Rogue Invitational

For the most recent competition, see 2024 Rogue Invitational.

Rogue Invitational

Tournament information
Sport|

* CrossFit
* Strongman

Location|  United States
Established| 2019; 5 years ago (2019)

Number of
tournaments

| 3
Format| Multi-event competition
Purse| $1.4 million (2021)[1]
Website| Rogue Invitational
Current champion

* CrossFit men:  Jeffrey Adler
* CrossFit women:  Tia-Clair Toomey
* Strongman:  Mitchell Hooper
* Strongwoman:  Inez Carrasquillo

Most recent tournament
2024 Rogue Invitational

The Rogue Invitational is an annual sporting event that includes a CrossFit competition and a Strongman competition. The event, organized by Rogue, started in 2019 as a CrossFit sanctioned competition, but has since become a major competition for CrossFit athletes. A contest for strongmen that featured the largest prize purse in strongman competition was added in 2021, and an additional one for strongwomen in 2024.

## History

[edit]

The Rogue Invitational was announced in November 2018 as a sanctioned CrossFit event for the 2019 CrossFit Games.[2] For the first Invitational, the top 10 male and top 10 female athletes from the 2018 CrossFit Games were given an invitation,[3] as well as online qualifiers and other select top athletes making a total of 20 men, 20 women and 10 teams invited.[4] The prize purse was $400,000, with the winners winning a top prize of $50,000 and a place at the CrossFit Games in their respective division, and all participants are guaranteed a cash prize.[5][6] A Legends division was included for notable past CrossFit male and female athletes. The first Rogue Invitational also hosted the Rogue Record Breakers whereby strongmen and strongwomen can attempt to break 4 Strongman records.[7] The competition was held at the Rogue company headquarters in Columbus, Ohio over two days in May 2019.[8] The inaugural Invitational was contested by 19 men, 20 women and 8 teams, and it won by Mat Fraser for the men's competition, Tia-Clair Toomey for the women's, and CrossFit OC3 for the team's.[9][10] The competition was live-streamed, and Rogue partnered with CBS to broadcast edited segments of the competition after the event.[11]

In 2020, due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, the event was postponed and held online in June, to be competed by 18 men and 18 women, including top Games athletes, qualifiers (from the qualification stage now called "The Q") and invitees.[12][13] No team competition was held this year or in subsequent years.[14]

The third Rogue Invitational returned to live competition in 2021, which took place over three days in October at Dell Diamond near Austin, Texas.[15] It provided a prize purse of $1.25 million at the minimum, the biggest in CrossFit outside of the CrossFit Games, and it became the only CrossFit competition that pays out to all athletes competing including airfare and accommodation.[16][17] It also expanded to include a strongman contest this year, instituting the biggest prize purse in the history of strongman competition.[18][19] 20 men and 20 women in CrossFit (no qualifiers this year) were invited to compete in the CrossFit competition,[20] while the field for the strongman competition had 10 athletes including 4 WSM champions.[21] Martins Licis was the first winner of the strongman competition at Rogue Invitational.[22]

In 2022, 15 top male and 15 top female athletes from the CrossFit Games were invited, and at least 5 men and 5 women from the qualifier which returned this year.[23] The competition was extended to four days this year with an extra offsite event added.[24]

In 2024, the Invitational was moved to Aberdeen Scotland.[25] This year, invitations were issued using a new ranking system based on the performance of athletes over a 5-year period but weighted in favor of more recent competitions including the Open, Quarterfinals, CrossFit Games and Rogue Invitational. It includes an "Exceptions Points Table" to award points for those who missed a competition for any specific reason.[26] The top 10 in this system will be invited, with five from the Q online qualifiers, and five more at the discretion of Rogue.[27] A strongwoman competition with the biggest prize purse in the history of the sport was added this year.[28][29]

## Events

[edit]

The first Rogue Invitational had 8 events for individuals,[30][31] 7 for teams and 4 for Legends.[32] No team competition was held after the first year. The second featured 6 events, the third 7, the fourth 10.[33] The programming of the events at Rogue has a bias toward strength.[34]

The first strongman competition had five events. They include the "Wheel of Pain" created by Rogue,[35] which is an implement inspired by the film Conan the Barbarian and the largest implement ever created for a strongman competition and first used in the Arnold Strongman Classic.[36] Other events included the Rogue-created Elephant Bar for max deadlift and Inver Stones over hitching post.[37] Six events were scheduled over two days in the second strongman competition, with three events repeated from the first competition: Cyr Dumbbell Ladder, Yoke Carry & Overhead Log Lift Medley, Stone Over Hitching Post.[38] Specially-constructed equipment include "Rogue-a-Coaster Pull" where competitors pulled 600 lbs in a cart up a slope simulating a roller coaster ramp, and "Tower of Power" that featured an elevated 900 lbs deadlift on a platform.[39]

## Winners

[edit]

### Champions

[edit]

Year  | Venue  | CrossFit  | Strongman

|
|
|

Men  | Women  | Men  | Women
2019  | Rogue HQ, Columbus, Ohio  |  Mat Fraser[9] |  Tia-Clair Toomey[9] | Not held | Not held
2020  | Online |  Patrick Vellner[40] |  Tia-Clair Toomey[41]
2021  | Dell Diamond, Austin, Texas  |  Justin Medeiros[42] |  Tia-Clair Toomey[43] |  Martins Licis[42]
2022  | Dell Diamond, Austin, Texas  |  Justin Medeiros[44] |  Laura Horvath[45] |  Oleksii Novikov[46]
2023 | Dell Diamond, Austin, Texas  |  Patrick Vellner |  Laura Horvath |  Mitchell Hooper[47]
2024 | P&J Live, Aberdeen, Scotland  |  Jeffrey Adler[48] |  Tia-Clair Toomey[48] |  Mitchell Hooper[48] |  Inez Carrasquillo[29]

### Podiums

[edit]

#### CrossFit - Men

[edit]

Year  | Champion  | Runner-Up  | 3rd Place

|
|
|

2019 |  Mat Fraser |  Patrick Vellner |  Cole Sager
2020 |  Patrick Vellner |  Björgvin Guðmundsson |  Noah Ohlsen
2021 |  Justin Medeiros |  Patrick Vellner |  Jeffrey Adler
2022 |  Justin Medeiros |  Chandler Smith |  Jeffrey Adler
2023 |  Patrick Vellner |  Jeffrey Adler |  Roman Khrennikov
2024 |  Jeffrey Adler |  Brent Fikowski |  Jayson Hopper

#### CrossFit - Women

[edit]

Year  | Champion  | Runner-Up  | 3rd Place

|
|
|

2019 |  Tia-Clair Toomey |  Sara Sigmundsdóttir |  Anníe Mist Þórisdóttir
2020 |  Tia-Clair Toomey |  Sara Sigmundsdóttir |  Jamie Simmonds
2021 |  Tia-Clair Toomey |  Anníe Mist Þórisdóttir |  Gabriela Migała
2022 |  Laura Horvath |  Anníe Mist Þórisdóttir |  Emma Lawson
2023 |  Laura Horvath |  Tia-Clair Toomey |  Emma Lawson
2024 |  Tia-Clair Toomey |  Laura Horvath |  Arielle Loewen

#### Strongman

[edit]

Year  | Champion  | Runner-Up  | 3rd Place

|
|
|

2021 |  Martins Licis |  Tom Stoltman |  Oleksii Novikov
2022 |  Oleksii Novikov |  Trey Mitchell |  Mitchell Hooper
2023 |  Mitchell Hooper |  Tom Stoltman |  Mateusz Kieliszkowski
2024 |  Mitchell Hooper |  Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson & Tom Stoltman (tied)

#### Strongwoman

[edit]

Year  | Champion  | Runner-Up  | 3rd Place

|
|
|

2024 |  Inez Carrasquillo |  Olga Liashchuk |  Lucy Underdown

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Clark, Patrick (November 1, 2021). "2021 Rogue Invitational Final Payouts".
2. ^ Dominguez, Damect (November 2, 2018). "Just Announced: The Rogue Invitational". BoxLife.
3. ^ Balf, Celia (April 29, 2019). "The ROGUE Invitational Is Absolutely Stacked With Top CrossFit Athletes". BarBend.
4. ^ "Rogue Invitational Online Qualifier Live". CrossFit Games. April 5, 2019.
5. ^ Balf, Celia (May 17, 2019). "ROGUE Invitational: How To Watch, Prize Money, Roster Breakdown, And More". BarBend.
6. ^ "The 2019 Rogue Invitational – A CrossFit Sanctioned Event". Rogue Fitness. November 1, 2018.
7. ^ Beck, Kalle (May 16, 2019). "Strong(wo)man Records to be challenged at Rogue invitational". Starting Strongman.
8. ^ Blennerhassett, Patrick (May 17, 2019). "CrossFit's 2019 Rogue Invitational: Mat Fraser, Tia-Clair Toomey and Rich Froning look to reign supreme in Games warm-up". South China Morning Post.
9. ^ a b c Hudson, Robin Wild (May 20, 2019). "Mat Fraser and Tia-Clair Toomey Win The Rogue Invitational". BoxRox.
10. ^ Pyfferoen, Brian (May 20, 2019). "OC3 Black Pull Their Way to Victory at Rogue Invitational". The Barbell Spin.
11. ^ Clark, Patrick (October 24, 2021). "CBS to Broadcast Edited Features on the 2021 Rogue Invitational". Morning Chalk Up.
12. ^ Clark, Patrick (June 11, 2020). "Rogue Invitational Gathers Top Athletes for Online Competition". Morning Chalk Up.
13. ^ "The Q Leaderboard".
14. ^ Blechman, Phil (March 15, 2020). "2020 Rogue Invitational Will Now Be Held Online On June 13-14". BarBend.
15. ^ "Rogue Invitational at Dell Diamond: October 29 - 31, 2021". MiLB.com.
16. ^ Kyllmann, Caro (August 5, 2021). "Rogue Invitational Announces $1,250,000 Uncapped Prize Purse, Paid Party in Bitcoin". BoxRox.
17. ^ Newby, John (August 25, 2021). "Rogue Increases Travel Stipend to Support Athletes' Travel to Invitational". Morning Chalk Up.
18. ^ Blechman, Phil (August 26, 2021). "2021 Rogue Invitational Strongman Roster — Kieliszkowski And Licis Return". BarBend.
19. ^ Williams, Brett (October 28, 2021). "How You Can Watch the 2021 Rogue Invitational". Men's Health.
20. ^ "Who's Getting Invited to the 2021 Rogue Invitational". Morning Chalk Up. August 25, 2021.
21. ^ Blechman, Phil (October 19, 2021). "Strongman Athletes To Watch At The 2021 Rogue Invitational". BarBend.
22. ^ Reddy, Rajneesh (October 31, 2021). "Martins Licis Wins The Inaugural Strongman Contest At 2021 Rogue Invitational". Fitness Volt.
23. ^ LoFranco, Justin (August 17, 2022). "First Wave of Rogue Invites Sent Out". Morning Chalk Up.
24. ^ Dickson, Jake (October 22, 2022). "2022 Rogue Invitational Adds Fourth Day Of Events To Competition Slate". BarBend.
25. ^ Burn, Robert (February 26, 2024). "2024 Rogue Invitational Taking Place in Scotland". BoxRox.
26. ^ "Invitational Qualifying System". Rogue Fitness.
27. ^ Spin, Brian (June 3, 2024). "Rogue Debuts New Qualifying System for 2024 Rogue Invitational". Barbell Spin.
28. ^ Blechman, Phil (March 27, 2024). "The 2024 Rogue Invitational Will Feature Debut of Strongwoman Competition". BarBend.
29. ^ a b Blechman, Phil (November 9, 2024). "Inez Carrasquillo Wins 2024 Rogue Strongwoman Invitational". BarBend.
30. ^ "Rogue Invitation 2019". WodWell.
31. ^ "Fraser vs Vellner – 2019 Rogue Invitational Analysis". Heatonminded. May 20, 2019.
32. ^ Garves, Ben (May 18, 2019). "Rogue Invitational Schedule 2019".
33. ^ Blechman, Phil (October 25, 2022). "7 Of 10 Individual Events For The 2022 Rogue Invitational Announced". Barbend.
34. ^ Friend, Brian (November 3, 2021). "Strength Bias Shines Through in Rogue Programming: Moreso For Men than Women".
35. ^ Blechman, Phil (October 13, 2021). "Five Events For The 2021 Rogue Invitational Strongman Show Have Been Announced". BarBend.
36. ^ Darling, Mike (January 22, 2020). "The 'Wheel of Pain' Strongman Challenge Inspired by 'Conan the Barbarian'". Men's Health.
37. ^ Blechman, Phil (October 13, 2021). "Five Events For The 2021 Rogue Invitational Strongman Show Have Been Announced". BarBend.
38. ^ Blechman, Phil (October 20, 2022). "2022 Rogue Invitational Strongman Events". BarBend.
39. ^ Smith, Andrew (October 28, 2022). "2022 Rogue Invitational Strongman Results: Day One [Live Updates]". Fitness Volt.
40. ^ Clark, Patrick (June 14, 2020). "Toomey and Vellner Win Rogue Invitational in Dominating Fashion". Morning Chalk Up.
41. ^ Magnante, Matthew (June 14, 2020). "Patrick Vellner, Tia-Clair Toomey win Rogue Invitational". Fitness Volt.
42. ^ a b Williams, Brett (October 28, 2021). "CrossFit Champs and a Returning Strongman Ruled the Rogue Invitational". Men's Health.
43. ^ Blennerhassett, Patrick (November 1, 2021). "Rogue Invitational: Tia-Clair Toomey pips Annie Thorisdottir to title as CrossFit's female icons battle it out". South China Morning Post.
44. ^ Gutman, Andrew (October 30, 2022). "Justin Medeiros Is Your 2022 Rogue Invitational Men's CrossFit Champion". BarBend.
45. ^ Dickson, Jake (October 30, 2022). "Laura Horvath Wins 2022 Rogue Invitational Women's CrossFit Competition". BarBend.
46. ^ Lockridge, Roger (October 29, 2022). "2022 Rogue Invitational Strongman Event 6 — Stones Over Hitching Post Results & Recap". BarBend.
47. ^ Tabakovi, Vedad (28 October 2023). "Mitchell Hooper Wins The 2023 Rogue Invitational Strongman". Fitness Volt. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
48. ^ a b c Williams, Brett (November 11, 2024). "Who Won the Strongman and CrossFit Competitions at the 2024 Rogue Invitational". Men's Health.

## External links

[edit]

* Rogue Invitational

* v
* t
* e

Rogue Invitational champions

* 2021:  Martins Licis (USA)
* 2022:  Oleksii Novikov (UKR)
* 2023:  Mitchell Hooper (CAN)
* 2024:  Mitchell Hooper (CAN)

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template
*[USA]: United States
*[UKR]: Ukraine
*[CAN]: Canada