15th Sanctioned Event Announced for the 2019 CrossFit Games

Earlier today, the 15th CrossFit Games sanctioned event (qualifier) was announced and it appears that it will be taking place in Columbus, Ohio at Rogue Fitness’ Headquarters. In the press release sent to us from Rogue Fitness, they write that the Rogue Invitational will take place over a two day period on May 18th and 19th.

This competition will have an online qualification period and will host 20 male and female athletes, along with ten teams. The winners of each category will earn a ticket to the 2019 CrossFit Games, along with a $50,000 USD payout for the top male and female athletes. In the press release Rogue Fitness writes,

“Invitees will include the Top 10 male and female finishers from the 2018 Reebok CrossFit
Games, along with a select number of additional athletes from the top ranks of the sport. The final competition spots will be filled via an online qualifier.”

The release of the Rogue Invitational marks the 16th announced qualifier for the 2019 CrossFit Games. If you’ve been following along with all of the 2019 CrossFit Games change reports, then you’re probably realizing that a lot of the reports have said there will be 16 formal CrossFit sanctioned events, but we’re still not exactly sold on that number.

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Rogue Fitness is proud to announce The Rogue Invitational, a CrossFit sanctioned event, scheduled to take place at Rogue HQ in Columbus, Ohio, on the weekend of May 18th and 19th, 2019. This unique event will feature first class competitors from around the world, with 20 male and 20 female athletes in singles competition, as well as a team division consisting of ten squads. Invitees will include the Top 10 male and female finishers from the 2018 Reebok CrossFit Games, along with a select number of additional athletes from the top ranks of the sport. The final competition spots will be filled via an online qualifier. Details on the individual and team qualifying process will be released at a later date. The Rogue Invitational champions in the male, female, and team divisions will each secure a spot to compete at the 2019 Reebok CrossFit Games in Madison, WI. Additionally, every athlete that competes at the Rogue Invitational will take home a cash prize, with the winners of the male and female division taking home $50,000 each. Event wins pay a $5,000 prize and the total prize purse for all three divisions is over $400,000. More details to come. Follow @rogueinvitational to stay updated! Learn more – link in bio. #ryourogue

A post shared by Rogue Fitness (@roguefitness) on Nov 1, 2018 at 9:10am PDT

Let’s address the elephant in the room, but out of the 15 announced qualifiers, there have been none set to take place in Canada, and that’s got us wondering if there actually will be more than 16 sanctioned events.

After all, Canada has a very strong CrossFit community and has had multiple athletes place in the top three at the Games in recent years (ex: Brent Fikowski and Patrick Vellner). If CrossFit is trying to include every community across the globe, then it only makes sense that Canada hosts at least one qualifier, right? Check out the 2019 CrossFit Games Qualifier schedule below.,

The Current 2019 CrossFit Games Qualifiers Schedule

1. Dubai Championships — December 2018
2. Wodapalooza – January 2019
3. Australian CrossFit Championship — January 2019
4. CrossFit Fittest In Capetown — February 2019
5. CrossFit Strength In Depth — February 2019
6. CrossFit French Throwdown — April 2019
7. Asian CrossFit Championship — April 2019 
8. Mid-Atlantic CrossFit Challenge — April 2019
9. The CrossFit Italian Showdown — April 2019
10. Brazil CrossFit Championship — May 2019
11. The CrossFit Lowlands Throwdown — May 2019
12. Reykjavik CrossFit Championship — May 2019
13. Down Under CrossFit Championship — May 2019
14. Rogue Invitational — May 2019
15. Granite Games — June 2019

This latest announcement — while only being for one event — has to got to be one of the most interesting. Will CrossFit include more than 16 qualifiers?

In case you missed it, the online registration for the 2019 CrossFit Open has been announced. For all of these details, check out the full 2019 CrossFit Games schedule.

Feature image from @roguefitness Instagram page.