Meet the fittest woman on earth — and she still hasn’t reached her peak

This summer, British athlete Aimee Cringle was crowned “fittest woman on earth” at the 2026 CrossFit Games in California. She beat 30 others in the high-intensity cross-discipline event, which took place across five days and included a row, swim and grass bike race, as well as steep runs, pull-ups, dead lifts and burpees. What exactly does one do after being crowned the world’s fittest woman? The first thing on the 27-year-old’s post-event agenda was eating granola with “a big tub of yoghurt”. That, and ordering a burger and fries from Five Guys. She also went to a bar to celebrate, though somewhat reluctantly. “People were going out, so we did too in the end,” she says. “I was so full that drinking wasn’t really calling my name but I was like, why not? There’s no bedtime restriction now, is there?”It’s a refreshing, characteristically low-key response from the athlete, an Isle of Man native who has risen up the ranks of elite CrossFit at an impressive pace. She entered her first CrossFit Games in 2024, reaching 13th place and picking up the rookie of the year award. She climbed to eighth position in 2025 then, this year, came out top. Cringle’s path to this achievement unfolded organically. She dabbled in gymnastics as a child and athletics in her teens, before trying a CrossFit session at 14. “From there I started doing a session a week and loving it,” she says. “I was like, this sport, whatever it is, is really cool. I loved trying a new thing every week. But it wasn’t until I was about 16 that I touched a barbell.”“I didn’t ever think I’d end up at the CrossFit Games, let alone win them”She started going three times a week, then four, before adding extra sessions with the coach at the gym. It wasn’t long before she started doing competitions such as the Castle Games in Middlesbrough. “I still didn’t think I was very good at this point,” she says. “I was just a woman doing CrossFit. I didn’t ever think I’d be able to make a living out of it or that I’d end up at the CrossFit Games, let alone win them.”The training for becoming the fittest woman in the world was, unsurprisingly, full-on. Cringle would do “double or triple days”, meaning two or three sessions in a day, three days a week. These would involve road biking, assault running and swimming. On her “active recovery” days, she’d cycle or swim. “I’m definitely more of an endurance athlete rather than a power sprint style athlete,” says Cringle. “But I am getting to the point where the workout doesn’t matter too much — I should perform well. But that’s only just got to be the case because I’ve become a better athlete.”It’s hard to imagine how she stays motivated to perform at such a high level, but balance seems to be at the core of her approach. “I don’t struggle with motivation that much because I balance normal life with it,” she says. “I won’t say no to plans with friends because I’ve got a big day of training coming up. I’ll meet them for coffee anyway and I’ll probably get a pastry too because I’m only human.“I still do everything I want to do in life. You can’t sacrifice your personal life because what if you then don’t make an event, for example, what would you do? Some people probably won’t agree but I don’t think you can put everything into it.”Another slightly surprising thing about Cringle is her attitude to sleep. “I don’t think sleep actually matters that much,” she says. “Well, it does, but you can get around it.” She has proof; during the most recent CrossFit Games, she says she was running on about two hours of sleep, but still won. Read MoreEven after that considerable feat, the fittest woman in the world isn’t resting on her title. “I’m like, okay, now I’m at the top but I need to keep it up,” she says. “I gave it my all but there was still probably a bit left for me to give. I’m still not at my peak yet.” Wherever it is you go from the top, Cringle will probably find it.