The 2020 CrossFit Games Competition Dates Have Been Announced
The 2020 Reebok CrossFit Games are officially happening later this year, and the new dates for competition have been announced. Earlier this month, CrossFit's new owner and CEO Eric Roza announced that the games would be happening, but with a new format to limit the risk of exposure to the coronavirus.
The Games will now consist of two separate stages. The first is a remote competition for the 30 women’s and 30 men’s qualifiers, in which they will participate in the events at home under strict parameters, likely akin to the CrossFit Open format, to be streamed online. Athletes from 16 countries are slated to take part in this qualifying phase. That will be followed by an in-person finals event in California for the top five men and top five women from the first stage. The winners, given the titles of the Fittest Man and Fittest Woman on Earth, will come from this final stage.
Now, we know exactly when the events are scheduled to take place. The online competition will be live-streamed beginning on Friday, September 18, and will last for two to three days. The televised in-person finals will be held in Northern California the week of October 19 through 25. (Pre-pandemic, the original plan was for the Games to run from July 29 to August 2.)
A post shared by CrossFit Games (@crossfitgames) on Aug 12, 2020 at 10:41am PDT
The future of the 2020 Reebok CrossFit Games looked uncertain earlier this year. The Games were moved from Madison, Wisconsin, to Aromas, California, and it was announced that no spectators would be allowed at the event. Then, CrossFit said that only the top 20 men and women from the Open would be invited, in order to minimize risk of spreading coronavirus. Internal turmoil within CrossFit HQ also put the Games into question, after high-level athletes declared their intention to boycott the competition following racist statements and revelations about sexist behavior by founder and former CEO Greg Glassman. This pressure, along with a mass exodus of affiliates and sponsors, forced Glassman to step down and sell the company to Roza.
But the state of the competition appeared to be more hopeful after Roza's announcement earlier in August.
"The 2020 Reebok CrossFit Games are a go," the CrossFit CEO said in a statement. "At CrossFit, we are always energized by a challenge, and hosting a worldwide sporting event in the age of COVID is no exception. We are excited to be able to deliver the CrossFit Games to our athletes, fans, and CrossFit gym members in 158 countries through a two-stage format that combines a worldwide online competition with a small in-person finals in Northern California. This innovative format will help us protect the safety of our athletes while delivering a world-class Games experience to identify the world's fittest individuals."
As of now, the full list of competitors for the first phase has not been announced. Stay tuned to see if Mat Fraser will aim to continue his reign atop the podium, as Fraser would be competing for an unprecedented fifth straight individual title this year.
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