CrossFit Games. While a promising start to the 2013 Open ended due to failure to meet the movement standards on 13.2, the rookie has refined his skills in the intervening years.



Regional Competition History

5th - 2015 Pacific Regional

11th - 2014 Australia Regional

Instagram (@bennygarard)

Few make it to the Games, and even fewer qualify alongside their family members. Entering the same exclusive group as Rory Zambard and her mother Lisa Long, and ZA and Alex Anderson and their father Steve, are Chad and Dennis Cole. Chad, 25, will compete in the men’s individual division while his dad, Dennis, 54, competes in the masters division.

Dennis caught onto CrossFit first, and shared it with his son when he came back home for winter break during his freshman year of college.

“I can't remember exactly what it was but I remember getting my ass kicked by an old man. Ever since then all we did was CrossFit,” Chad said.

He added: “After him beating me for about a year, I finally started to surpass him and he didn't like it very much. In 2010, I came home late from school one day and my dad had done Grace with 115 lb. He wouldn't tell me his time, but he wanted me to do the workout and see who won. We are very competitive, obviously.”

“I ended up beating him and all night he talked about how bad my range of motion was and how I never fully locked out. We actually have a video of it, one of the few we have from our garage. It's fun to look back at how hard it was for me, and at a lighter weight. All while my sister watched and my mom narrated. We had no idea what we were getting into.”

Years later, at his fourth regional appearance, Chad earned the final Games qualifying spot. Finishing five of the seven events in the top 10 (Events 2, 4, 5, 6, 7), his best events were the max snatch (266 lb., second) and the triplet with strict deficit handstand push-ups (12:04.7, first). Remarkably those finishes were enough to recover from plummeting to 35th on Randy (3:21.2) and 24th on the chipper (CAP+106).

Regional Competition History

5th - 2015 South Regional

4th - 2014 South West Regional

24th - 2012 South West Regional

23rd - 2011 South West Regional



Instagram (@chad_cole)

Scali, 29, played NCAA Division 1 hockey with Cornell University and professionally in Texas, before he discovered CrossFit.

“I realized I was only good at the sport of hockey due to working out,” he writes in his bio. “Now, I can workout as a sport, so thanks CrossFit for giving me a second chance to be an athlete.”

That’s followed by plenty of shit talking about his friends, Mitch Barnard (ninth) and Brent Fikowski (seventh). Of the three, Scali was the only one to qualify.

The Canadian athlete finished two spots outside of qualification last year (behind Fikowski). The start and the end of last year’s regional set him back, with a rough start on the back-to-back snatch (225 lb., 12th) and handstand walk (100 feet, eighth), and the final event of 64 pull-ups and 8 205-lb. overhead squats (3:55, 16th).

This year, he improved his snatch by 25 lb. and covered the 250-foot handstand course in 1:57. With four fourth-place event finishes, and nothing lower than 13th, he was able to seal the final spot to the Games, 1 point ahead of sixth-ranked Cody Anderson.

Regional Competition History

5th - 2015 West Regional

4th - 2014 Canada West Regional

20th - 2012 Canada West Regional

Instagram (@scalifit)