Why Should I Even Still Do The Open? (Opinion)

These last few days, our team has been inundated with emails about the Open. What happens if an athlete that won a sanctioned event also wins the Open? How will backfilling work for the Open? Why are there two Opens this year?

But most of these emails are from everyday CrossFitters like Justin and me. And, for the most part, they’re unsure of what’s next. Will there be live announcements? If there are two Opens this year why should I even bother? With age groups being limited, what’s in it for me? Will my age group ever be officially recognized by CrossFit?

Here’s what we have to say: Do it anyway.

For 99% of us mere mortals, we are not going to make it to the CrossFit Games. Not before the changes and not now.

Greg Glassman is the first person to ever define the term fitness. And this is the modus operandi of CrossFit; You can now measure your fitness.

There’s only one way around that fear. You have to meet it. You can do that in the Open.

What better way to do that than the Open?

Every year you get to see where you stand in your box, in your state, in your age group, in your country, and in the world.

You get to see how much you’ve grown from last year to this year. Maybe this year you got your first RX Open workout. Maybe your first strict handstand push up. Maybe you PR’d your clean. These are things you can measure.

And, you can also measure your ability to meet the unknown and be prepared for the unknowable.

The same fear that crept up when CrossFit announced its changes is the same fear you can conquer in the Open. The fear of failure, “Can I do this?”  The fear of being overlooked, “What about me?” The fear of being mediocre, “But where do I stand?”

There’s only one way around that fear. You have to meet it. You can do that in the Open.

And you should.

To the Unknown and the Unknowable,

Jessica Danger
Managing Editor