The athletes and supporters of CrossFit have seen their sport go through a summer of turbulence. A global pandemic, controversies that resulted in a change in ownership, and numerous events on their calendars being rescheduled or cancelled has taken a toll on everyone involved. The hope is that 2021 will be a more stable and successful year, and that may start with one of their trademark events.
In a CrossFit-hosted online Town Hall on August 19th, news was shared that the 2021 CrossFit Open will take place in February of next year. This event was originally scheduled to happen in October of this year, but all of the previously mentioned issues led organizers to make this change. Prior to the 2019 season, the Open had taken place in the early portion of the calendar, so fans may see this as a positive change to a time they are familiar with. The hope is also that by that time, the COVID-19 pandemic will not be as major of an issue and competitions can take place without as many restrictions.
The Town Hall was shared in a live YouTube stream on the official CrossFit channel. Host Nicole Carroll was joined by the new owner and CEO, Eric Roza. Roza addressed the Open and its future as a response to a question sent in at the 16:19 point of the video above.
“Overwhelmingly, people want to see the Open go back to where it had always been prior to 2019, in February. And I’m happy to tell you the Open is going to be in February and March. And that will lead to, what I can tell you for sure which is hard to say anything is for sure in this world now with COVID and so on, I can tell you for sure that we’re going to be running the Open in February and March, and that is going to lead cohesively to a CrossFit Games.”
Roza went on to say that he had no dates in stone for the 2021 Games as of that time but that it would be later in the year so more athletes can be a part of it.
Patrick Vellner and Sara Sigmundsdottir were the Open Champions of 2020. This year’s CrossFit Games had been moved this year due to the pandemic. It is scheduled for next month with a hybrid format. It will begin as an online competition with the Top 5 men and women to compete together to determine this year’s champions.
Featured Image: Eric Roza via Instagram/crossfit
