Early this week, only a few weeks after the 2018 Reebok CrossFit Games wrapped up, reports started surfacing about big potential changes for the 2019 Reebok CrossFit Games season. According to a report by Morning Chalk Up, Greg Glassman, CEO of CrossFit, has said that the CrossFit HQ organization would be shifting gears and refocusing corporate efforts in regard to the CrossFit Games.
Reportedly, as Glassman was quoted in Morning Chalk Up’s article, he wants to direct CrossFit HQ’s resources to a more health-oriented approach, and begin to shift some of their current resources and focus away from the CrossFit Games.
Sources suggest this redirection of energy and resources has created a ripple effect across the organization, and has reportedly changed what we can expect for the 2019 Reebok CrossFit Games season. So what changes could be in store? We’ve listed some from initial reports below; we’ll be updating this article as more information and confirmation comes in from other sources.
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1. CrossFit Invitational
According to the news first reported by Morning Chalk Up, the CrossFit Invitational could be going away. This is the competition that features four top athletes drafted to create a CrossFit “dream team” from four different regions or nations across the globe. This event typically takes place in November.
2. CrossFit Open
The CrossFit Open could be seeing a major restructure. If the reported changes were to take effect, athletes from countries where CrossFit Affiliates are present (162 as of right now) will be competing against one another to be awarded with fittest in their country, which will result in a ticket to the CrossFit Games; one male and one female would earn a ticket from each country.
From Morning Chalk Up’s article, in terms of timeline, the CrossFit Open would take place in October, but for this upcoming year, reportedly, there will be two Open competitions held. One would take place in late February, then one would be held in October (where it will reside for the following seasons).
In terms of earning a ticket to the 2019 Reebok CrossFit Games, CrossFit will potentially take the top male and female athlete from each country, along with the top 20 finishers in the Open. Reportedly, this is happening only this year due to the brevity of the forewarning for the restructure and lack of schedule for the formal structure for the 16 CrossFit Sanctioned Events (more on those below), and will likely only happen this year.
3. CrossFit Sanctioned Events to Replace CrossFit Regionals
If these changes are confirmed, CrossFit Regionals competition would be no more. To replace the normal CrossFit Regionals, there would now be 16 officially sanctioned CrossFit events.
As of right now, the sanctioned events are still being planned out, but popular contests like the Wodapalooza and the Granite Games are two examples of events that have been mentioned as examples of the type we could see incorporated into this series. Individual athletes and teams who win an event could then earn a ticket to the CrossFit Games. There still have been no details on timelines for these, or if there are guidelines to when they can be held during the season.
4. CrossFit Games
From what’s been reported, the CrossFit Games will be still be held in August each year, but there could be a major change to the number of athletes who participate. As opposed to previous years where around 80 individual athletes competed, the new CrossFit Games could potentially have over 300 individual athletes competing.
There are around 162 countries with a CrossFit affiliate, so if the fittest woman and man from each country earns an invite, then we could be seeing over 324 individual athletes in attendance based on winning their countries alone, and that’s not factoring in the potential qualifiers from the other sanctioned events.
Note that there have been no details released in regards to teams.
Feature image from the @crossfitgames Instagram page, photo by @bigmansyndrome.
