Kickoff Date Announced for the 2021 CrossFit Open
Editor’s note: On Dec. 17, 2020, CrossFit announced the 2021 Open and Games season schedule. You can read our article announcing the news for specific dates and events.
Last night, CrossFit Announced the beginning of the 2021 CrossFit Games season with a 34 character, blink-and-you-miss-it tweet.
btw, the 2021 Open starts Feb. 18.
— The CrossFit Games (@CrossFitGames) October 24, 2020
As the Top 5 Men and Top 5 Women finally gathered in Aromas, CA for the first day of the 2020 Reebok CrossFit Games Finals — over a full year after the end of the 2020 CrossFit Open — CrossFit shared the first piece of information of the 2021 CrossFit Games Season. And the Open is coming back to February after it was temporarily moved to the fall; this resulted in 2019 containing two CrossFit Open competitions in one calendar year.
2021 CrossFit Open Dates
For now, we know that Registration for the 2021 Open will begin in January and that the 2021 CrossFit Games Season will kick-off in less than four months, with the Open Announcement of 21.1 on February 18th. The Open will run for five consecutive weeks, with a new workout announced each Thursday.
Not much else is known right now but after a season marked by delays, cancellations, and format changes due to Covid-19, and the added uncertainty brought on by a very public scandal, and subsequent change in ownership, this announcement offers a welcome first-look into what the ‘next to normal’ of the CrossFit Games will look like.
[Related: How to prepare for the 2021 CrossFit Open.]
At the beginning of the 2020 Season, it was announced that athletes could qualify for an invitation to the 2020 Reebok CrossFit Games in one of four ways:
- Winning a Sanctionals competition
- Being a CrossFit Open National Champion
- Finishing in the top 20 for the CrossFit Open
- Earning a Wild Card invitation
With no way of knowing when Covid-19 related travel bans and large events will be lifted, it will be interested to see what CrossFit has planned for after the Open, and what it will take for athletes to earn an invitation to the 2021 CrossFit Games.
Will Sanctionals adopt a hybrid format, like this year’s Games? Will CrossFit bring back a modified version of the Regionals? Will additional ways to earn an invite to the Games be introduced?
[Training for the Open at home? Check out our rundown of the best home gym equipment.]
In the meantime, stay tuned to BarBend for 2020 Reebok CrossFit Games news, video, athlete interviews, and more, as we get closer to crowning this year’s Fittest on Earth.
Featured image courtesy of CrossFit