On the Competition Weekend That Would’ve Been, the Dubai CrossFit Championship Looks to 2021

Dubai has played host to an international, competitive CrossFit event every year since 2012; this weekend would have marked their ninth year of competition. 

However, as with nearly all events that were scheduled to take place this year, event directors for the 2020 Dubai CrossFit Championship (DCC) had to make a decision. Unlike many other competition organizers who looked for ways to reschedule or delay however, DCC hosts decided early on that cancelling outright was the best decision.

• “It was very clear that we would be unable to execute this year’s competition in the manner we had hoped. In particular, the ability to bring in the best athletes from all over the world was likely not to happen, and cancelling when we did was an easy decision for us,” DCC organizers said. 
• “We did not want athletes to stress all year about whether the competition would be taking place; and despite receiving a little backlash early on, we continue to stand by that decision confidently,” they continued.

Remind me: This year’s Dubai CrossFit Championship was set to feature a new qualifying format consisting of a window in which athletes could perform three workouts, yielding six scored events, ultimately qualifying the top 20 men and women to create a small, elite field for an in-person final. 

• Additionally, the in-person finals competition was slated to feature ten pre-announced workouts and one unknown final event. Each of the pre-announced workouts was set to target a specific discipline (for example biking, strongman, or gymnastics). 
• Dubai has not been entirely quiet in the back half of 2020 though. They have held two online events (one in the spring and one last month). The spring event awarded $50,000 in cash prizes for individuals, teens, and masters as they continue to provide opportunities for athletes to earn money in the competitive fitness space.

One big thing: As for their next live event, the directors have not set a definitive date, but are targeting winter of 2021, seeing as the competition will likely exist outside the CrossFit season they will have some flexibility as to exactly when. 

The details so far: The DCC’s directors intend to use the new format for the in-person competition (with ten pre-announced specific discipline workouts and one unknown finale) as planned for this year, however the qualifying process is yet to be determined.

• “We’ve always programmed the way that we wanted to. Dubai is a very unique place, and historically our competitions have been too; there’s no reason for that to change,” the event directors said. 

The bottom line: There was no reason to doubt the return of the Dubai CrossFit Championship, but confirmation of its return, coupled with the new format many were excited about for this weekend only increases the anticipation for when it does finally happen.