Ben Fowler, Hannah Black dominate Rebel Renegade Games amid team controversy

Ben Fowler turned the Rebel Renegade Games into a wire-to-wire lesson in control. The New Zealander won the men’s division with 875 points and never placed lower than fourth across nine events, a consistency that built a cushion before the final workouts were over and stamped him as one of the most Games-ready athletes in the Africa, UAE and Gulf pipeline.

That performance carried extra weight because Rebel Renegade was the final qualifying stage for the 2026 CrossFit Games, and it offered only one spot in each division. Fowler arrived with momentum already on his side, ranked 19th worldwide in the 2026 Open and first in Africa, and he converted that standing into a clear Semifinal victory. Runners-up such as Ruan Potgieter, who collected three event or section wins, and Jan Arnd Finkenberg, who posted the heaviest successful lift at 140 kilograms, still showed the depth behind him.

Hannah Black made the women’s race look just as decisive. She won with 905 points and finished atop a field that included strong runs from Var Thurmann-Moe and Matilde Garnes, two athletes who helped give the African side of the leaderboard real weight. Black came into the weekend ranked 154th worldwide in the 2026 Open and 28th in North America West, but her result at Rebel Renegade was a much stronger statement than those prior numbers suggested. By the end, she had separated herself from the pack and left little doubt about who owned the weekend.

The team race, though, is the result most likely to linger. CrossFit Uncontained II RELENTLESS earned the region’s lone team invitation to the 2026 CrossFit Games in San Jose, but the final event drew a formal dispute from AR-1 CrossFit, which said it was nine points behind entering the workout and believed the judging on synchro muscle-ups was inconsistent with the pre-event briefing. The team said the issue centered on how a resting athlete’s required reps were interpreted.

After an appeal, the organizers acknowledged a judging mistake and adjusted AR-1’s score by 30 seconds, but the correction did not change the final standings. That means the field that heads to the SAP Center for the July 24-26 Games is settled, but the debate around the team finish may still shape how Rebel Renegade is remembered: as a weekend where the favorites delivered, and one disputed call reminded everyone how thin the line is between qualification and disappointment.