While CrossFit HQ has a new CEO, many in the community are still unconvinced significant change has or will come to the company’s leadership and direction. According to new CEO Dave Castro, more needs to be addressed in order for the company to earn back trust from its global community. However, several prominent CrossFit Games athletes have made it clear his leadership change will not be enough to get their buy-in for this years competition.
Katrin Davidsdottir, Brooke Wells, and Amanda Barnhart have officially announced they’re out of this year’s competition. Annie Thorisdottir — who along with Davidsdottir is a 2-time Games Champion — voiced her support of the decision on Instagram, though Thorisdottir had previously announced she would not be competing due to her pregnancy.
Update: Multi-time Games athlete Cole Sager has also announced he is withdrawing from this year’s Games. Dani Speegle has also said she is out of this year’s Games.
A Week of Controversy for CrossFit and Its Founder
In addition to Greg Glassman’s tweet about the death of George Floyd — which set off a firestorm online that made its way to mainstream news outlets — other communications from Glassman and HQ stirred controversy in the lead-up to his eventual retirement. That included a letter from Glassman to Rocket CrossFit leadership, as well as a Zoom call with affiliate owners where Glassman emphasized he was “not mourning for George Floyd.”
Davidsdottir’s post references something else as well: Former HQ employee Andy Stumpf released a podcast (embedded below) recounting what he saw as numerous instances of troubling behavior from Glassman, the founder of CrossFit.
Days before, prior to the announcement surrounding Glassman’s retirement, Games athletes Noah Ohlsen and Chandler Smith posted they were out. Ohlsen clarified that his participation was “contingent upon major changes being made.”
Last weekend, Davidsdottir was one of the first prominent CrossFit athletes to voice her disapproval of Glassman’s tweet, and in the past week she’s been vocal with her thoughts surrounding recent developments at HQ. Her criticism called special attention to the fact that Glassman is still presumably the 100% owner of CrossFit and could therefore continue to exert his influence over the company.
Featured image: @katrintanja on Instagram, original image from @bownmedia
