Shadowing Practice: 2025 CrossFit Games, Men’s Event 10, Final Heat - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
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Jason Hopper has an opportunity to do something he has only dreamed of.
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Jason Hopper has an opportunity to do something he has only dreamed of.
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If he wins, he claims the title of fittest on earth.
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Hatfield's coming off back to back wins to start off Sunday and this
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It's your six athletes that all have everything to gain and everything to lose
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Hopper with one rep on the field right now
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Advantage here going into this round of 21 joined by Roman quickly and here come the boys
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Jason Hopper has been clashing with Titans all weekend long He's ten feet away from his dream -
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nine thrusters at 135 Ten athletes standing in the shadow of Zeus.
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Thank you.
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The name of the event is "Atlas." - Yeah!
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Jason Hopper has an opportunity to do something he has only dreamed of,
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and that is to win the CrossFit Games.
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He wears the red and whites, but he is not alone in that fight.
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Adrian, what does he have to do to keep his composure?
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He's got to focus on only him.
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Right now Jason loves to get outside of his lane and look left and looked right.
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Right now, I think
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if he gets hyper -focused on his Fitness right here what he's capable of and the pace that he's able to withstand, he can come out the victor.
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These athletes all coming out to a blistering pace right now.
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Chase, we've seen several different approaches in this event from the
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men-- from the women all the way through the first two heats of men.
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Breaking up reps left and right.
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We're not gonna see a bunch of that going down here in this final...
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Heat for the men.
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- Men advancing to the round of 15.
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- Hey!
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Shop gear from Rogue Fitness, the official equipment supplier of CrossFit in the CrossFit Games.
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15 thrusts at 135.
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Jason Hopper takes a break.
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And that's what you wanna see right there.
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The humility to meet yourself where you're at, break the bar when you plan to, don't worry about everyone else.
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Stay smooth, stay confident, and work yourself right back to that rope.
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- He's got a good one.
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- Thank you.
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Jason Hopper is done.
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If he wins, he claims the title of fittest on earth.
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Jalen Pepper.
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Trying to keep pace.
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And this is where Jason Hopper, using his length of his body, His height and his wingspan has an advantage.
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to reduce a couple seconds on every rope climb compared to
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a lot of these guys in the field as long as his the clasp of his feet
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and the reach of his hand is efficient on each climb.
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Last side of your screen, here's what's on the line.
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Jason Hopper, six point lead over Ricky.
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Ricky needs to beat Hopper.
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by two places if he wants the title.
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Catfield.
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Needs four.
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Hatfield's coming off back to back wins to start off Sunday.
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- Thank you.
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Dallin Pepper sitting in fourth, James Sprague in third, one point behind him.
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We have three spots available.
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33 points.
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between first and six.
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As we are on our.. set of five rope climbs.
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Oh!
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And Hopper with one rep on the field right now.
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Advantage here going into this round of 21s, joined by Roman Crickley, and here come the boys!
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Jason Hopper is wearing the leader jersey all day.
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In the previous event, he also came out hot.
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That did not pay off very well.
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Can he hold on here?
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21 thrusts at 135.
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- takes his first break.
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- Oh, my God.
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Thank you.
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And this - Yeah.
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is your six athletes that all have everything to gain. And everything to lose.
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He's got a good one.
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Spray, Hatfield, Hopper, Garrard, Pepper, and Crouch.
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We thought we'd have this coming in.
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And it's on full display here on the floor of the MVP arena.
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- Hey!
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Oh Four minutes in.
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Final set of thrusters for Hopper.
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Seven rope climbs, wait for him. On Zeus.
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This is where we're gonna find out how has he balanced his personal threshold.
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Has he stayed in his lane well enough?
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Has he overshot his shot here?
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One full climb before anyone else starts moving.
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That's a huge advantage right now, and he's got that over Mr. Sprig.
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But it is not over yet because James Sprague doing what James Sprague does and is within one rep of Jason Hopper.
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It's not over after the rope climbs.
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If anything, the greatest test will be the hundred foot overhead walking lunge to the finish line.
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Spray has now caught up to Hopper.
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He did the same thing last year at Fort Worth.
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And that's the difference here, right, Chase?
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We know, hey, James has worn the red and white, not just worn it.
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He finished the weekend as the fittest on Earth last year.
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And he would love nothing more than an opportunity.
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And Jason Hopper, has he learned his lesson from the last event?
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Or is he just leaving that door slightly cracked open for James here?
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James Sprague was about 20 points out of the lead going into the final event of the CrossFit Games.
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He's only 19 out of the lead now.
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James Sprague, matchup with Hopper.
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Hopper goes up again.
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He's on rep 57.
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The number to get to is 60.
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And here comes James, already chipping away at Hopper's lead.
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Hopper had one full rope climb and now he's about a half of a rep ahead of James.
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James, if he wants to make a move, he needs to make it now and he needs some guys to come with him.
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They will not be enough to get ahead by one.
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Two climbs left for Hopper.
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Here's what we want to consider.
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We had running Isabel earlier.
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There was a lot of stability demanded from these athletes' grip in their shoulders.
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to be put to a full test on the final two rope climbs and the 100 feet overhead walking lunge.
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So if you think the pressure is going anywhere outside of their mind and their shoulders, no, no, it's the weight.
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It's the weight of the world, like you said.
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Jason Hopper is done.
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James Sprague along with him.
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Halffield is struggling.
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Where's Ricky Garrard?
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James Sprague is only six points out of a podium position.
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And he's on the first one And here comes Justin, Mr. "I Love" overhead walking lunges, Maderos.
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All Jason Hopper has to do is stay in the back pocket of James Sprague.
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Jason Hopper is 70 feet away from being the fittest man on Earth.
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Sprague fighting for the podium.
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Can Jason Hopper hold on?
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that Proud is on their feet.
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Atlas is the name of the event.
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Banished for eternity by Zeus for fighting with the gods.
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Jason Hopper has been clashing with Titans all weekend long.
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He's 10 feet away from his dream.
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And Jason Hopper won the map.
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He held the sword of He -Man over his head.
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And today, Jason Hopper has the power!
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Hopper is the fittest man on earth!
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We said he would need to be calculated, we said he would need to be intentional.
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He stayed in his lane, even with that last ten foot drop that he chose to take.
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That was the maturity of an athlete watching it front and center right there.
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He's got a good one.
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And in the midst of the chaos, the first two games.
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James Sprague got outtouched by Justin Medeiros.
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But he stayed ahead of Hopper.
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James Sprague needed some help to get on the podium.
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Did Gerard do enough to hold on a second?
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Can Hatfield stop the bleeding?
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Thank you.
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- Hatfield had such a strong outing.
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Two event wins to start the day.
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He said he was going to go on a championship Sunday run.
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Strong outing for Austin.
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Struggle there on the road.
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Austin is in.
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Spray has to sit and wait.
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Ricky, right next to him, has to sit and wait.
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Thank you.
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But Hopper gets to sit and soak it in.
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I'm not too proud of you, dude!
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Oh my gosh!
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Hey, where's the house?
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I don't know.
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Let's go.
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You look around when I think I'm close.
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Ladies and gentlemen, the 2025 Crocs and Games champion,
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your fittest man alive, Jason Huffman!
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Jason, putting the team to earn the title on a vent, and then we're going to close it out there.
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You see the title up on the Jumbotron.
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Has to feel pretty darn good.
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Jason Opper.
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- Andrew, the name of the event was Atlas.
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Is there any man that held the weight of the world on his shoulders on his own regard,
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with the potential to win the CrossFit Games more than Jason Hopper.
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No, the answer's no. I mean, Jason Hopper, there had been talk about him being a podium athlete from the time he qualified to the CrossFit Games.
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Year in and year out, we talked about, "Hey, is this a make
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or break here for Jason Hopper?" That was brought up as a very popular topic right here in 2025.
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He felt the weight of that white and red jersey.
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And he shined in it right here in this finale.
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Atlas is something that he excelled at.
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A man who got cut I'm not in 23.
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Thank you.
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just outside the podium at 24.
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And two years later from being cut at the CrossFit Games, stands on the podium here in 2025.
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Chase, from the beginning of this event, Hopper came out aggressive,
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which what we saw play out in running Isabel just an event before did not play out in his favor, but this was different.
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He knew it was all on the line.
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He came out a little bit more collected, a little bit more composed, seven repetitions, which put him in the driver's seat.
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But it was a fellow brute strength athlete, James Sprague, that picked up that bar just ahead of him.
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started to lead the way.
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But it was this choice here where Hopper decided to take a break just prior to his final 10 feet
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that showed me he was running his own race, which gave him the confidence
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and of course the proper placing to finish on top of
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this podium this year in first place the 20 25 fittest
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man on earth james bragg made a run maderos made a run
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but it was all hopper as the head storyline he made it happen Here results.
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From event 10, Justin Medeiros.
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just ahead of James Sprague.
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And Jason Hopper.
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did all he needed to do exactly what he needed to do.
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to become the fittest man on earth.
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He's down to Mike Arsenault.
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Jason, you identified as a potential champion when you burst onto the scene back in 2021
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It took you five years to get to this point.
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You're the 2025 CrossFit Games champion.
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What was going through your mind on that final lunge?
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The crowd rose to their feet when you knew you had the title in the bag.
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I was just thinking No retries.
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Um.
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First of all, Grace Ann, we did it, baby!
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Grace Ann, I could not have done this without you.
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I just want to let you know.
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I know I thank you in private all the time.
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But I wanna just let everybody know, I could not come out here and compete at the highest level without that woman right there.
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I think we saw a big change in your performance from past years on event number nine.
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You had a bit of a mistake that cost you some points.
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you really were able to be methodical on event number 10, when maybe Jason from past years would have put pedal to the metal
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and potentially had another mistake that might have cost you the title.
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Where did this newfound maturity come from?
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Just experience, you know, the first couple of years.
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I wasn't perfect with mistakes and you know, I'd keep riding the previous events into the next one.
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And so this was a perfect opportunity to come out here in the final event and put whatever happened on
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event nine to the side and Like I said, no retries tomorrow, full send, whatever happens, happens.
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Well, there is no tomorrow, you're the champ.
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You mentioned earlier this weekend, that your wife wasn't a big fan of the new hair color, but the hair color led to the CrossFit Games title, so I have to ask.
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Who's gonna win out?
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Is it sticking around?
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I don't know, Crown.
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Y 'all gotta convince her.
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Let her know.
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I think that's right now wasn't very convincing I think the
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title will make the hair color an easier pelvis swallow Jason congratulations terrific for Perrin's Jason Hopper, your 2025 CrossFit Games champion.
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Hey, thank you everybody.
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Your results after 10 events,
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Jason Hopper stands on top of Games Mountain, 787 points.
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your 2024 games champ in third one point behind Ricky.
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We could say a lot I'm almost speechless because of the show
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that we have gotten to experience over the past three days from all of these men that took the competition floor.
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consistency.
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You gotta kill 'em with consistency.
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If you're watching this and you wanna be a great in this sport, or don the opportunity to be on the competition floor, become as well -rounded as one of these top 30 and you'll have a chance.
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Your Don't Weekend moment of the day presented by Rogue, Jason Hopper.
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What a fight all weekend long.
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Got the leader jersey.
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- Okay.
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lost to Lena Jersey.
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Got it back.
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Nearly lost it again.
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But when the moment mattered most, Hopper rose to the occasion.
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And he is your new CrossFit Games champion, Jason Hopper.
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is the fittest.
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man on earth.
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Great job, you guys.
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Thank you.
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Thank you.
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Thank you.
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Let's go down to Mike Arteneau, who's with Ricky Garrard and James Frank.
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I'm with the rest of the podium.
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Ricky tremendous performance.
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Your second time in your CrossFit Games career ending up on the podium.
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with the silver medal.
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I know it's not.
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The color medal that you were hoping for at the beginning of this weekend, but how would you rate your performance?
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Um...
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To be honest, I'm pretty pissed off, but To get that close just stings, you know?
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I'm fighting the whole life.
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try and win this thing and Yeah, just come short, you know?
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I don't wanna blame the pegboard, but it's just, It's killing me, you know.
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I think I can speak for everyone in lane 5 but It is what it is, I gotta be grateful.
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that I'm in this arena with all these awesome people, these awesome dudes I get to compete with, I still had a blast, I gave everything I had.
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I'll still walk away with my head high and come back next year and Trying to do it for real.
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We appreciate the honesty Ricky where Where do you see that some changes maybe have to be made in your preparation,
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or do any changes have to be made? in your preparation
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for next year to finally climb to the top of the podium?
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I mean, I'm right where I need to be.
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The team I'm with at Proven, They've been the best thing for me.
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I've come leaps and bounds since last year.
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The preparation I had was It was the best I've ever had.
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This is the best I've ever felt.
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I'm right where I need to be.
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I've just got to Stay consistent, keep turning up.
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Got the best team behind me, so...
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We gotta run it back next year and I hope you all come to watch.
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Thanks Ricky, congratulations.
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Thank you guys, appreciate it.
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James.
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Another big performance in the final event got you onto the podium.
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defending champion I know it wasn't the end result that you wanted, but how would you rate the defense of your title this weekend?
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After day one, I really thought I was out of it.
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Just a bunch of things didn't go my way.
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I said in my last interview after the event win, but I think my response to that was crucial.
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It was either You keep leaning into it or you turn away and
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and I'm glad I didn't give up and fought up to this spot because
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I think that winning takes a little bit of luck and a ton of fitness, I think, being on the podium.
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He knows some fitness, so I feel fit enough to be up there.
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I'm excited to fight for years to come, but I wouldn't be...
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telling you the truth, I told you it didn't sting, so.
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I'm really looking forward to getting back into the gym, fighting really hard and This sport's changed my life, so I'm looking forward to much more of it.
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What did you learn about yourself this weekend that you'll take into the offseason and into the 2026 CrossFit game season?
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I learned that health is wealth.
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You know, if your body's running smooth and your mind's running smooth, you're gonna be able to take on any challenge.
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I think that today was a big mental day for all of us.
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We woke up feeling beat up.
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Sorry for ourselves.
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just being able to be resilient on a day three or day four of competition It's something I'm becoming more vetted at.
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And I just feel like because I trust my training, put my trust in the Lord, and I'm trusting all his strength to get me through these challenges.
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So looking forward to many more years of this to come, like I said.
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James, it was a very impressive title defense.
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Congratulations.
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Thank you very much.
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Thank you fans for being here for us.
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Really appreciate you guys.
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Respect to James Sprigg.
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Last year he got a little bit of an elbow into hey, is 2024 an asterisk year?
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The field was diluted, was it watered down?
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Hey, this was a full contended heat of men.
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One of the most competitive we have ever seen.
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And James Frigg rose to the challenge and still finished on top of the podium.
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After some adversity throughout the course of the weekend.
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You love to see a young man like that who also is showing
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so much love to the methodology and how it changed both his fathers and his own personal life.
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Absolutely.
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Good to see James there and think
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Just getting out -touched by the Darius on the very end was the difference between
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second place finish at the games but couldn't be happier to see we've had THE FUTURE is bright.
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not just with the depth we have for the midman but the talent.
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we have for the women.
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It took three days, felt like an eternity, but we have crowned the fittest man and woman on earth.
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Congratulations for eight.
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for Tia Claire Toomey.
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Congratulations to Jason Hopper for your first CrossFit Games championship.
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For Adrian Conway, Mike Arsenault, I'm Chase Ingram.
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That concludes the 2025 CrossFit Games.
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you *Dramatic
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Music outro music *
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Bye.
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you *music
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What You'll Learn from This CrossFit Games Clip
This video is a goldmine for english speaking practice, especially if you want to master real-time, high-energy communication. You’ll learn to follow fast-paced, conversational speech—critical for IELTS speaking practice where clarity under pressure matters. Notice how the commentators switch between describing action and analyzing strategy; this helps you practice understanding and reproducing topic shifts smoothly. Plus, you’ll pick up how to emphasize key points (like "fittest on earth") to convey urgency, a skill that elevates any speaking task.
Listen For These Sounds: Connected Speech in Action
The dialogue is full of natural linking and reductions that native speakers use. Listen for "clashing with Titans"—the "with" blends into "Titans" as "wif Titans." Or "what he's capable of"—the "he's" shortens to "iz," making it "what iz capable of." These small sounds are key to shadowspeak (shadowing speech) because they mimic how English is actually spoken, not just written. Also, notice "ten feet away from his dream"—the "from his" links to "frumiz," creating a fluid rhythm you can practice repeating.
Say It Like a Native: Rhythm and Stress
To mirror the speakers, focus on stress and pacing. Words like "OPPORTUNITY," "DREAM," and "VICTOR" are stressed to highlight importance—this is how native speakers guide attention. The commentators also use a rapid, staccato rhythm during action ("Hopper with one rep!") and slow down for analysis ("He's got to focus on only him"). Practice shadow speak by pausing the video and repeating these lines, matching the speed and emphasis. This trains your mouth to move like a native and helps you sound more natural in conversations, whether for shadowspeaks practice or real-life interactions.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.