Justin Medeiros is an American professional CrossFit athlete. He is the winner of the 2021 and 2022 CrossFit Games.[2]

Justin Medeiros
Personal information
Born (1999-03-03) March 3, 1999 (age 25)[1]
OccupationCrossFit Athlete
Height5 ft 9 in (175 cm)[1]
Weight190 lb (86 kg)[1]
Sport
SportCrossFit
Medal record
Representing  United States
CrossFit Games
Gold medal – first place 2022 Madison Men
Gold medal – first place 2021 Madison Men
Bronze medal – third place 2020 Aromas Men
Rogue Invitational
Gold medal – first place 2021 Men
Gold medal – first place 2022 Men

Early life

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Medeiros was born to Shanna and Anthony Medeiros from Lodi, California, and he has two sisters, Megan and Jessica.[3][4] He was a student at Lodi High School where he was a wrestler and football player.[5] He took up wrestling after encouragement from his parents as he was not athletic at the time.[6] He started CrossFit when he was in seventh grade aged 12 in order to keep himself fit between sports seasons, but became more interested in the sport and dropped football for CrossFit after his high school sophomore year.[7][8] He attended Boise State University where he majored in kinesiology.[9] He focused on CrossFit while at Boise because it had cut its wrestling program. He then moved to Vancouver, Washington to be with his coach Adam Neiffer as courses were made online for a year due to the Covid pandemic, before returning to Boise to complete his education in 2021.[10]

Career

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Medeiros was a wrestler and competed in various competitions in California, including the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters Tournament and the California Interscholastic Federation State Wrestling Championships.[11][12][13]

Medeiros first competed in the teen division (16–17) in 2016. He finished 19th and failed to reach the 2016 CrossFit Games.[14] He then won the 16-to-18 year old age division at the Wodapalooza CrossFit competition held in Miami in 2017.[15] At the age of 18, Medeiros competed in individual competition at the California Regional, and was placed 15th. This is followed by a 14th-place finish in the West Regional in 2018.[16][17] In 2019, he just failed to qualify for the CrossFit Games when he finished 4th at the Granite Games.[18]

2020: Games debut

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In 2019, Medeiros earned qualification to the 2020 CrossFit Games after winning the Filthy 150 Sanctional.[19] After competing in an online phase 1 of the Games, he became one of only five athletes who competed in person at the Games, and was named Rookie of the Year.[20] He finished third after Mat Fraser and Samuel Kwant at the Games.[21]

2021–22: CrossFit Games champion

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In his second CrossFit Games in 2021, Medeiros performed consistently across all 15 events of the Games, with the lowest placing being 15th in the 1,000 meter row.[22] He did not take over the overall lead until event 7, extending his lead with a second place finish in event 8.[23] He held on to this lead, although he still faced challenges from Patrick Vellner and Brent Fikowski in subsequent events. Medeiros eventually pulled away and sealed his victory with his first ever event win in the final event, beating Patrick Vellner by 82 points to be crowned champion,[24][25] At the age of 22, Medeiros is the youngest man to have won the Games.[26]

In off-season competitions, Medeiros also won the 2021 Rogue Invitational.[27]

At the 2022 CrossFit Games, Medeiros faced strong challenges from Ricky Garard, who returned after a 4-year ban for drug use, and Roman Khrennikov, who competed in person for the first time despite qualifying for the Games 4 previous times. Garard led the first two days of competition, but faltered in some events and lost the lead to Medeiros. While Medeiros did not win any event this year, his consistent performance at the Games (10 top 5 finishes, only 2 events outside top 10 finishes) allowed him to win the crown for the second time this year.[28]

Medeiros also won the 2022 Rogue Invitational.[29]

2023

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At the 2023 CrossFit Games, Medeiros fell from the bike in the "Ride" event, finishing in 29th place. He then finished 37th in the 2nd event, and these were his two worst-ever event finishes.[30] Although he did well in a few events, he could not recover fully from the deficit, and finished the competition in 13th place.[31]

CrossFit Games results

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Year Games[32] Regionals Open
2016 19th (Teenage Boys 16–17)
2017 15th (California Regional) 384th
2018 14th (West Regional) 217th
Year Games Sanctional Open
2019 4th (Granite Games) 119th
2020 3rd 1st (Filthy 150) 68th
Year Games Semifinal Quarterfinal Open
2021 1st 3rd (MACC) 6th (North America) 57th (Worldwide)
36th (North America)
2022 1st 1st (Syndicate Crown) 1st (Worldwide)
1st (North America)
3rd (Worldwide)
3rd (North America)
2023 13th 5th (North America West) 1st (Worldwide)
1st (North America West)
78th (Worldwide)
17th (North America West)
"—" denotes stages of the competition Medeiros did not participate in

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Justin Medeiros". Rogue.
  2. ^ Blennerhassett, Patrick (August 1, 2021). "CrossFit Games: Justin Medeiros shows the future is now as dominant Tia-Clair Toomey looks to have women's title in bag, again". South China Morning Post.
  3. ^ "Justin Medeiros pins down history". Lodinews.com. March 20, 2013.
  4. ^ Witte, David (February 18, 2015). "Justin Medeiros of the Lodi Flames captures Tri-City Athletic League wrestling title". Lodinews.com.
  5. ^ Staff, News-Sentinel (March 20, 2013). "Justin Medeiros pins down history". Lodinews.com. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
  6. ^ Bush, Mike (March 1, 2016). "State-bound: Lodi's Justin Medeiros places fifth at section to earn berth in state meet". Lodinews.com.
  7. ^ Buttery Bros. Rookie of the Year : Justin Medeiros Presented by GOWOD time. YouTube. Event occurs at 6' 20".
  8. ^ Lawrence, Thomas (February 23, 2017). "Lodi senior doubles as CrossFit Star". recordnet.com.
  9. ^ Agnew, Mark (October 22, 2021). "CrossFit Games 2020: Justin Medeiros' inexperience won't stop the rookie mixing it with Mat Fraser". South China Morning Post.
  10. ^ Danger, Jessica (August 1, 2021). "Justin Medeiros Changed Literally Everything. Now He's A CrossFit Games Champion". BarBend.
  11. ^ "Student-Athletes Reveal Winning Secrets". Max muscle. June 22, 2021.
  12. ^ Brownne, Bob (February 14, 2017). "Wrestling: Three win gold at TCAL championships". Tracy Press.
  13. ^ "Justin Medeiros pins down history". Lodinews.com. March 20, 2013.
  14. ^ Marquez, Tommy (October 8, 2020). "Justin Medeiros: More Than Just A Mullet". Morning Chalk Up.
  15. ^ Roberts, Elizabeth (August 1, 2021). "SJ native Justin Medeiros becomes youngest male winner of CrossFit's 'Fittest on Earth' title". The Record.
  16. ^ Sanchez, Sergio (September 24, 2020). "Ele impressionou a todos na primeira fase dos Games ao ficar na 3a colocação: conheça Justin Medeiros". Hugo Cross (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved August 22, 2022.
  17. ^ "CrossFit Games 2022: Who is Justin Medeiros, the fittest man in the world?". South China Morning Post. July 28, 2022. Retrieved August 22, 2022.
  18. ^ Kyllmann, Caro (October 21, 2020). "Who is Justin Medeiros, 2020 CrossFit Games Finalist". BoxRox.
  19. ^ Agnew, Mark (August 1, 2021). "Filthy 150 CrossFit sanctional: Sara Sigmundsdottir wins in Ireland as Justin Medeiros tops the men's side". South China Morning Post.
  20. ^ Peyton, Nicole (October 25, 2020). "Justin Medeiros: Rookie Debut". CrossFit.
  21. ^ Clark, Patrick (October 25, 2020). "2020 Reebok CrossFit Games Final Payouts". Morning Chalk Up.
  22. ^ Wiese, Kay (August 3, 2021). "Consistency Is Key: Justin Medeiros' Performance At The Games Mirrors the CrossFit Methodology". Morning Chalk Up.
  23. ^ Gutman, Andrew (July 31, 2021). "Medeiros Snags The Lead, Toomey-Orr Cruises — 2021 CrossFit Games Day Two Results". BarBend.
  24. ^ Mestel, Spenser (August 2, 2021). "Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr and Justin Medeiros Win the 2021 CrossFit Games". Men's Health.
  25. ^ Clark, Patrick (August 1, 2021). "The Medeiros Era Begins". Morning Chalk Up.
  26. ^ Gutman, Andrew (August 1, 2021). "Justin Medeiros, Tia-Clair Toomey Win 2021 CrossFit Games". BarBend.
  27. ^ Williams, Brett (October 28, 2021). "CrossFit Champs and a Returning Strongman Ruled the Rogue Invitational". Men's Health.
  28. ^ Polish, Alex (August 8, 2022). "Justin Medeiros Wins 2022 NOBULL CrossFit Games". BarBend.
  29. ^ Gutman, Andrew (October 31, 2022). "2022 Rogue Invitational CrossFit Results". BarBend.
  30. ^ Blechman, Phil (August 5, 2023). "Justin Medeiros Explains What Went Wrong In Event 1 "Ride" At The 2023 CrossFit Games". BarBend.
  31. ^ "Justin Medeiros and Ellie Turner Reveal What Happened At the 2023 CrossFit Games". BoxRox. August 14, 2023.
  32. ^ "Justin Medeiros". CrossFit Games.
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