CrossFit Games

The 2008 CrossFit Games held at the ranch in Aromas, California

In 2007, the inaugural CrossFit Games were contested in Aromas, California, on a small ranch owned by the family of Games director Dave Castro.[6] For the initial Games in 2007 and 2008, participation was open to anyone who made it to Aromas. The Games would also award an Affiliate Cup to the group from one CrossFit gym that had the best combined individual standings. In 2009, competitors had to qualify after over a hundred athletes had shown up in 2008. The athletes earned an invitation through either placing high enough in the previous year or through placing in the top worldwide in a set of qualifying events called Regionals hosted at a few CrossFit gyms. The CrossFit Games also added a separate set of team-based events for the Affiliate Cup, marking the first use of a designated Team Division, with teams of four (two men and two women).[7]

Annie Thorisdottir at the 2011 Games held at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California

Interest and participation in the event continued to grow, and in 2010, the qualification was adjusted to include hosting multiple Sectionals, a series of events open to all athletes in order to qualify for the one of the 17 Regionals.[8] The 17 regions had Canada and the United States divided into 12 regions, with the remaining regions roughly corresponding the five other populated continents. The attendance at the Games also outgrew the ranch in Aromas and the Games venue was moved to the Home Depot Center (later called the StubHub Center) in Carson, California.[9] The Games also expanded the Team Division to groups of six athletes and added a Masters Division for individual men and women 55-years-old and up.

In 2011, the open participation Sectionals were replaced by an online qualification called the Open. In 2011, 26,000 athletes signed up to compete in the Open. In 2012–2018, participation was 69,000, 138,000, 209,000, 273,000, 324,307, 380,000, and 415,000 respectively.[10][11][12][13]

In 2015, the qualification format changed from 17 regional events to eight. Each "super-regional" event included qualifiers from two or three of the previously defined regions, totaling 40 or 50 athletes at each event.

Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wisconsin, venue for the 2017 Games

Following seven years in Carson, the Games moved to the grounds of the Dane County Expo Center and the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wisconsin, in 2017.[14] The next year, the qualifying Regionals were once again realigned due to increased competitiveness and popularity outside of Canada and the US.[15] In 2018, there were nine Regionals hosted among 18 redefined regions with Europe increasing to three regions, Central America split from South America, while eliminating the Northern and Southern California regions.

CrossFit, Inc. founder Greg Glassman overhauled the format for the 2019 games, replacing the Regionals with CrossFit-sanctioned international qualifying events.[16] As part of the changes, the 2019 games athletes qualify through being the top individual and team finishers from the sanctioned events, the top athlete from each country in the CrossFit Open, the top 20 overall finishers in the CrossFit Open, and up to four at-large athletes as chosen by CrossFit, Inc. Teams also no longer need to be created from one CrossFit-affiliated gym and can be formed from any four competitors.[17] With only two months between the 2019 Games and the start of the 2020 Open, participation in the first qualification event decreased from 358,646 in August 2019 to 239,106 in October 2019.[18]

The 2020 qualifying events proceeded as scheduled until March 2020 when the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic caused events to be cancelled amidst social distancing requirements and travel restrictions for international competitors. The Games format was then altered and 30 men and 30 women were invited to compete in an online-only first stage with the top five qualifying for the final stage. As spectators would not be allowed at any venues during the pandemic, the final stage was hosted at its original location at the CrossFit Ranch in Aromas. There were no teams, masters, or teens events.[19]

With the on-going effects of the pandemic, the 2021 qualification format was made more inclusive during the Open to allow for competitors who may not be able travel to qualifying events by allowing for an on-line quarterfinal, similar to those previously used for age group qualifiers to move on to sanctioned semifinals. However, the Games also removed the national champion open qualification to have a smaller field of invitees to the Games. The Games retained the sanctioned events to be used as semifinals, but reduced the number of events to ten with a final last-chance on-line qualifier consisting of semifinal athletes that missed Games qualification. The Games also returned the team format to be affiliate-based and added a new adaptive athlete division.[20]

In this first two CrossFit Games, no qualification for competitors was necessary; athlete who wanted to participate in the Games can register and turn up on the day to compete.[9] However, with an increasing number of participants, a qualification process, the Regionals, was initiated in 2009 to winnow down the number of athletes who can take part in the Games. This was further expanded into a two-stage process in 2010 with the introduction of Sectionals where competitors were first selected to compete in the Regionals.[24] The Sectionals became the Open the following year, and between 2011 and 2018, all athletes must go through the same two-stage qualification process, the Open and Regionals, apart from a few who received special invites in some years. In the 2019 CrossFit Games, the qualification process was modified, and competitors had three separate ways to qualify: the Open, sanctioned events, and by invitation.[21] In 2021, the Open once again reverted to its role as the first stage of competition that feeds the subsequent rounds in a three-stage continent-based qualification system.[25]

Regionals and Sanctioned events

Team event at the SoCal Regional in 2014

Between 2009 and 2018, competitors qualified for the Games through participation at CrossFit Games regional events around the world. The top men and women from the Sectional in 2010, and the Open from 2011 to 2018, participated in the Regionals to qualify for the Games.[29] The number of Regionals changed in the first few years, but eventually the world was split into 18 regions feeding into 9 Regional competitions.[30][31] In 2011, the events in the Regionals were standardized.[29]

For the 2019 Games, CrossFit, Inc. discontinued hosting the Regional qualifier and instead sanctioned independent fitness events as qualifiers separate from the Open. These events were trademarked as "Sanctionals" by CrossFit, LLC.[32] Most of the sanctioned events were significant CrossFit competitions already widely participated in by CrossFit Games athletes around the world, such as Wodapalooza and Dubai CrossFit Championship.[33][34] Each sanctioned event has its own rules for participation, but athletes that attend the sanctioned events are either by invite or through the event's qualification process. If an athlete or team won multiple sanctioned events, the runners-up from the later events would qualify to the Games.[21] Twenty-eight sanctioned events were announced for the 2020 season,[35] but many of them were cancelled due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The qualification system was again revamped in 2021, and a Quarterfinal stage was added before the Semifinals.[36] A last-chance online qualifier, last used in 2009, was re-introduced for semifinal athletes who narrowly missed a Games qualification.[20]

Due to CrossFit's official partnership with Reebok, competitors at the 2015 Games were banned from wearing Nike footwear.[42] Nike arranged for several trucks to be parked near the main entrance to the arena, which served as mobile billboards with the slogan "Don't ban our shoe, beat our shoe".[43] The partnership also prohibits Nike from labeling its Metcon shoes as intended for CrossFit – the brand uses the term "high intensity training" instead.[42]

CrossFit's decision to award winners of the 2016 Games with handguns resulted in widespread criticism from members and sponsors.[44] Resulting protests forced the temporary closure of two CrossFit locations in New York City.[45]

On June 6, 2020, CrossFit founder and CEO Greg Glassman was publicly criticized for his social media statements about the COVID-19 pandemic and the George Floyd protests resulting in many CrossFit-affiliated gyms around the world responded by ending their affiliation, Reebok announcing that they would end their corporate association after the 2020 Games, and several competitors boycotting the Games until he was removed from the company.[46] On June 9, Glassman resigned as CEO[47] and sold the company by the end of the month,[48] leading to the boycotting athletes returning.

In 2011, ESPN began to broadcast the CrossFit Games, with live coverage streamed through ESPN3, and some television coverage on ESPN2. As the event grew, ESPN expanded its television coverage; in 2014, the network entered into a multi-year deal to continue broadcasting the CrossFit Games, and coverage expanded to nine-and-a-half hours on ESPN and ESPN2 by 2015.[49]

In 2017, the event began a new broadcast arrangement with CBS Sports, with television coverage on CBS Sports Network, and a total of 40 hours of digital streaming coverage. CrossFit also streamed coverage through Facebook and their website.[50]

Mat Fraser, athlete with the most CrossFit wins

Individual and Team champions[51]

Masters men's champions[51]

Masters women's champions[51]

Teens champions[51]

• National Pro Grid League

Wikimedia Commons has media related to CrossFit Games.

• Official website
• Leaderboard of previous competitions