In breaking news CrossFit Founder and Chairman Greg Glassman has revealed some very big changes that CrossFit will be making to the upcoming competitive CrossFit season. The biggest and most shocking is the ending of all Regional competitions.
Over the last 8 years Regionals has grown to become a fan favorite event. It allows Crossfitters the chance to see the fittest athletes in their particular part of the world throwdown in a battle for a coveted spot to compete at the CrossFit Games. For athletes it gives them the spotlight to showcase their talent, and to test their fitness against top regional competition.
With no more Regionals how will athletes be selected to compete at the Games? This leads to the other major change announced by Glassman. The CrossFit Open will now become the competitive space to determine who will make it to the Games. The Open will take place in October, and over the course of the 5 workouts the top finisher in every country with a licensed CrossFit affiliate will be invited to compete at the Games.
Athletes will also have an opportunity to earn a spot at the Games through 16 CrossFit sanctioned competitions that would run from November to June. These would include established competitions like Dubai Fitness Championship, Wodapalooza, and the Granite Games; winners of each of these sanctioned events would also receive invitations to the Games.
The CrossFit Invitational has also been cancelled and all broadcasting will be outsourced to another yet to be determined partner.
Why all the changes and what does CrossFit hope to achieve by making such drastic moves? The main one is a move away from investing in CrossFit as a primarily corporate competition/event, and going back to it's original purpose as a program to improve health and quality of life for the masses; not just medals and money for the select elite athletes.
Over the years CrossFit has poured millions of dollars into creating and supporting the logistics of international events like Regionals and the Invitational. This restructuring now opens up massive funding to be used on nurturing the health of the over 15,000 (and counting) affiliates worldwide. New training, nutrition, and health seminars can also be developed; and from an accessibility standpoint a larger more international training staff can be created to bring this to Crossfitters no matter where they live and train.
All of this is still in the very early stages, and we may see changes the closer we get to 2019. So be sure to stay tuned for the latest, and let us know your thoughts in the comments.
I heard that CrossFit also laid off 40% of its workforce? Any truth to this? I too believe that CrossFit as we have grown to know and love will faid quickly. Going back to the grass roots is the beginning of the end. I HOPE I am wrong!
I feel like this is the beginning of the end for regular Crossfitters to feel like they are “competing” with the “elites”…..as well as the beginning of a professional fitness league that will bring more $ to the athletes. Crossfit boxes will move out of industrial warehouses and into 1200 sq. ft. strip mall anchors, catering to “beginner” level clients, and more advanced athletes will start working out in garage gyms with their buddies….hmm….sounds a little like the beginnings of Crossfit????