Tia-Clair Toomey

2017 Fittest Woman on Earth

Though she didn’t earn the official designation until her CrossFit Games victory in 2017, Tia-Clair Toomey has been in the unofficial conversation for “Fittest Woman on Earth” for several years now. Back-to-back runner-up finishes in 2015 and 2016, while heartbreaking, left little doubt that Toomey’s time would soon come, as few athletes in the sport’s history, male or female, have showcased such a complete skillset and tenacious work ethic at such a young age. In appropriate fashion, it took some relentless effort and a nail-biting finish (994 points to 992 over Kara Webb) to finally win Tia her first Games title this past summer--just three years removed from being the event’s “Rookie of the Year.”

As great as 2017 has been for Tia, it’s still hard to compare to 2016, when she followed a phenomenal showing in Carson (in which only two-time champ Katrin Davidsdottir was able to outpace her) by boarding a plane for Rio, where she competed for Australia as a weightlifter in the Summer Olympic Games. In the span of a few weeks, Tia tested herself twice against elite competition from around the globe, and did more than hold her own. Toomey finished fifth in her group of Women’s 58KG lifters, and at just 24 years of age, could eventually have another Olympics run to look forward to in 2020. In the meantime, she has the next year to train with a certain monkey removed from her back. Tia-Clair Toomey is, officially, the 2017 Fittest Woman on Earth.