With the sun about to set on the 2025 CrossFit Open, athletes are logging scores, re-doing workouts, and attempting to finish in the top 1% to qualify for the next stage of the season.
- However, partway through the three-week Open, Brazilian athlete Gui Malheiros has decided to focus his efforts elsewhere. His priority is now the World Fitness Project (WFP), whether or not he qualifies for the 2025 CrossFit Semifinals.
In a series of Instagram stories, Malheiros shared his current mindset and decision, but in a follow-up interview with Morning Chalk Up, he said he felt his words were perhaps misunderstood or mistranslated.
And there was a lot more to say.
Gui Malheiros on Why He’s Choosing WFP Over the CrossFit Season
Malheiros explained that his decision to prioritize the WFP over the CrossFit season was two-fold. The first reason is financial. He explained that competing at the CrossFit Games involves registration for all the stages leading up to the event, along with travel, food, and hotels. That comes with a risk of getting zero return on the investment.
However, with the WFP, his earning possibilities are more significant and more secure since his contract has guaranteed money. If he prioritizes these competitions and does well, he’ll also receive an additional payout.
- “I always strive to be a professional athlete and to be treated as one. Doing WFP is fulfilling this desire because I’m being paid to compete,” Malheiros told Morning Chalk Up. “I’m not paying for a hotel or travel, and I’m being valued as an athlete. And I’m feeling like a professional athlete.”
He went on to say that, in his opinion, the treatment athletes have received by CrossFit and the CrossFit Games is not like that of professional athletes, but, he says, they all accepted it “because it was the only way.”
Malheiros Opens Up About Lazar Ðukić
Money isn’t the main reason behind Maheiros’ decision — he’s still grappling with the death of Lazar Ðukić back at the 2024 CrossFit Games and how it was handled by the company.
- “The first thought of the decision was because of [the] situation after Lazar’s death — how the CrossFit Games [handled it]. There was no transparency after they said they were going to be transparent,” he said.
Malheiros continued: “They treated Lazar’s death like nothing. The day after he died, it was all normal. [This] hurt me a lot and hurt my family. I can’t imagine the pain his family felt and is still feeling to this day, and nothing has been done.”
Leading up to the Open, he was met with very mixed emotions regarding whether to register or not. He wanted to support his community, but he didn’t want to appear to be complying with what he felt was CrossFit’s disregard for the athletes, Lazar, and the Ðukić family.
After speaking with trusted community members, Malheiros registered for the Open an hour before 25.1 scores were due in an effort to support his friends.
- “I was not signing up for the Open because of my values as a man, as an athlete, as a person, as Lazar’s friend,” Malheiros said. “And I didn’t want to give money to the company that let my friend die. I signed up for the Open because of my community.”
Mixed Feelings
Still, his decision to de-prioritize the CrossFit season beyond the Open wasn’t easy.
The Copa Sur is a competition very dear to the Brazilian athlete, and some of his greatest memories are from the event. But every day, as a Mayhem athlete, Malheiros is surrounded by support from his fellow competitors and coaches, regardless of his journey forward.
- “I had the support of my coaches, and the Mayhem community. I love them; they love me,” Malheiros said. “And I care [about] what they say because they are with me all day. They know what happens off Instagram and off the leaderboard. They are with me all the time, and they are going to love me and support me with whatever decision I make.”
While Malheiros made it clear that this isn’t a permanent break between him and CrossFit, he does say that he will always do what is best for himself and his family. And that begins with the shift to the WFP season, which fills him with a sense of optimism.
- “With all that being said, I believe the WFP is something that will professionalize the sport. We have been trying to build and expand as much as we can, but CrossFit as a company and the CrossFit Games — they don’t help us to do that. They do whatever they want, and we just have to accept it,” Malheiros said.
He concluded: “I think the WFP is going to revolutionize the sport. They value the athletes as they are, and it’s going to be a great thing for the sport, for the athletes, and the spectators. So I think this is going to change the whole game and the whole way of fitness. It’s going to be a new era.”
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Featured Image: Lydia Stadtheower
