Update: In a post from July 7th, the CrossFit Mayhem team announced the event would be postponed until late August at the earliest. From their post:
“Travel bans have eliminated our ability to host the top International Teams who legitimately qualified for the competition. We are evaluating new target dates and the necessary precautionary measures needed to prevent the spread of COVID-19. We will re-evaluate the ban on international travel on August 1st. We will announced our intentions to the public by August 3rd. The new target date for Mayhem Madness will be August 23rd-30th. This postponement comes as a great disappointment to us, and we appreciate your understanding.”
The CrossFit Games will look very different in 2020. One big difference is that there will not be a team competition this year. To the delight of many team athletes, Rich Froning had stepped up and created a competition of his own.
The first “Mayhem Madness” event was scheduled to take place August 2nd-9th in Cookeville, Tennessee, and there is a mix of excitement and nervousness leading up to this contest. (See above note for new planned dates.) While many athletes have expressed excitement to have something to prepare for and can scratch their competitive itches, the COVID-19 pandemic is still very unpredictable, and there is a chance that this event may be impacted by the pandemic over the next few weeks.
Should this competition take place in August, here is what you need to know.
The Location and Categories
Just like the 2020 Mayhem Classic which took place earlier this year, this event will be set at CrossFit Mayhem in Cookeville, Tennessee. The home training base of Rich Froning, Mat Fraser, Tia-Clair Toomey, and others is one of the most recognized training facilities fitness.
This contest has four different categories: four person teams, individuals, mixed pairs, and same gender pairs. All of the workouts for each category have already been published on the Mayhem Madness page.
The Schedule
The entire competition will last a week, with two consecutive competition days followed by a rest day. Teams will be eliminated after the second training day of each phase of the contest. So the schedule will go as follows:
(Note: The Mayhem Madness competition dates have changes, with August 23rd as a tentative start date; the dates below would change accordingly.)
- August 2nd-3rd: 12 Teams Compete
- August 4th: Rest Day, Teams Cut to 8
- August 5th-6th: 8 Teams Compete
- August 7th: Rest Day, Teams Cut to 4
- August 8th-9th: Final 4 Teams Compete to Determine Champions
The final team standings at the end of the final day will determine the inaugural Mayhem Madness Champions.
The Teams
There are 12 total teams (10 non-Mayhem) currently scheduled to participate next month. Nine of them are teams that were qualified for the 2020 CrossFit Games before it was announced there would be no team division at that competition. Three others were determined through online qualifiers, but two teams have said they are unable to compete.
Team Butcher’s Lab and Team Odd Squad will both miss this event. Members of Team Butcher’s Lab are unable to travel and members of Team Odd Squad are reportedly dealing with various injuries. The twelve total teams that will take part are listed below in the order that they are listed on the Mayhem Madness page.
Team Krypton
P10 – Performance Misfit
Team Misfit
The Canadians
Team Grownstrong
The Program
Team Meat Squad
Taranis Lifetree
Starr Strength Black
The Athlete Program
Team CrossFit Mayhem
Mayhem Independence
The above order is a draft order that was determined by the results of the online qualifier. Teams that take their turns in the draft will get to select events from a pool and place it in the position of their choice for that event. The first five teams on this list will actually get two picks, but they won’t pick again until after all teams have selected once. This won’t take place until the teams are on site in Cookeville. There will also be fan votes to fill in gaps that are remaining.
The two Mayhem teams (Team CrossFit Mayhem and Mayhem Independence) will not get draft picks nor will they be eligible for prizes should they win.
How to Watch
The organizers are expected to allow limited spectators to watch in person as a safety protocol for the people taking part. Full details of how to watch the contests haven’t been formally announced as of this writing but they are expected to be available to fans through their various social media channels.
There are still other details to be announced in the coming weeks leading up to the event including prize purse details and how to watch. Stay tuned to BarBend for the details as they are announced.
Featured Image: Instagram/richfroning
