mat fraser retires from crossfit

Yesterday, Mat Fraser officially announced his retirement from competing in CrossFit. To the surprise of many, this came out of nowhere.

Only a few times in modern sports history has a champion left the stage going out on top… in this case 5 times in a row on top.

You have Michael Jordan retiring for the 2nd time, after his second 3-peat of championships. (We really won’t count the Washington Wizards comeback, as it was more of a retirement parade.)

You have John Elway retiring after his Super Bowl XXXIII victory, but let’s be honest… he was already at the end of his career.

We’re sure there are many other examples out there, but these are the two freshest in our minds.

It’s not often an athlete retires still in the ‘prime’ of their career where no one is really ready to take over their throne.

But… when we heard his reasoning for leaving the competitive side of CrossFit, honestly we couldn’t be mad.

All we could really do was tip our cap to him, wish him the best, and thank him for all he's done for the sport.

The Sacrifice To Be Great

You see, to be that great at something like CrossFit, it comes with a price… a HUGE price.

Mat said that after 2015, he decided ‘to stop fucking around and commit everything to the sport’.

What did that look like? What does it mean to go all in on CrossFit?

Well, he said he changed EVERYTHING in his life, and it all revolved around CrossFit. And by everything, we mean ev-er-y-th-ing.

His sleep, what he ate, his training, his mindset, his motivation, his relationships, his travel, his free time, his recovery, etc.

But then he said something that really hit home with us.

He said he missed a ton of dates with his wife Sammy, as it might have went into his sleep schedule, or training schedule.

He missed a ton of family and friend events, as it didn’t allow him time to train, recover, or whatever. That included birthdays, bachelor parties, dinner parties, you name it.

He only 'took off' or 'relaxed' a minimal 2 weeks a year in August. That's it. Other than that, he was locked in and laser focused on his goals, his weaknesses, his training.

That’s the sacrifice it takes to be great, and usually it’s more mental than physical.

It takes a strong support system to be able to do all those sacrifices, and pull it off.

Boy did he pull it off though… and the results speak for themselves.

Mat Fraser's Accomplishments

Honestly there’s really too many to name here, but we'll give you the highlights...

- He’s a 5-time winner of the CrossFit Games (most ever)

- He has 2 second-place finishes at the Games

- He's a 5-time Regionals Champion

- He's a 5-time winner of the CrossFit Open

- He’s a Junior National Champion in Olympic Weightlifting.

We could go on and on about all the Games events he’s won, the Open events he’s won, other CrossFit events he’s won, but it all comes down to one thing… he’s a badass!

A beast among beasts.

A man among boys, so to speak.

Mat has earned many sponsorships, most notably with Nike, which shows that the sport of CrossFit is big time.

Mat Fraser Retires As The GOAT?

In the CrossFit circles, you basically have the ‘who’s the greatest male athlete ever’ conversation between Mat and Rich Froning.

And rightly so.

Rich was the first ‘face’ of CrossFit, and honestly he was light years ahead of everyone else at the time.

He only won 4 CrossFit Games titles in a row (as if that’s a dis or something), but he’s continued his dominance in the team division, basically destroying all other teams in the process.

However, CrossFit evolved at lightning speed and the athletes got bigger, faster and better in a few years time.

To put it in perspective, what the men were struggling to do back in the early CrossFit Games, the women were doing more than that just a few years later.

With that in mind, Mat rolling off 5 titles in a row, in today’s competition, is arguably more impressive than Froning’s 4 in a row.

Either way, you’re splitting hairs at this point.

It really comes down to which athlete you like better, or hate less.

What’s Next For CrossFit In The Mens Division?

This is where it can get tricky for CrossFit in the near future.

2020 was already challenging enough for CrossFit with the oust of Greg Glassman, the turmoil that came with it, the pandemic closing down boxes worldwide, and the patchwork CrossFit Games.

We will say the Games turned out way better than expected, but we personally would have loved to see the top 10 in each division at the ranch.

Anyways, in our perspective, there’s no clear cut person to take the throne. It could be anyone at this point.

Is that good or bad?

Only time will tell.

What makes a great movie, or great theater, is having a villain or hero to root for.

Whether if you like them or not is irrelevant. Having one helps make the story better.

Rich was the first hero. Mat was either the next one, or the villain, as maybe he won too much and rarely was anyone ever close.

So where does that leave us within the men’s division?

Is it time for Noah Olsen to take that spot?

Will we see a newcomer out of nowhere?

But more importantly, is there someone out there that you could look at and say… this guy has that IT factor.

We just don’t know.

Not to knock what Ben Smith did as the fittest man in the world, but does anyone really remember his 2015 victory?

To put it bluntly, CrossFit needs stars to drive the sport, and it needs that someone on the edge to truly take it to the next level.

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Disclaimer:
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contain 0.0% THC