In December 2024, we learned more details regarding the team behind the World Fitness Project.
- At the time, we knew that six-time CrossFit Games athlete and 2024 Masters CrossFit Games Champion Will Moorad was one of the founders of the organization — but there was more to it at that point.
We learned that he was working in partnership with a group of people, all sharing the common goal of creating something new and providing athletes more opportunities to earn a living while giving fans more events throughout the year to support.
This new league, the World Fitness Tour, will feature multiple live events with lots of moving parts and programming that tests the fittest athletes while giving the community and spectators a meaningful experience.
To pull that off, much care and consideration was put into who to hire for the critical roles of event directors.
- The two selected were Jason Ansley and Roger Gillros.
Both names could sound familiar, as Ansley has been part of the Legends crew that put on the Masters Games in 2024 and multiple years of the Legends Championship.
- He has also been running the 1st Phorm Monster Games for eight years and recently became the owner of the team competition, Heart of America.
The 1st Phorm Monster Games has been growing rapidly and is now one of the premier events in the Midwest. With help from Games veteran Jacob Heppner, the athletes are provided with unique programming and fans with an exciting experience.
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- The online qualifier is currently open and closes on February 18. The live event will take place at the Overland Park Convention Center in Overland Park, KS, on July 25-27.
On the other side of the pond, Roger Gillros is the man behind WODLA, whose events consist of the Oslo Throwdown, the Norwegian Throwdown, the Sweden Throwdown, and the Gothenborg Throwdown.
- The Oslo Throwdown is northern Europe’s largest competition and attracts the likes of Norwegian superstars Kristin Holte and Matilde Garnes, among many other great athletes. This year, it will take place October 24-26.
The two men have immense experience organizing competitions and community events, owning gyms, and programming.
Besides this, both share enthusiasm for their new roles, working with a team of like-minded individuals and trying to build something innovative and significant.
During my interviews with Ansley and Gillros, the respect and camaraderie they felt for the World Fitness Project team was palpable.
- “It’s the right people behind it — they have headhunted very good people. All these people do it all for the right reasons,” Gillros told Morning Chalk Up.
“He’s the right guy, at the right time,” Ansley said, referring to Moorad.
Learn and Adapt
What both Gillros and Ansley found the most heartening about joining the WFP team is their willingness to learn and grow together.
- “They have been really transparent from the beginning on what they want to do, and the reason I have so much respect for them is that they listen. They’re willing to listen, learn, adapt,” Gillros said.
He learned very quickly that they were open for feedback, which made his desire to be involved all the greater.
This theme has played a large role in Gillros’s life and career.
As a veteran event director, he has vast experience, although he recognizes that without being open to new experiences and perspectives, there is no way to grow.
- “I think that my most important job to do between events is to travel, learn, adapt, and stay up-to-date [on] where the sport is going on all pillars [athletes, crew, judges, sponsors, and spectators],” Gillros said.
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Ansley agrees, saying that the WFP has shown their openness and willingness to learn in order to create something great.
- “They’re looking to me for some guidance and they listen. That’s a big deal — they want to know my opinion, and they listen to it,” Ansley said. “They’re making sure they’re doing everything they can to take care of the athletes while bringing the community along beside them. It’s just what’s been missing and I think it’s going to be great.”
Building Something Big
The two event directors look forward to working together and learning from one another.
While Ansley is steering the ship for the two Tour Events located in the United States (Indianapolis, IN, and Phoenix, AZ), Gillros will be in charge of the final, which will be held in Copenhagen, Denmark.
- “I’ll still be in Europe for the final, and I’m learning as much as I can about running events in Europe,” Ansley said. “[But] Roger is taking that over for the European event because I don’t want to pretend that I know what I’m doing in Europe, so we need someone to show us that way, but I want to learn as much of that as I can.”
Gillros discussed the decision to hold the final event in Denmark.
- “They came to me and said, ‘Roger, where in Europe would you have the final – you can kind of decide.’ And I was like, ‘For me, there was only one place in Europe,’ and that was Copenhagen in Denmark,” Gillros said.
He explained that while Europe is host to many CrossFit competitions, Denmark is not at the moment.
That said, it was important to the WFP not to step on any toes or create conflict with current events.
- “You have to respect the ecosystem – that is an important part of this. You can’t come as a newbie and take the market. That is something you need to respect,” Gillros said.
Ansley and Gillros foresee this project and their events as being successful from the beginning.
This is not only due to the elite athletes that will be participating but also the “natural built-in storylines” that are bound to emerge from Challenger athletes vying for their Pro Card for 2026.
- “I think it’s going to be wildly popular,” Ansley said. “Assuming we have the success that we think we’re going to have, we [turn over] some pros that have guaranteed pro cards for 2025 […] and get some new blood in. We know that’s going to happen, and it’s going to be a cool story.”
When asked if there would be buy-in from the community right away, Ansley felt that there would be.
He explained that the 40 athletes who are already signed on are most of whom the fans want to watch compete, not to mention those 20 additional men and women Challengers who will earn their spot to compete alongside them.
- In addition, there is the community component, which will consist of hundreds of athletes competing in the same event at the same time. In Ansley’s opinion, this will be a critical part of how the WFP will receive community backing.
Moorad and the WFP team will be programming the events, with Ansley and Gillros’s feedback on logistics and flow.
The Bottom Line
Gillros shared with us that his passion and drive behind competitive fitness, and everything they do is based on more than a love to train and earn money.
It’s something deeper, and it’s a notion that’s shared amongst Ansley, Moorad, and the entire team.
And while some may look at WFP as being in competition with CrossFit and the CrossFit season, they don’t necessarily view it in the same way.
- “We’re all going to benefit if CrossFit is stronger. We just will,” Ansley concluded.
Registration is currently open for the online qualifiers for Tour Event One, which will take place in Indianapolis, Indiana, May 9-11.
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Featured image: @jason_heidiansley and @rogergillros / Instagram
