For the second year straight, Russian CrossFit athlete Roman Khrennikov will not be going to the Reebok CrossFit Games. Khrennikov posted on his Instagram that he did not receive his visa to travel to the United States.
When he was unable to compete in last year’s Games, he posted on his Instagram and in the comments section noted that he was allegedly twice denied a visa to travel to the U.S.
This year, Khrennikov won the CrossFit Sanctionals™ Italian Showdown. Even though he won this Sanctionals event in April, he had already previously qualified due to his fifth place finish at the Dubai CrossFit Championship. He earned his Game invite from the Dubai CrossFit Championship because Mat Fraser, Karl Gudmundsson, Willy Georges, and Travis Mayer — all of whom finished ahead of him — had already qualified for the Games through the CrossFit Open.
In response to not going to the Games in August, he wrote on his Instagram:
“Magic did not happen. I have not received a visa to USA…I continue my way. Thanks friends.”
As for who will receive Khrennikov’s spot, there hasn’t been any formal announcement as to who will be granted an invite. One might speculate that it would go down to the leaderboard from the Dubai CrossFit Championship which would roll to Connor Duddy of the United States. Duddy finished in eighth place. But we don’t have any official news.
The CrossFit Games will be held from July 29 til August 4, and in the next few weeks you can expect announcements about official rosters, streaming details, and schedule breakdowns. As for Khrennikov, it will be interesting to see how he handles next year’s season. From the sounds of his Instagram post he’s far from quitting the sport, so we might get to see more of him in 2020.
Featured image from @cf_khrennikov_roman Instagram page, photo credit to @wodandpix.
