# @pvellner on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DcMCfFqFcOk
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/69467959-pvellner-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/e9dbd220ba.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-08-18T16:26:20.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Vellnerd (@PVellner) — https://gondola.cc/PVellner

## Caption

2026 Games - First of the Lasts
If you’ve stuck around this long I’m proud of you. You’re like me and stubbornly stick around to finish what you started.
You’ll soon be set free as this will be my last ever CrossFit Games recap. Crazy right?
This year was a tricky one. It was harder than it’s ever been for me to get back to form and make it to the games. It was a humbling experience all year as for a period of my life it was something I took for granted, but no more. After making it to the CrossFit games 10 times as an individual, and doing so this year by impossibly thin margins, I can tell you with certainty: it is in fact very hard to make it to the CrossFit games 😂.
It’s testament to how far the sport has come and how committed today’s athletes are. As my own abilities wane and priorities shift all I have to say is that It’s a genuine privilege to get to stand next to them and compete.
Over the past decade Every one of the athletes I’ve ever stood next to, the judges on the floor, the volunteers guiding us through the weekend have been a part of my journey and I hope I’ve been a part of theirs.
I got asked a lot during the games how it felt knowing it was the last time and while I didn’t think of it much then I have reflected on it a bit since, and it feels good. This is just the first of the lasts, as I have 3 more competitions to go before the curtain really comes down, but it feels good knowing I’m on the precipice of something new. I get to decide what I want to do next and it fills me With fearful anticipation of the unknown, just like CrossFit did back when I started, and that can’t be a bad thing. I’m sure whatever it is, I’ll go too hard at that too.
Knowing this year would be my last has made it fun in an unexpected way and has allowed me to reflect more and caused me to look backwards instead of always having tunnel vision forwards.
Thanks to everyone who’s been a part of my CrossFit Games journey however small or large. May the competition floor remember me for my fearlessness, big falls, epic comebacks, fun interviews and grace in both victory and defeat.
You are free now.
#recapsdone #crossfitgames #lasttime 
📸 seanmenezesphotography

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## Tags

recapsdone, lasttime, crossfitgames

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