Tasmanian athlete with metal knee wins 70-plus Masters Games spot

Darryl Freestone turned a long comeback into a qualifying win, taking the men’s 70-plus division at Torian Pro in Brisbane and claiming the only berth available for the Masters CrossFit Games. At 70, with a metal knee, a metal kneecap and 10 operations on one leg behind him, the Richmond, Tasmania athlete did more than survive the field. He beat it.

That result sends Freestone to San Jose, California, for the Masters CrossFit Games by Legends from July 21-23, where the 70-plus division will again sit inside CrossFit’s expanding age-group ladder. CrossFit trialed the 70-plus category at Games level in 2024, and the 2026 season marks the sport’s 20th anniversary, giving Freestone’s qualification extra weight in a year built around milestones and fresh competitive pathways.

His road into CrossFit reads like a classic masters story: not a late-life hobby, but a second act built from sport he missed. CrossFit’s athlete profile says Freestone, a wood-turner, came to the sport through his daughters after years in Aussie Rules football and officiating. He played until he was 45, worked both master and regular games, served as an A Grade boundary umpire in Darwin, umpired the Tiwi Island Grand Final twice and handled 50 games overall. The profile also shows he placed 43rd worldwide in the 2026 quarterfinals, a reminder that the qualification was earned against a global field, not handed out as a sentimental nod.

The significance reaches beyond one athlete’s ticket to California. Freestone’s result lands in a division where the margin for entry is razor-thin, with only one qualifying place on offer at Torian Pro. Under CrossFit’s 2026 rules, the main Games route remains the top 30 men, 30 women and 20 teams, while age-group athletes chase their own pathway through selected semifinals and the Masters Games. That structure has created space for athletes like Freestone to stay in the sport far longer than standard elite timelines would suggest.

There is also a local edge to the story. Freestone believed he may be the only Tasmanian ever to reach the Games, a claim that turns a personal breakthrough into a rare provincial milestone. A GoFundMe set up by his daughters says he will travel to the United States in July and is raising money for flights, accommodation, competition expenses and travel costs. For Freestone, the trip is not a ceremonial finish line. It is the reward for a qualification run that proved longevity can still look like elite performance.