1. History
    Sponsorship and prize money 

2. Qualification
    The Open  Sanctioned events  Invitation 

3. Divisions
    Individual  Team  Masters and Teens 

4. Controversies

5. Broadcasting

6. Champions by year and category

7. See also

8. References

9. External links

The CrossFit Games is an athletic competition sponsored by Crossfit Inc.^[1] and Reebok.^[2] The competition has been held every summer since 2007. Athletes at the Games compete in workouts that they learn about hours or days beforehand, consisting mostly of an assortment of standard aerobic, weightlifting, and gymnastics movements, as well as some additional surprise elements that are not part of the typical CrossFit regimen such as obstacle courses, ocean swimming, softball throwing, or ascending a pegboard.^[3][4] The CrossFit Games stylizes their individual winners as the "Fittest on Earth".^[5]

History

In 2007, the first annual CrossFit Games were contested in Aromas, California, on a small ranch owned by the family of Games director Dave Castro.^[6] For the initial Games in 2007 and 2008, participation was open to anyone who made it to Aromas. The Games would also award an Affiliate Cup to the group from one CrossFit gym that had the best combined individual standings. In 2009, competitors had to qualify after over a hundred athletes had shown up in 2008. The athletes earned an invitation through either placing high enough in the previous year or through placing in the top worldwide in a set of qualifying events called Regionals hosted at a few CrossFit gyms. The CrossFit Games also added a separate set of team-based events for the Affiliate Cup, marking the first use of a designated Team Division, with teams of four (two men and two women).^[7]

Interest and participation in the event continued to grow, and in 2010, the qualification was adjusted to include hosting multiple Sectionals, a series of events open to all athletes in order to qualify for the one of the 17 Regionals.^[8] The 17 regions had Canada and the United States divided into 12 regions, with the remaining regions roughly corresponding the five other populated continents. The attendance at the Games also outgrew the ranch in Aromas and moved the Home Depot Center (later called the StubHub Center) in Carson, California.^[9] The Games also expanded the Team Division to groups of six athletes and added a Masters Division for individual men and women 55-years-old and up.

In 2011, the open participation Sectionals were replaced by an online qualification called the Open. In 2011, 26,000 athletes signed up to compete in the Open. In 2012–2018, participation was 69,000, 138,000, 209,000, 273,000, 324,307, 380,000, and 415,000 respectively.^{[10][11][12][13][14][15]}

In 2015, the qualification format changed from 17 regional events to eight. Each "super-regional" event included qualifiers from two or three of the previously defined regions, totaling 40 or 50 athletes at each event.

Following seven years in Carson, the Games moved to the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wisconsin, in 2017.^[16] The next year, the qualifying Regionals were once again realigned due to increased competitiveness and popularity outside of Canada and the US.^[17] In 2018, there were nine Regionals hosted among 18 redefined regions with Europe increasing to three regions, Central America split from South America, while eliminating the Northern and Southern California regions.

CrossFit, Inc. founder Greg Glassman overhauled the format for the 2019 games, replacing the Regionals with CrossFit-sanctioned international qualifying events.^[18] As part of the changes, the 2019 games athletes qualify through being the top individual and team finishers from the sanctioned events, the top athlete from each country in the CrossFit Open, the top 20 overall finishers in the CrossFit Open, and four at-large athletes as chosen by CrossFit, Inc. Teams also no longer need to be created from one CrossFit-affiliated gym and can be formed from any four competitors.^[19]

Sponsorship and prize money

Participation and sponsorship have grown rapidly since the inception of the Games. The prize money awarded to each first-place male and female increased from $500 at the inaugural Games to $300,000 for 2019.^[20] The largest jump in prize money came from the first Games sponsored by Reebok in 2011 when first place went from $25,000 in 2010 to $250,000 in 2011.^[21] The total prize payout in 2016 was $2,200,000.^[22]

Qualification

As of the 2019 CrossFit Games, the season consists of three ways to qualify: the Open, sanctioned events, and by invitation.^[20]

The Open

The Open, introduced in 2011 and so-called because participation is open to anyone,^[23] is held over five weeks in February–March; a new workout is released on each Thursday night (Pacific Time) and competitors complete the workout and submit their scores online by Monday evening, with either a video or validation by a CrossFit affiliate. Since 2013, Open workout announcements have been broadcast live, and featured two or more past CrossFit Games athletes competing head-to-head immediately following the workout description. Beginning with the 2019 Games, the top athlete from each country and the top 20 overall Open finishers qualify directly to the Games. The Open is also used for seeding purposes at the Games even if an athlete qualified through the sanctioned events; if an athlete qualifies through a sanctioned event but does not do the Open, they will be seeded at the bottom.

For the 2020 season, the Open will move forward to October 2019 as part of the overhaul for Games qualifications.^[24]

Sanctioned events

Between 2009 and 2018, competitors qualified for the Games through participation at CrossFit Games regional events. For the 2019 Games, CrossFit, Inc. discontinued hosting the Regional qualifier and instead sanctioned independent fitness events as qualifiers separate from the Open. Most of the sanctioned events were already widely participated in by CrossFit Games athletes, often used as a part of off-season training, around the world. Each sanctioned event has its own rules for participation, but athletes that attend the sanctioned events are either by invite or through the event's qualification process.

The 15 sanctioned events for the 2019 CrossFit Games are in chronological order:^[25] Dubai CrossFit Championship (Dubai), Australian CrossFit Championship (Broadbeach), Wodapalooza (Miami), CrossFit Fittest in Cape Town, CrossFit Strength in Depth (London), Asia CrossFit Championship (Shanghai), Mid-Atlantic CrossFit Challenge (Baltimore), CrossFit Italian Showdown (Milan), Brazil CrossFit Championship (São Paulo), CrossFit Lowlands Throwdown (Apeldoorn), Down Under CrossFit Championship (Wollongong), Reykjavik CrossFit Championship (Reykjavik), Rogue Invitational (Columbus, Ohio), CrossFit French Throwdown (Paris), and the Granite Games (St. Cloud, Minnesota).^{[19][26][27][28][29]} There are 21 sanctioned events announced for the 2020 season.

If an athlete or team wins multiple sanctioned events, the runners-up from the later events will qualify to the Games.^[20]

Invitation

The CrossFit Games may choose to invite up to four athletes that did not qualify for the games in the Open or sanctioned events as an at-large bid.^[20]

Divisions

Individual

The marquee events at the CrossFit Games are the men's and women's individual competitions. The first place prize for each currently stands at $300,000.

Team

Originally, teams were awarded the "Affiliate Cup" for having the best overall score from the individual athletes that had come from the same CrossFit-affiliated gym. In 2009, the Games began having a separate set of events for affiliate teams and consisted of four to six athletes from the same gym.^[30] The next season, the format was finalized to teams of three men and three women. In the 2018 games, each team was changed to four members, two men and two women.^[17] In 2019, CrossFit removed the stipulation that team members had to be from the same affiliate. Teams are subject to a similar qualification process as the individuals.^[20]

Masters and Teens

The Games include age-based divisions for younger and older competitors. Masters divisions were introduced at the 2010 Games. There are currently six divisions each for women and men: 35–39, 40–44, 45–49, 50–54, 55–59, and 60+. Divisions for teenagers were introduced in 2015: the age ranges are 14–15 and 16–17, for both boys and girls. Rather than regional events, masters and teen athletes qualify for the games by a second online competition following the Open. The top 200 athletes in each division worldwide are invited to compete in this qualifier, of which the top 20 (top 10 as of 2019) advance to the Games.^[31] Prior to the introduction of these secondary online qualifiers, masters and teens competitors qualified for the Games directly from the Open.

Controversies

Due to CrossFit's official partnership with Reebok, competitors at the 2015 Games were banned from wearing Nike footwear.^[32] Nike arranged for several trucks to be parked near the main entrance to the arena, which served as mobile billboards with the slogan "Don't ban our shoe, beat our shoe".^[33] The partnership also prohibits Nike from labeling its Metcon shoes as intended for CrossFit – the brand uses the term "high intensity training" instead.^[32]

CrossFit's decision to award winners of the 2016 Games with handguns resulted in widespread criticism from members and sponsors.^[34] Resulting protests forced the temporary closure of two CrossFit locations in New York City.^[35]

Broadcasting

In 2011, ESPN began to broadcast the CrossFit Games, with live coverage streamed through ESPN3, and some television coverage on ESPN2. As the event grew, ESPN expanded its television coverage; in 2014, the network entered into a multi-year deal to continue broadcasting the CrossFit Games, and coverage expanded to nine-and-a-half hours on ESPN and ESPN2 by 2015.^[36] In 2017, the event began a new broadcast arrangement with CBS Sports, with television coverage on CBS Sports Network, and a total of 40 hours of digital streaming coverage. CrossFit also streamed coverage through Facebook and their website.^[37]

Champions by year and category

See also

• National Pro Grid League

References

External links

• Official website
• [https://games.crossfit.com/legacy-leaderboard?competition=3&year=2011 Leaderboard of previous competitions]

• Grote's underwing
• Grote–Hynes theory
• Grothaus
• Grothaus, Michael
• Grotheer
• Grotheer, Christopher
• Grothendieck abelian category
• Grothendieck, Alexander
• Grothendieck fibration
• Grothendieck-Lefschetz trace formula
• Grothendieck-Riemann-Roch formula
• Grothendieck-Springer simultaneous resolution
• Grothendieck-Tarski set theory
• Grothendieck topoi
• Grothendieck–Springer simultaneous resolution
• Groth, Jonathan
• Grothkopp
• Grotius Lecture
• Grotjahn, Mark
• Groton (Amtrak station)
• Groton Bridge Co.
• Groton Fort
• Groton Free Public Library
• Groton High School (disambiguation)
• Groton Junction station