The Rogue Invitational is an annual sporting event that includes a
CrossFit
CrossFit is a branded fitness regimen that involves constantly varied functional movements performed at high intensity. The method was developed by Greg Glassman, who founded CrossFit with Lauren Jenai in 2000, with CrossFit its registered trad ...
competition and a
strongman competition
Strength athletics, also known as Strongman competitions, is a sport which tests competitors' strength in a variety of non-traditional ways. Some of the disciplines are similar to those in powerlifting and some powerlifters have also successfully ...
. 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 the history of strongman competition was added in 2021.
History
The Rogue Invitational was announced in November 2018 as a sanctioned CrossFit event for the
2019 CrossFit Games
The 2019 CrossFit Games was the 13th iteration of the annual competition in the sport CrossFit held from August 1–4, 2019, at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. The men's competition was won by Mat Fraser, the women ...
. For the first Invitational, the top 10 male and top 10 female athletes from the
2018 CrossFit Games
The 2018 CrossFit Games was the 12th CrossFit Games and held on August 1–5, 2018, at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. The men's competition was won by Mathew Fraser, the women's by Tia-Clair Toomey, and CrossFit ...
were given an invitation, as well as online qualifiers and other select top athletes making a total of 20 men, 20 women and 10 teams invited. The prize purse was $400,000, with the winners winning a top prize of $50,000 and a place at the
CrossFit Games
The CrossFit Games is an annual athletic competition owned and operated by CrossFit, LLC. Athletes compete in a series of events at the Games, which may be various standard CrossFit workouts consisting of metabolic conditioning exercises, weightl ...
in their respective division, and all participants are guaranteed a cash prize. 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. The competition was held at the Rogue company headquarters in
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...
over two days in May 2019. 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
Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr (born 22 July 1993) is an Australian weightlifter and CrossFit Games athlete. She is the most dominant athlete at the CrossFit Games, having won six times at the competition. She also won the gold medal in the women's even ...
for the women's, and CrossFit OC3 for the team's.
The competition was live-streamed, and Rogue partnered with
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
to broadcast edited segments of the competition after the event.
In 2020, due to the ongoing
Coronavirus pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...
, 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. No team competition was held this year or in subsequent years.
The third Rogue Invitational returned to live competition in 2021, which took place over three days in October at
Dell Diamond
Dell Diamond is the home stadium of the Round Rock Express, the Triple-A Minor League Baseball affiliate of the Texas Rangers major league baseball team. On April 16, 2000, the then- Double-A affiliate Express played their first home game at ...
near
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...
. 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. It also expanded to include a strongman contest this year, instituting the biggest prize purse in the history of strongman competition. 20 men and 20 women in CrossFit (no qualifiers this year) were invited to compete in the CrossFit competition, while the field for the strongman competition had 10 athletes including 4
WSM champions.
Martins Licis was the first winner of the strongman competition at Rogue Invitational.
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. The competition was extended to four days this year with an extra offsite event added.
Events
The first Rogue Invitational had 8 events for individuals, 7 for teams and 4 for Legends. No team competition was held after the first year. The second featured 6 events, the third 7, the fourth 10. The programming of the events at Rogue has a bias toward strength.
The first strongman competition had five events. They include the "Wheel of Pain" created by Rogue, which is an implement inspired by the film ''
Conan the Barbarian
Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian) is a fictional sword and sorcery hero who originated in pulp magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, films (including '' Conan the Barbarian'' and '' Conan the Destroyer'') ...
'' and the largest implement ever created for a strongman competition and first used in the
Arnold Strongman Classic
The Arnold Strongman Classic is an annual competition featuring strength athletes from all over the world, determining who is the Strongest Man in the World. Created by Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jim Lorimer and Terry Todd, it is an offshoot of the A ...
. Other events included the Rogue-created Elephant Bar for max
deadlift
The deadlift is a weight training exercise in which a loaded barbell or bar is lifted off the ground to the level of the hips, torso perpendicular to the floor, before being placed back on the ground. It is one of the three powerlifting exercises, ...
and Stone Over Hitching Post. 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. Specially-constructed equipment include "Rogue-a-Coaster Pull" where competitors pulled 600 lbs in a cart up a slope simulating a
roller coaster
A roller coaster, or rollercoaster, is a type of amusement ride that employs a form of elevated railroad track designed with tight turns, steep slopes, and sometimes inversions. Passengers ride along the track in open cars, and the rides are o ...
ramp, and "Tower of Power" that featured an elevated 900 lbs deadlift on a platform.
Winners
References
{{reflist
External links
Rogue Invitational
International sports competitions hosted by the United States
CrossFit
Strongmen competitions