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New partnerships imply no journey to the CrossFit Video games finale for some athletes.
Shortly after switching the situation of the 2024 CrossFit Video games from Madison, Wisconsin to Fort Value, Texas, CrossFit HQ has shifted gears but once more by making vital modifications for the upcoming season. Nonetheless, in contrast to the choice to host the game’s preeminent occasion at Dickie’s Area subsequent yr, selecting to overtake the Adaptive and Age-Group divisions will possible be met with extra criticism than pleasure.
On Oct. 10, 2023, CrossFit HQ delivered a press launch detailing main modifications for the 2024 season.
“CrossFit is happy to announce three new partnerships that may assist develop the CrossFit Video games championship competitors and create new alternatives to shine a highlight on athletes throughout all divisions. WheelWOD Video games, Pit Teen Throwdown, and Legends Championship will host the adaptive and age-group championships for the 2024 CrossFit Video games season.
The change will dramatically improve the variety of masters and teenage athletes competing within the finals, almost double the variety of divisions for adaptive athletes, and provide an opportunity for CrossFit to evolve its competitors mannequin to make the CrossFit Video games internationally scalable sooner or later.”
Though the partnerships will give extra athletes an opportunity to take part, taking away the chance for opponents within the Adaptive and Age-Group divisions to share the identical stage as the highest Particular person and Workforce performers within the championship spherical represents an apparent disadvantage.
As a substitute, qualifying Masters athletes (ages 35-65+) will transfer by way of the net Quarterfinals and Semifinals earlier than advancing to the Legends Championship for an in-person Closing. Whereas the 2023 Legends Championship will happen in Tempe, Arizona from Dec. 7-10, it’s unclear if the 2024 version will occur in the identical location.
Athletes within the Teenagers division (ages 14-17) will comply with the normal CrossFit Video games levels (Open, Quarterfinals, and Semifinals) earlier than wrapping up their season on the Pit Teen Throwdown. The 2024 version will nonetheless happen in Three Rivers, Michigan, which has hosted the annual health competitors for a number of years.
Per the CrossFit press launch: “The Pit Teen Throwdown provides a extremely aggressive enviornment for world-class athletes to check their ability, energy, and stamina towards their friends,” CrossFit HQ wrote within the press launch. “Huge names within the sport have competed within the Throwdown up to now reminiscent of 2023 Rookie of the Yr Olivia Kerstetter and 2022’s second-Fittest Lady on Earth Mal O’Brien.”
The 2023 NOBULL CrossFit Video games, which happened in August, topped a number of new champions within the Teen division, together with:
- Maria Granizo (14-15 Ladies)
- Jeremie Jourdan (14-15 Boys)
- Lucy McGonigle (16-17 Ladies)
- Ty Jenkins (16-17 Boys)
Shifting ahead, although, proficient kids like Granizo and Jourdan must accept showcasing their energy, agility, and health on the Pit Teen Throwdown fairly than at what ought to be a jam-packed Dickie’s Area.
In the meantime, your complete Adaptive athlete season will likely be run solely by WheelWOD, a corporation that brings greater than a decade of expertise internet hosting annual competitions. The brand new partnership won’t solely broaden the variety of aggressive divisions from eight to fifteen, however it is going to additionally enable athletes from all 15 to have an opportunity to advance to the in-person ultimate.
The present Adaptive divisions embody:
- Imaginative and prescient
- Mental
- Seated With Hip Perform
- Seated With out Hip Perform
- Quick Stature
- Multi Extremity
- Decrease Extremity
- Higher Extremity
Contemplating solely three divisions (Multi Extremity, Decrease Extremity, and Higher Extremity) moved on to the ultimate at the newest CrossFit Video games, the brand new format ought to be considered positively from a participation perspective — particularly with WheelWOD providing extra divisions reminiscent of Sensory (which incorporates each imaginative and prescient and listening to) and extra particular Higher and Decrease Extremity classes as outlined by an athlete’s “factors of contact” with their related limbs.
With the 2023 WheelWOD Video games happening in Raleigh, North Carolina from Nov. 30-Dec. 3, Adaptive athletes can get a touch of what subsequent yr’s competitors would possibly appear to be. Nonetheless, CrossFit HQ mentioned the dates and placement for 2024 will likely be shared at a later time.
Regardless of shifting instructions in such appreciable trend, CrossFit Basic Supervisor of Sport and Training Dave Castro believes the modifications “will profit every division in vital methods, most significantly greater than doubling qualifying spots for masters and teenagers and permitting each adaptive division a spot on the in-person championship.”
Solely time will inform whether or not the athletes affected share the identical sentiment. Nonetheless, there’s little doubt that the 2024 CrossFit Video games will look fairly totally different, and after delivering substantial bulletins in successive months, don’t be stunned if extra modifications are unveiled transferring ahead.
Featured Picture: @crossfitgames / Instagram
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