Madeline Sturt rises into CrossFit podium contention at PRVN

Madeline Sturt no longer looks like a dependable Games athlete who occasionally nips at the elite edge. The Australian veteran has turned two straight CrossFit Games runs into a clearer statement, placing eighth in 2024 and sixth in 2025 while training at PRVN, the high-performance brand built by Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr and Shane Orr.

That shift matters because CrossFit podiums are rarely built on one hot weekend. They are usually earned by athletes who can survive the qualification grind, keep stacking top-10 finishes, and close the gap to the sport’s best. Sturt has started to do exactly that. Her official CrossFit profile lists Games appearances in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2024, and 2025, a resume that shows both longevity and a late-career climb rather than a one-off surge.

The numbers behind her 2025 season explain why the conversation has changed. Sturt finished fifth in the Individual Semifinal, then converted that into sixth at the CrossFit Games in Albany, New York. Her qualification path was not flawless, but it was effective: her 2024 Quarterfinals ranking was first in Oceania and fifth worldwide, while her 2025 Quarterfinals result was first in Oceania and 21st worldwide. Even with that dip in the worldwide Quarterfinals standings, she still sharpened into a top-five Semifinal athlete and then delivered at the Games, which is the part that counts when the field narrows and pressure rises.

Her rise is also a story about adaptation. CrossFit’s video profile says Sturt started the sport around age 13, after her mom encouraged her to try it. She officially signed up for her first Open in 2011 and has competed every year since. The same profile says she later became a plant-based eater, another sign that her career has not been static but constantly adjusted as she has searched for marginal gains.

That evolution has played out inside one of the sport’s most recognizable training environments. PRVN has already delivered a major benchmark in Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr, and BarBend noted that two PRVN women reached the 2025 Games podium, with Toomey-Orr first and Olivia Kerstetter third, while Sturt finished sixth. In 2024, Morning Chalk Up also noted that Sturt and Jay Crouch both made the Games in the same season for the first time, underscoring how PRVN’s competitive reach has spread beyond one star athlete.

Sturt’s profile now fits a different category. She is still a veteran, but the results say she is no longer just hanging around the top tier. She is moving into it.