Multi-time Reebok CrossFit Games competitor and fan favorite Dan Bailey has withdrawn from the 2017 Central Regional. While Bailey’s withdrawal was announced on the Region’s live stream, no reason has been given. Bailey was sitting in 6th place after Day 1 in the Central Region.
Bailey — who’s also known for his comedic “Danny Broflex” personality from a series of CrossFit HQ-produced videos — finished 4th in the 2015 Reebok CrossFit Games. He failed to qualify in 2016, missing out on the Top 5 in a brutally competitive California Regional. (Bailey returned to the Central Regional this year.)
The 33-year old Bailey has an impressive athletic biography and has been on the radar of CrossFit fans since 2011. From his Games Site bio:
A former Division-I sprinter at Ohio University, Dan Bailey is a five-year individual CrossFit Games veteran, finishing within striking distance of the podium in each of his Games appearances (his best finish was fourth in 2015). Winner of the 2011 Reebok CrossFit Games worldwide Open and perennial fan favorite, Bailey earned the distinguished Spirit of the Games Award in 2015.
Bailey also rose to fame in part because of his friendship with 4-time CrossFit Games Champion Rich Froning. Bailey and Froning lived, trained, and traveled together around 2012, and several of their trips and training sessions were documented in CrossFit-produced videos. We’ve embedded a video from one of their trips below.
We’re still not sure of the reason for Bailey’s withdrawal from the Regional competition, though we’re wishing him a speedy recovery and return for next season.
Featured image: @dan_bailey9 on Instagram / @prestonsmithphotography
