Going Back to Cali: CrossFit Competition Returns to Carson for 2024 Semifinals
It was July 24, 2016, and Mat Fraser had just won the first of his five CrossFit Games championships.
The electricity from the crowd was palpable as Katrín Davídsdóttir edged out a young up-and-comer named Tia-Clair Toomey to take home her second win. They were joined by the winning team, CrossFit Mayhem Freedom, back when CrossFit Games teams still boasted six members.
- This all happened the last time a CrossFit event took place in Carson’s hallowed tennis stadium (then called the StubHub Center and now known as Dignity Health Sports Park.)
On May 24-26, the magic will return to Carson with the West Coast Classic, the CrossFit Games North American West Semifinal. At this event, the top 40 men and women and the top 30 teams in the region will compete for the chance to head to the CrossFit Games in Fort Worth, TX, in August.
[Related: 2024 CrossFit Semifinals — Individual and Team Workouts Released]
Dylan Malitsky, the Vice President of Sports at Loud & Live and the General Manager of TYR Wodapalooza, is the brains behind the West Coast Classic this season, and he is pumped for the return to Southern California.
Malitsky is familiar with organizing sanctioned events for CrossFit; he and his team hosted both the West Coast Classic and Granite Games back in 2021, the first year under the current system of Open-Quarterfinals-Semifinals-Games.
Earlier this year, CrossFit tapped independent event organizers to operate the Semifinal events for the season, and the opportunity to run the West Coast Classic again arose for Malitsky and his crew.
- “It wasn’t a decision that we took lightly. We have a lot going on with both TYR Wodapaloozas, and we made an intentional step to launch TYR WZA in SoCal in September,” Malitsky tells the Morning Chalk Up. “Ultimately, we were driven by the need — there was a void, and CrossFit didn’t necessarily have anybody to fill that void. We felt a level of responsibility for the community.”
Carson wasn’t always the obvious location; Malitsky considered several options, including other locations in California, along with Phoenix and Las Vegas, a former site for the West Coast Classic.
Everything changed as soon as he landed in Carson.
- “Once I stepped on campus, I felt an energy from standing outside the tennis stadium that I knew would be tough to replicate anywhere else. I knew the goosebumps and chills of the moment we can create in that venue that you won’t be able to have anywhere else,” Malitsky says. “Ultimately, being in the Dignity Health Sports Park and knowing what that venue means to the community – it was an easy decision at the end of the day.”
The connection with the past will run deep at the West Coast Classic, including appearances from past Games athletes like Becca Voigt and Josh Bridges.
- “There are pretty big gaps between events this year, and we will be interviewing these past greats about their favorite Carson moments, hosting meet-and-greets, and having seminars,” Malitsky says.
[Related: 2024 CrossFit Open and Quarterfinals Programming: Was It a Success?]
The overall “pure, old-school CrossFit” feel that has been a unifying theme this season will be alive and well in Carson.
- “It is going to be kind of down and dirty, which is what you can expect from a classic venue with 200 athletes. It will just be the tennis stadium with brands around the outside of it and a seminar stage with speakers and the legends,” Malitsky says.
Malitsky hopes that the spectators will make some incredible memories, just like he did during his tenure visiting the Games in Carson.
- “Nothing can match the electricity in that arena on a Friday or Saturday night under the lights. The Coliseum did its best, but it didn’t quite match,” Malitsky says. “I don’t think any indoor venue can match the energy that Carson brought.”
- He continued: “There were those iconic Friday and Saturday night moments, and I loved how they did it. They would have all the men or women lined up on the starting mat. They would then have the opening ceremonies, sing the national anthem, and finish it with a flyover — then the moment that was over, you would hear the beep and the heat would start.”
This setup raised the energy to a fever going into the heat that has yet to be replicated in Malitsky’s eyes. His goal is to replicate it this year.
And, if you like what Malitsky and Loud & Live brings to Southern California with the West Coast Classic, he wants you to return a little further down the coast later in the summer to check out TYR WZA SoCal, September 20-22.
Head here to purchase tickets for the West Coast Classic.
Featured image: @thewestcoastclassic / Instagram