Aline Wirz – 20 Events, and She Loved Every One of Them

Anyone who has followed the past few months knows how unlikely that sentence is. In May it wasn't about placings — it was about whether she would ever move normally again. In July the Games spot came as a late backfill. And now, after five days and 20 events on the biggest competition floor in the world, she could go again right now.

Five days, 20 events

The 2026 CrossFit Games were the 20th edition — and they made a point of showing it. 20 events for 30 athletes: a 7,200-metre trail run, a bike race on grass, 500 metres of swimming with 100 burpees in between, a 500-metre sprint on an open street. Plus max lifts, the yoke, rings, ergometers, rope climbs in a weight vest, a handstand course — and a 160-kilo «pig» that needs flipping.

Aline finished all 20. Two athletes in the field did not.

Day 1: seventh in the world

Wednesday starts at nine in the morning with the 2007 Hopper: a 1,000-metre row, then five rounds of pull-ups and push jerks. Aline finishes in 8:16. Third place. In the very first event of her very first Games, against the 30 fittest women in the world.

Her own reaction that evening on Instagram: «Safe to say I was probably just as surprised as the commentators.»

Two hours later, the Ranch 7200, a 7,200-metre trail run. «Hands down the toughest run I've ever had to do… but wow, what an event. So much fun.» 43:20, sixth.

At 2 p.m. comes the CrossFit Total. More on that in a moment.

At 3:05 p.m., the Grass Track Race, 20 laps on the track. «Absolutely incredible. I definitely missed my purple bike, but I loved racing.» 19:17, fourth.

And at 5:35 p.m., closing a day with five competitions, the swim: 200 metres, 40 burpees, 150 metres, 30 burpees, and so on — 100 burpees between 500 metres of water. 13:44, fourteenth.

After that day, Aline Wirz sits in seventh place. Three top-10 finishes. The CrossFit Games put it well: «From late backfill to Day 1 standout.»

The Total

Between the trail run and the bike race sit three events that together produced fewer points than a single good one: the CrossFit Total — one max back squat, one max shoulder press, one max deadlift.

Aline lifts roughly 122, 52 and 141 kilos. 27th, 29th and 28th. Out of 300 possible points, six.

That's no surprise, and it's no disgrace either. Strength was always Aline's relative weakness — she said so herself on camera at the start of the season. And then came a year in which a C6 fracture took away exactly what she would have needed: months with barely any upper-body work, no strength block, a completely rebuilt training plan. That she stood under a heavy barbell in San Jose at all is the real story.

Here's how she described it that evening:

«Definitely not the numbers I was hoping for, but there wasn't even time to dwell on it with the next event starting right away. Sometimes having such a packed schedule is actually a blessing.»

The second half

Friday continues with things you cannot train for in any gym in the world. A 180-kilo «snail» to be pushed across the floor in a weight vest. Legless rope climbs. Thirteenth. A throwing event for distance. A handstand course, fourteenth.

Then, on Saturday, the 500-metre sprint straight through San Jose, spectators on both sides. 1:22.05 — third. Her third top-three finish of the weekend. And once again, one that involved running.

Shortly after: Triple Pig — bar muscle-ups, GHD wall balls, triple-unders, and a 160-kilo pig waiting to be flipped. Aline's comment: «Learning to do pig flips on the CrossFit Games floor is pretty awesome.»

Two events later she's at a barbell doing thrusters. Twenty-seventh. She writes: «Still not sure if thrusters hate me as much as I hate them.» Anyone who followed the 2026 Open has to laugh here — those same thrusters pushed her to 93rd in workout 26.3. Some things don't change.

The finish

Sunday begins with 3,600 metres of rowing and 3,600 metres of ski. Then five minutes of rolls to support, twelfth. And to close it out, the Fibonacci Final: deficit handstand push-ups, double-kettlebell deadlifts, and 27 metres of overhead kettlebell lunges.

6:05. And then it's over.

18th of 30. 647 points. Level on points with Bergrós Björnsdóttir of Iceland, ahead on the tiebreak. The best Swiss athlete in the field — Mirjam von Rohr finished 26th. Aimee Cringle of Great Britain is the Fittest Woman on Earth.

What the leaderboard doesn't show

If you only look at 18th place, you're reading the story backwards.

Aline took four top-10 finishes — and all four came where running, riding and breathing decide it: the Hopper (3rd), 500 metres (3rd), the bike race (4th), the trail run (6th). Her engine belongs in this field. No argument.

And three events cost her the rest: the Total. Six points out of 300, after a year without strength training, with a fracture in her neck.

She didn't fall apart either. She was caught — by 29 athletes who spent an entire season training for exactly this weekend. Aline had one week. She came in as a backfill. And on the way there she was still fighting a virus: «Right now, I'm still battling a virus that just doesn't want to let me go.»

What no table records: all weekend, she looked like someone who wanted to be exactly there. Laughing between events, curious before them, grateful afterwards. No obligation, no grinding. In a competition that runs five days and takes everything 20 times over, that's the rarest quality of all.

Anything is possible

In March, Aline told our camera: «This year I don't see a barrier any more where I think it's impossible. Anything is possible.» In May the sentence took on a different meaning — C6 fracture, herniated disc, the question of a normal life. In July it came true, through a spot that came out of fourth place in Madrid, earned with that fracture in her neck, nine points short of direct qualification.

And at the end of this story there is no podium. There's a sentence she wrote after the swim event, the one that wasn't hers:

«I'm good — and happy — being a small fish in a big ocean.»

We've been with Aline for several years now. We documented her Open season, her injury, her comeback, her ticket. That we get to write about her CrossFit Games as well was unimaginable back in May.

Thank you, Aline. For all of it.

Aline's 2026 Games — event by event

#	Event	Place
1	2007 Hopper	3rd
2	Ranch 7200 m (trail)	6th
3–5	CrossFit Total	27th / 29th / 28th
6	Grass Track Race	4th
7	Swim Standard	14th
8	Climbing Snail	13th
9	3D Throw	20th
10	Run + Hang Squat Clean	27th
11	Handstand Sprint	14th
12	The Hopper 2026	24th
13	500 m Run	3rd
14	Triple Pig	16th
15	Speed Snatch	27th
16	Echo Bike / Thruster	27th
17	Box Jump / Sled / Yoke	23rd
18	Machine 7200 m	26th
19	Roll to Support	12th
20	Fibonacci Final	21st

Overall: 18th of 30 · 647 points · best Swiss athlete in the field.

Photos: @gabo.vhs. Results: official 2026 CrossFit Games leaderboard.