Jonathan Kinnick details Open Workout 26. 2 — the second test of the 2026 CrossFit Open — which paired alternating dumbbell snatches, dumbbell overhead walking lunges, pull-ups, chest-to-bar pull-ups and ring muscle-ups inside a 15-minute time cap. These crossfit open workouts exposed a clear muscle-up bottleneck and wide national differences in Rx’d participation and finishing rates.
Open Workout 26. 2: confirmed movements, ring muscle-up change and 15-minute cap
Open Workout 26. 2 featured alternating dumbbell snatches, dumbbell overhead walking lunges, pull-ups, chest-to-bar pull-ups, and muscle-ups on the rings, and it carried a stiff 15-minute time cap. The muscle-ups were on rings, a change from the bar muscle-ups used during the past two Opens. Athletes who did not finish posted scores of completed reps plus tiebreak times, and the workout showed obvious similarities to Open Workout 25. 2 in its progressive pulling movements paired with different supporting movements.
Crossfit Open Workouts reveal South Korea, Australia and United States Rx’d participation leaders
The data show significant differences in Rx’d participation across countries: South Korea led with an 88% Rx’d participation rate, followed by Australia at 84% and the United States at 78%. Finishing the Rx’d version proved rare — Spain led the top finishers with a 10. 1% Rx’d finish rate, while Australia and Italy each posted 8. 4% finishes for 26. 2 Rx’d. Participation shifted compared with other weeks: for women aged 18-34, 70% performed 25. 2 as Rx’d compared to 78% on 26. 1, and for men aged 18-34, 88% performed 26. 2 as Rx’d compared to 92% on 26. 1.
Muscle-ups, pile-up at the 112th rep, and where nations cleared the first rep
By far the biggest challenge was the ring muscle-up. An impressive 9, 918 women and 41, 773 men managed at least one ring muscle-up, while chest-to-bar pull-ups proved easier for many, with over 58, 000 women and 100, 000 men getting at least one rep across all divisions. The workout produced a large pile-up at the 112th rep; the majority of athletes who got past that point were time-capped during the first 10 muscle-ups. Looking at country-level muscle-up success, Australia led with 29. 5% of athletes getting at least one muscle-up, Spain followed with 28. 8%, and France posted 28. 2%.
Percentile context helps place individual scores: for Rx’d men aged 18-34, a score of 127 reps landed a 75th percentile result for this version of the workout. For Masters tiers the Open score feeds directly into the next phase: the Community Cup assigns tiers based on the level athletes receive after completing and submitting scores for all three Open workouts; for example, women aged 55+ need at least 117 reps on 26. 2 to reach the Advanced tier.
Scenario A: If the muscle-up bottleneck and Rx’d patterns continue
If 26. 2’s pattern of ring muscle-ups plus advanced pulling movements persists across the Open, we should expect continued low Rx’d finish rates and concentrated national strengths. Should similar movements recur, countries like Spain and Australia that showed higher Rx’d finish rates and higher percentages of athletes clearing at least one muscle-up could continue to outpace others in Rx’d completions, while overall finish rates for Rx’d versions may remain near the single-digit percentages observed for women and low double digits for men.
Scenario B: Should participation patterns shift across demographics or weeks
Should participation rates by version change in subsequent workouts — as the context shows differences between 25. 2, 26. 1 and 26. 2 participation — the distribution of Community Cup tiers would change because tiers are set after athletes submit scores for all three Open workouts. If more athletes elect non-Rx’d versions in later weeks, national Rx’d participation leaders could shift, altering which countries and divisions dominate Advanced-tier qualifying thresholds.
The next confirmed milestone is submission of scores for all three Open workouts, which locks in tiers for the Community Cup. What the context does not resolve is how aggregated Open scores across all versions will translate into final Community Cup outcomes beyond the single tier example for women aged 55+. For now, the immediate signal is clear: ring muscle-ups in 26. 2 sharply separated athletes across age groups and nations, and the next set of submissions will show whether those gaps persist.
