Summit County business owner crowned champion at 2024 CrossFit Games

Summit County business owner John George left the 2023 CrossFit Games wanting to achieve more. 

After making it past the qualification process and making the national competition, George — who owns Mountain Wave and Blue River Sports — did not achieve his ultimate goal of winning the master-level competition. 

Instead of throwing in the towel and focusing on other active pursuits in Summit County, George returned to CrossFit Breckenridge, where he has trained for well over a decade now, and began working with coach Dan Messinger to achieve his dream of being named “Fittest on Earth”.

CrossFit is a popular fitness regimen that involves constantly varied functional movements performed at high intensities. Common exercises include rowing, weighted farmer carries, running, muscle-ups, burpees, dumbbell snatches and box jumps. 

Every year, the CrossFit Games are hosted to find the “fittest” CrossFit athletes on earth with competitors competing as individuals or on teams. 

With a good amount of fitness built up from biking around Summit County, George was invited to his first CrossFit workout in 2009 by a close friend. George was slightly hesitant in joining what back then seemed like a fitness fad, but he soon discovered it was the perfect workout regime for him as he grew older.

“It worked out really well for me,” George said. “Because as you age, you tend to fade away. I feel like this is what people my age need — to lift some weights.”

George gradually fell in love with CrossFit and in 2018 began competing in CrossFit competitions. Despite it being his first season on the CrossFit competition circuit, George managed to place 26th in the South West region, 294th in the U.S. and 352nd in the world.

George took a couple of seasons off from competing over the next few years before returning in 2022. It was during the 2023 season, however, that George’s hard work paid off, ultimately qualifying for his first CrossFit Games in 2023.

“I literally had technical difficulties in 2022,” George said. “I did not have proper wifi at the point that I needed. There was a deadline. I just couldn’t get my workout turned in during the semi-final. Last year, Dan Messinger, my coach, took care of the of the technical stuff.”

George qualified for the 2023 CrossFit Games by competing virtually in the open competition where the Summit County resident managed to place within the top 10% of those who submitted a video of their CrossFit workout.

George then went on to compete in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds where he was able to place highly enough to earn a spot at the CrossFit Games in Madison, Wisconsin. Squaring off against other 65-plus-year-old CrossFit athletes from across the globe, George racked up points in the assigned workouts.

George placed first in the cross-country 5K run, third in the “Endure the Coliseum” workout, fourth in the “Helen” workout, sixth in the pulling-power competition and seventh in the gymnastics-chipper competition.

George earned a total of 520 points for his series of CrossFit workouts to tie with American Tom Muhlbeier for third place. With the same amount of points, the tie breaker came down to the final event where Muhlbeier placed higher than George. Muhlbeier was ultimately awarded the final spot on the podium while George finished in a nearby fourth.

“It was so disappointing to be that close and not get there,” George said on narrowly missing the podium in 2023. “It was motivation to give it a shot again.”

George returned to CrossFit Breckenridge where Messinger and Dr. Josh Jones of Apollo Performance helped George to achieve his goal of finishing atop the podium at the 2024 CrossFit Games.

In the months leading up to the 2024 CrossFit Games, George said he tried to channel the hard-working mindset that many of the athletes in Summit County have while pursuing their own athletic endeavors.

“It is kind of like everything else,” George said. “Summit County has so many athletes, and everyone is training for something. Everyone has got the same working hard to a certain point and backing off a little bit mentality. That is mostly what I did.”

By attending the scheduled workouts at CrossFit Breckenridge and going on runs on his own, George crafted himself into an athlete that could finish on the podium at the 2024 competition.

For the second-straight year, George qualified to the CrossFit Games, this time traveling to Birmingham, Alabama for the masters-level competition from Aug. 29 through Sept. 1.

George, 68, racked up a total of 734 points throughout the four-day competition to be crowned the “Fittest on Earth” in the 65-plus age division. After coming up short in 2023, the accomplishment was a testament of not only George’s perseverance, but also the unwavering support from the Summit County community.

“It was kind of a big deal,” George said. “When you get to my age, the natural thought process tells you that you should be done. It is so cool not to be done. It is kind of exciting. I can still go. … Having that support (Messinger and Josh) there was amazing. I cannot say enough nice things about that.”