Laura Horvath Wins 2023 CrossFit Games – Breaking Muscle
August 6, 2023
The perennial top finisher finally breaks through with a title.
Written by Robert Zeglinski
Laura Horvath is the Women’s Individual champion of the 2023 CrossFit Games. It’s the Hungarian athlete’s first-ever title after three previous podium finishes in 2018 and 2021-2022. Horvath is the first Eastern European athlete to ever win the CrossFit Games. To build her eventual title case, the 26-year-old Horvath won five of a possible 12 events, including the last four, to close the competition on a high note. Such a sterling performance gave the athlete just enough of an edge to surpass runner-up Emma Lawson. Horvath is now officially the Fittest Woman on Earth®.
Here are the top 10 finishers in the Women’s Individual division at the 2023 CrossFit Games:
Individual Women, 2023 CrossFit Games | Final Standings
- Laura Horvath (Hungary) — 966 points | 2023 Fittest Woman on Earth®
- Emma Lawson (Canada) — 919 points
- Arielle Loewen (United States) — 883 points
- Gabriela Migała (Poland) — 788 points
- Alex Gazan (United States) — 786 points
- Alexis Raptis (United States) — 771 points
- Katrin Tanja Davidsdottir (United States) — 741 points
- Emma Cary (United States) — 731 points
- Danielle Brandon (United States) — 711 points
- Paige Powers (United States) — 696 points
Here’s an overview of Horvath’s winning performance at the 2023 CrossFit Games, event by event:
Laura Horvath | Event By Event 2023 CrossFit Games Performance
- Ride — Seven laps (9th place)
- Pig Chipper — 13:50.40 (1st place)
- Inverted Medley — Cap +5 (27th place)
- The Alpaca Redux — 16:36.18 (2nd place)
- Ski-Bag — 4:36.18 (1st place)
- Helena — 9:06.79 (15th place)
- Cross-Country 5K — 19:02.68 (13th place)
- Intervals — 8:32.50 (8th place)
- Olympic Weightlifting Total — 470 pounds (1st place)
- Muscle-Up Logs — 8:41.22 (1st place)
- Parallel Bar Pulls — 8:36.46 (1st place)
- Echo Thruster Finals — 7:41.20 (4th place)
Horvath won her first career CrossFit Games title by virtue of a performance that could be described as “boom or bust.” If the athlete performed well in an event, chances are, she was likely taking the victory. If she didn’t, she struggled to finish in the top 10. Nonetheless, her five event triumphs out of 12 tests were enough to make history.
Horvath enters exclusive company as just 10th woman to ever win the Individual CrossFit Games. At just the age of 26, her reign might only be beginning. At the very least, Horvath has certainly been distinguished as a household name and as a champion.
In her post-win interview with the on-field reporter, Horvath took a mild swipe at pop culture while encouraging younger viewers as she acknowledged the health and fitness benefits of CrossFit training.
“I’m happy what my body can do and I’m not looking at the new “Barbie” movie, ‘Oh, I want to look like that.’ I want to look like what I look like. And I just want to prove that my body, whatever it looks like, can do these amazing things. And move things from A to B and run fast and lift heavy, and all those things. I’m very excited that little girls and teenagers can look up to all these amazing girls that are here, because our bodies are not us, we are what’s inside. And it’s amazing what our bodies can do if you put the work in.”
Featured image: @laurahorvaht on Instagram
About Robert Zeglinski
Robert is a seasoned and adept editor and writer with a keen, passionate penchant for the writing craft. He’s been a leader in newsrooms such as SB Nation, USA TODAY, and WBBM Newsradio, with various other content and art production teams, and first made a name for himself in his hometown of Chicago. When not knee-deep in research or lost in a stream of consciousness for a thorough piece, you can find Robert inhaling yet another novel, journaling his heart out, or playing with his Shiba Inu, Maximus (Max, for short).
