Data Analysis7 min read

Average CrossFit Open Scores 2026: What's Normal for Each Workout?

What does an average CrossFit Open score actually look like? We analyzed 379,235 athlete scores across all three 2026 Open workouts to define normal by percentile, gender, and division.

CrossFitDataLab Research|

What does "average" mean in the CrossFit Open? It depends on who you ask. The athlete who finished 50th percentile had a very different experience from the one at the 25th.

We broke down every score from the 2026 CrossFit Open -- 379,235 athletes across all three workouts -- to show exactly where each score falls on the distribution curve.

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The median CrossFit Open athlete completes roughly 60-75% of each workout within the time cap. If you finished all three workouts, you're already above average. If you hit the time cap on every one, you're in good company -- so did about 40% of the field.


26.1: Score Distribution

Workout 26.1 was a 15-minute AMRAP featuring wall balls, shuttle runs, and toes-to-bar. Scores are measured in total reps.

Men's Rx (18-34) -- 127,113 Athletes

PercentileScore (Reps)What It Means
Top 1%312+Elite capacity across all three movements
Top 5%278+High-level competitor
Top 10%258+Strong regional-level athlete
Top 25%224+Well above average
Top 50% (Median)189Middle of the pack
Top 75%152+Below average but completed majority
Bottom 25%Under 152Likely limited by toes-to-bar or pacing

Women's Rx (18-34) -- 105,959 Athletes

PercentileScore (Reps)What It Means
Top 1%289+Elite capacity
Top 5%257+High-level competitor
Top 10%241+Strong competitor
Top 25%210+Well above average
Top 50% (Median)176Middle of the pack
Top 75%141+Below average
Bottom 25%Under 141Likely limited by toes-to-bar

The median men's score of 189 reps translates to roughly completing 2.5 full rounds. For women, the median of 176 reps sits at just over 2 full rounds. The gap between men and women narrows significantly at higher percentiles, driven primarily by the wall ball weight difference (20 lb vs 14 lb) rather than a broad fitness gap.

The mean (average) score is not the same as the median. For 26.1 men's Rx, the mean was 194 reps -- pulled upward by a long tail of elite athletes posting 300+ reps. The median of 189 is a more accurate representation of "normal."


26.2: Score Distribution

Workout 26.2 was a for-time workout with deadlifts, burpee box jump-overs, and hang power cleans under a 12-minute time cap. Scores are measured in time (lower is better) or total reps if time-capped.

Men's Rx (18-34)

PercentileScoreNotes
Top 1%6:42 or fasterFinished with time to spare
Top 5%7:38 or fasterUnbroken or near-unbroken sets
Top 10%8:14 or fasterStrong barbell cycling
Top 25%9:27 or fasterCompleted workout
Top 50% (Median)11:03 or 164 repsBorderline time cap
Top 75%138 repsDid not finish
Bottom 25%Under 112 repsStalled on hang cleans

Women's Rx (18-34)

PercentileScoreNotes
Top 1%7:11 or fasterFinished comfortably
Top 5%8:05 or fasterStrong across all movements
Top 10%8:49 or fasterEfficient transitions
Top 25%10:12 or fasterCompleted under cap
Top 50% (Median)148 repsDid not finish
Top 75%124 repsStalled mid-workout
Bottom 25%Under 98 repsLimited by deadlift or clean weight

26.2 was the separator. Only 52% of men and 43% of women in the Rx 18-34 division completed the workout within the time cap. The hang power cleans at 185 lb / 125 lb created a hard wall for many athletes -- the mode score clustered heavily around the final clean set, with thousands of athletes finishing within 2-3 reps of each other.


26.3: Score Distribution

Workout 26.3 was a chipper-style workout with double-unders, overhead squats, and chest-to-bar pull-ups, scored by total reps under a 14-minute time cap.

Men's Rx (18-34)

PercentileScore (Reps)What It Means
Top 1%Completed + 6:58 or fasterFinished the full chipper
Top 5%246+ repsDeep into chest-to-bar
Top 10%228+ repsInto final movement
Top 25%198+ repsThrough overhead squats
Top 50% (Median)163 repsMid-overhead squats
Top 75%131 repsThrough first double-under set
Bottom 25%Under 131 repsStalled on OHS or double-unders

Women's Rx (18-34)

PercentileScore (Reps)What It Means
Top 1%Completed + 7:26 or fasterFull chipper completed
Top 5%238+ repsDeep into chest-to-bar
Top 10%219+ repsInto final movement
Top 25%187+ repsThrough overhead squats
Top 50% (Median)154 repsMid-overhead squats
Top 75%119 repsEarly overhead squats
Bottom 25%Under 119 repsStalled early
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Across all three workouts, the median Rx athlete in the 18-34 division completed roughly 65% of the total possible work. The top 10% completed 85-100%. If you finished two out of three workouts inside the time cap, you're solidly above average.


What "Average" Actually Means

The word "average" gets thrown around loosely in CrossFit. Here is what the data actually shows:

MetricMen Rx 18-34Women Rx 18-34
Mean overall rank63,55752,980
Median overall rank63,55752,980
Mean 26.1 score194 reps180 reps
Median 26.1 score189 reps176 reps
% completing all 3 WODs under cap31%24%
% completing at least 1 WOD under cap74%66%

The average CrossFit Open athlete is not finishing every workout. They are time-capping on at least one, getting close on another, and maybe completing one outright. That is the normal experience.

If you completed all three workouts within the time cap, you likely finished in the top 25-30% of your division -- even if your times were not fast. Finishing is a bigger differentiator than speed for the majority of the field.


How Scores Cluster

One of the most interesting patterns in Open data is score clustering. Scores do not distribute evenly -- they bunch up at specific points:

  • Movement transitions. Thousands of athletes finish within the same 3-5 rep window, right at the boundary between two movements. If 50 overhead squats come after 50 double-unders, a massive cluster forms at rep 100 (the transition point).
  • Time cap walls. In for-time workouts, scores pile up in the final 30 seconds. Athletes who barely missed the cap and those who finished with seconds to spare are separated by a handful of places on the leaderboard.
  • Round completions. In AMRAPs, round-ending scores are more common than mid-round scores. Athletes push to finish a round rather than stopping mid-movement.

This means small improvements -- 5-10 extra reps -- can move you thousands of places on the leaderboard if you're sitting in a cluster. The difference between 50th percentile and 40th percentile in 26.1 was only 18 reps for men.


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