69-Year-Old Hawai'i Kupuna Competes in CrossFit Games Quarterfinals

Patricia Hubner stood at the barbell inside CrossFit Hilo Iron Gym, 55 pounds loaded on the bar, and started counting. Twenty front squats. Six months earlier, she had never done this.

The 69-year-old Mountain View resident completed her 2026 CrossFit Games Quarterfinal workouts during the official competition window, March 26–30, at Hilo Iron Gym on Hawai'i Island. The milestone is striking not just for her age but for how recently she began: Hubner started training roughly six months ago, five sessions per week, and qualified through the Open to reach a stage that filters thousands of athletes worldwide.

The backstory behind that commitment is as compelling as the rep count. Hubner spent years as a primary caregiver for her father, who died at 94. Three days after his death, she walked into the gym. "Three days later, I showed up here because I had time now," she said. What followed was a structured training regimen she credits with giving her something she couldn't manufacture on her own: accountability.

"What CrossFit does for me are things I know I would not do on my own," Hubner said. "I just have to follow the directions, I don't have to think about it because if I overthink it, I won't do it."

That philosophy carried her through the Quarterfinal workouts. During her 20-rep front-squat set, the gym owner tracked every rep and called out encouragement through the grind: "Halfway there!... Five more!... You've got a minute rest after this. Keep going!"

Hubner, a self-described kupuna, framed her decision to train in explicitly health-driven terms. She had watched her parents' physical decline and wanted to build the muscle and mobility to avoid the same trajectory. CrossFit's coached, structured programming gave her the on-ramp she needed.

Her path from first class to worldwide Quarterfinal in roughly half a year is an unusually fast arc even among masters competitors. The CrossFit Games season's tiered structure, which runs from the Open through Quarterfinals and Semifinals to the Games itself, gives athletes across ages and experience levels a defined competitive ladder. Hubner climbed the first two rungs in about six months.

She showed up three days after losing her father. Six months later, she was competing on a worldwide stage.