When Tia-Clair Toomey returned to the CrossFit Games stage in 2024, just months after giving birth, it wasn’t simply another chapter in her already storied career. It was a statement. Now, heading to Albany in 2025 to chase her eighth title, Toomey isn’t just competing to win. She’s doing it for the young woman who first stepped into a CrossFit gym in 2013.
That sentiment, voiced by her coach and husband Shane Orr in the latest Road to the Games documentary, reveals the emotional undercurrent of Toomey’s drive. “She doesn’t owe it to herself for this year. She owes it to the person back in 2013 who first found CrossFit,” he says. It’s a powerful reminder that even the most dominant athlete in the sport’s history remains grounded by her beginnings.
The Road to the Games Episode offers a rare behind-the-scenes look at Tia’s training camp in Nashville. But it does more than show the workouts. It paints a portrait of a woman balancing elite competition with motherhood, marriage, mentorship, and a legacy that now transcends sport. Her days are filled not only with clean and jerk complexes and high-volume metcons, but with packing lunch for her daughter Willow and sharing gym space with rising athletes like Lucy McGonigal.
Tia’s journey to seven CrossFit Games titles between 2017 and 2022 is already unprecedented. But after taking 2023 off to become a mother, her 2024 comeback was something even more impressive. She not only returned, she won. And in doing so, she became the first woman to ever win the Games after giving birth.
Now, she eyes title number eight in Albany. It’s a goal that is equal parts ambitious and deeply personal. As she reflects in the film, the pressure of maintaining dominance hasn’t gone away. If anything, it’s intensified. “Every crown, every championship… it adds another weight,” she says. But instead of letting it crush her, Toomey uses that pressure as fuel. Her mindset has evolved into one of clarity, focus, and brutal self-expectation.
“I can never settle,” she says. “I wish I could relax, but I can’t.” That fire, that refusal to accept anything less than her best, has defined Toomey’s career. And it’s why fellow competitors and coaches alike admit, often with a mix of awe and frustration, that beating her is nearly impossible.
Some of them even joke that the only way to beat Tia is to wait for her to retire. But as the episode shows, that may be harder than expected. She admits she’s tried to walk away before, even told herself, “This is the last one.” And yet, the draw of the training floor, of competing alongside friends, and of proving something to herself always pulls her back in.
What makes her continued success so compelling is not just her physical dominance, but the layers of her story. From Olympic weightlifting and bobsled to CrossFit and now motherhood, she has continually redefined what an elite female athlete can be. She’s not just lifting barbells; she’s lifting expectations, breaking barriers, and reshaping what legacy in sport looks like.
In 2025, whether or not she secures that eighth title, Toomey has already carved her place in CrossFit history. But for her, it’s not only about winning. It’s about honoring the young woman who started this journey twelve years ago. The girl from 2013 who believed in herself enough to try – and who would be proud of how far she’s come.
Follow BOXROX on our site and social channels for complete 2025 CrossFit Games coverage
[ss_display_anyclip plid=”21522″ pubname=”2481″ widgetname=”0011r00002WF2PmAAL_M12479″
type=”doubleclick”
data-multi-size=”728×90,320×100,320×50,1×1″]
image sources
- Tia Clair Toomey Muscle Up: Photo Courtesy of CrossFit Inc
