CrossFit Open 26.1, 26.2, 26.3: Workout-by-Workout Data Analysis

The three workouts of the 2026 CrossFit Open each tested different capacities. By analyzing the scoring data from 127,113 men and 105,959 women, we can see exactly how these workouts played out across the entire field.

Workout 26.1: The Wall Ball Chipper

The Workout

26.1 was a chipper involving wall balls, box jump-overs, and med ball box step-overs with a time cap. Athletes worked through prescribed rep schemes, and their score was either a completion time or total reps completed.

How Athletes Scored

The data reveals that 26.1 was extremely difficult to complete. Among the top 10,000 men, only 44 athletes (0.4%) finished the workout. Among the top 10,000 women, 105 athletes (1.1%) completed it.

Men's Completion Times (Among Finishers)

Women's Completion Times (Among Finishers)

The Rep Distribution

Since most athletes didn't finish, the rep count tells the real story:

Most Common Men's Scores:

• 268 reps (339 athletes)
• 258 reps (257 athletes)
• 286 reps (238 athletes)

Most Common Women's Scores:

• 268 reps (302 athletes)
• 248 reps (224 athletes)
• 258 reps (218 athletes)

The clustering around 268 reps for both genders suggests this was a natural transition point in the workout -- likely where athletes moved from one movement to another with a rep scheme change.

Rank-by-Rank Breakdown

Here's what scores looked like at various ranking positions for men:

The gap between rank #1 (354 reps, completed) and rank #500 (301 reps) is 53 reps -- that's a massive gap that shows just how far ahead the absolute best athletes were.

Workout 26.2: The Time Trial

The Workout

26.2 had a total of 132 reps and a 15-minute time cap. The structure allowed for completion, making it the most "finishable" of the three workouts.

Completion Rates

Among the top 10,000:

• Men: 8,193 out of 10,000 (82%) finished within the time cap
• Women: 2,113 out of 10,000 (21%) finished within the time cap

This massive gender gap in completion rate is notable. Women's prescribed weights or movements created a much harder finishing challenge, with only about 1 in 5 top-10k women completing the workout.

Men's Time Distribution

Women's Time Distribution

The 130-Rep Cluster (Women)

For women who didn't finish, the most common score was 112 reps (3,209 athletes). That's not a coincidence -- 112 reps likely corresponds to the last movement transition before the final set. Women hit a wall here at a far higher rate than men, who were spread more evenly across 124-131 reps.

Workout 26.3: The Separator

The Workout

26.3 was built to separate. It featured repeating rounds of burpees over bar, cleans, and thrusters with escalating barbell weights across rounds. The total possible score was 288 reps (6 full rounds).

Completion Rates

This was the hardest workout to complete:

• Men: Only 10 athletes in the top 10,000 completed all 6 rounds
• Women: Only 80 athletes in the top 10,000 completed it

The 204-Rep Wall

The most striking data point in the entire Open: 1,150 men and 947 women in the top 10,000 scored exactly 204 reps. That's 4 complete rounds.

Round 5 introduced significantly heavier weights, and the data shows this was the moment where the vast majority of competitive athletes simply couldn't continue. Going from 204 to 205 reps -- starting the 5th round -- required a jump in barbell weight that stopped thousands of athletes cold.

Men's Score Distribution

Women's Score Distribution

Cross-Workout Patterns

Which Workout Mattered Most?

Looking at how consistent athletes' ranks were across the three workouts:

• 26.1 and 26.3 had the widest score spreads among the top 10,000, meaning these workouts created the most separation
• 26.2 was the most "democratic" -- if you finished, your time was largely between 7 and 15 minutes, a smaller relative spread
• 26.3 had the largest single-rep clusters, making it the hardest to move up even one position

Scaled vs. Rx'd

Among the top 10,000 in the 18-34 divisions, zero athletes submitted scaled scores. This makes sense -- if you're competitive enough to rank in the top 10,000, you're doing the workouts as prescribed.

The scaled data becomes more relevant in older age groups and at the broader population level, but for competitive analysis, the Rx'd data tells the full story.

Key Takeaways for Athletes

1. 26.1 was a pacing test. The athletes who finished had excellent aerobic capacity and pacing strategy. If you got 280+ reps, you were in the top tier.

2. 26.2 rewarded barbell cycling speed. With 82% of top men finishing, this workout separated athletes by seconds, not minutes. Every transition and rest period mattered.

3. 26.3 was about strength thresholds. The weight jump at round 5 was binary. If you want to improve your 26.3-style score, the answer is getting stronger at heavy cleans and thrusters, not just building endurance.

Related

• CrossFit Open 2026 Results Overview -- The big picture
• What Is a Good CrossFit Open Score? -- Find your percentile
• Age Group Performance -- How age affects scores
• Country Rankings -- National performance data

Analysis based on scoring data from 127,113 male and 105,959 female athletes in the 18-34 division of the 2026 CrossFit Open.