“What our athletes are doing, everyone thinks is impossible. That you can be that fast. That you can be that strong. That you can have that many different skills.”
Isn’t that CrossFit in a nutshell? Those are the words that kick off our first glimpse of what has become an annual tradition: the Reebok CrossFit® Games documentary. And CrossFit HQ has brought the heat with Gravitas Ventures handling the distribution. Each year sees a new benchmark set in quality and production value, and The Redeemed and the Dominant had us on the edge of our seats for the whole two-and-a-half minute runtime.
This is a dramatic sport, and the trailer has it in spades. Check it out below.
The only competition that decides the Fittest Man and Woman on Earth™, the Reebok CrossFit Games are the ultimate test of tenacity, capacity, and versatility. Nobody in mainstream sport circles saw the event reaching these heights when the first Games was held on a ranch in Aromas, California in 2007.
When the 2017 Games were held in Madison, Wisconsin last August, there were a lot of firsts, and the events truly did test the athletes’ readiness for anything. There was the Sprint-O-Course obstacle race. There was the Cyclocross bike race.
And there was Ricky Garard.
When we first heard about the new movie, one of the first things we wondered was how the documentary would treat the first disqualification of a podium finisher for a positive doping test. The rookie Australian was stripped of his bronze medal a couple of months after the Games came to a close when it was revealed he tested positive for testolone and endurobol, banned performance enhancers.
When the names of the top athletes in the sport flash across the screen in the trailer, Garard’s comes last, followed by a clip of him being asked if he thinks there are steroids in CrossFit. “Definitely,” he answers.
A large portion of the rest of the trailer shows first place winner Mat Fraser and Games Director Dave Castro discussing what was, at the time of filming, the possibility of steroids being used in the Games. HQ is not shying away from last year’s controversy; they’re tackling it head on.
Again: this documentary is going to be something new.
Featured image via CrossFit® on YouTube.
