Opinion

Mat Fraser vs Tia-Clair Toomey: who is the greatest CrossFit athlete of all-time?

Dave Castro divided opinion when he said Australian Tia-Clair Toomey was the most dominant of all-time

Fraser and Toomey are the greatest ever in their respective divisions, but what happens when you stack them against each other?

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Is Tia-Clair Toomey to most dominant CrossFit athlete of all-time? Photo: CrossFit Games

Brian Friend is an American CrossFit coach who also works as an analyst, writer, broadcast coordinator and consultant for the sport.

Published: 8:00pm, 7 Sep 2021

At the conclusion of the 2021 CrossFit Games three things happened. Tia-Clair Toomey won her fifth consecutive CrossFit Games, matching Mat Fraser’s wins, and consecutive wins, total. And Toomey completed her seventh straight CrossFit Games, matching Fraser’s total. In addition to each of their five titles, they began their careers with back-to-back runner-up finishes.

Then Dave Castro announced Toomey as the “most dominant CrossFit athlete of all time”, which on the surface could be true, but prompts a deep dive.

This is the only moment in history in which both Fraser and Toomey will have done seven consecutive CrossFit Games, and with the way their careers mirror each other, we wanted to understand how dominant each was.

Let’s take a look at some of the obvious statistical comparisons to lay the groundwork, starting with event wins.

Event wins at CrossFit Games between Mat Fraser and Tia-Clair Toomey. Photo: Handout

If Toomey having more event wins than Fraser is the only criteria factored into the claim of most dominant of all time that would be concerning, because there is much more to the story for both athletes.