THE GAMES WILL BE BACK AND BETTER THAN EVER: PART 1
By: Marc Young
A few weeks back, Greg Glassman dropped an absolute bombshell on all of us, and if you missed it: The CrossFit Games season will never be the same. Soak it in, people!
If you don’t know what we are talking about, read here for the download from The Morning Chalk Up
I haven't written about this yet because I wanted time to think, reflect, and evaluate the situation. Here, now, I present the facts as we know them. Stay tuned for a part 2 of this blog, which will include my reaction to said bombshell.
SPOILER: The blog title may or may not indicate my feelings. Without further ado I give you my blog entitled:
WOOOOOOOO!! THE GAMES WILL BE BACK AND BETTER THAN EVER!!
SO, clearly I like what's happening in the CrossFit Games world nowadays, but allow me to dive into detail here. In the past, as far back as the sport goes, the Games schedule has been as follows:
Feb-March: The Worldwide Open
An opportunity for all athletes in the community to compete together over the course of 5 weeks. Top 40 teams, and individuals both male and female, advanced to their Regional Competition.
May-June: Regionals
Courtesy of The CrossFit Games
Those who qualified now duke it out in a three day intensive competition. Top 5 teams, and individuals both men and women, qualify for The Reebok CrossFit Games, where the 40 fittest folks on the planet do battle.
Those who qualified now duke it out in a three day intensive competition. Top 5 teams, and individuals both men and women, qualify for The Reebok CrossFit Games, where the 40 fittest folks on the planet do battle.
Those who qualified now duke it out in a three day intensive competition. Top 5 teams, and individuals both men and women, qualify for The Reebok CrossFit Games, where the 40 fittest folks on the planet do battle.
Early August: The Games
The big show. Televised on ESPN and more recently CBS, the 5 day competition crowns the podium for fittest Man, Woman, and Team on earth.
here come the changes….
The above system has been in place for years, and now Greg is blowing it all to hell. This coming year is a bridge year of sorts, but going forward the Games season will look like this:
The Open
Photo courtesy of: CrossFit Inc.
The open will now get underway in October (starting in 2019), still 5 weeks long.
CHANGES: The open no longer leads to regionals. Now, the fittest man, woman, and team from each COUNTRY will instantly qualify for the CrossFit Games. In the 2019 Games season, the open will occur in February as in years past. It will occur again in October for the 2020 season.
Regionals
Photo courtesy of: Reebok and this article here
CHANGES: There will no longer be a Regional event (GASP!)
16 Sanctioned Qualifying Events
Photo courtesy of: The French Throwdown
CHANGES: These are brand new. These 16 events will be sanctioned by the CrossFit Games, with the top finisher for each division (women, men, team) punching their ticket to the games. These events will all be different, held all around the world. Some of these events will be by invitation, most by online qualifier. They will all be broadcast in some capacity, and feed a total of 16 men, women, and teams to join the country qualified athletes at the games.
The Reebok CrossFit Games
Katrin Davidsdottir at the 2018 Reebok CrossFit Games. Photo courtesy of: The CrossFit Games
Per usual, the Games will take place in early August. As of now, it is looking like the Games will still be 5 days long, and still have teams, individual men and women, as well as teens and masters.
CHANGES: The field will start out incredibly different, with representatives from 160 different countries, as well as 16 winners from the sanctioned events. Glassman has additionally hinted at giving a few wild card spots to individuals who believe they have what it takes to be the best when they have never been a part of the sport. Glassman has also talked of an elimination format, where over the first day of competition the field of near 200 is cut to 10-15 final competitors who finish out the weekend for the title of Fittest on Earth!
These are the facts of the case, and they are indisputable.
Stay tuned for my reaction...or let me know what you think by commenting down below. Email me 24/7 at: marc@voyedgerx.com
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