It’s now February. Rodents have predicted our short term weather patterns. Wodapalooza seems like a distant memory. The Fittest Experience wrapped up, effectively closing down the offseason and the CrossFit Open is around the corner.
While there is a lull in competitions, there are still plenty of moving pieces in the sport. The NorCal Classic Qualifier wrapped up. The Wodland Fest Qualifier is Open. The World Fitness Project finally finished announcing its 40 athletes.
With so much still up in the air about the season, I have taken a look at each of the In-Person Qualifier Events, and have come up with one burning question around who will end up taking the Games ticket(s) from each Event. Part 1 of my questions came out last week, and today I look at the second half of the IPQEs.
Syndicate Crown: How are you going to manage your invite list?
In a recent post, Syndicate Crown announced only athletes who don’t have a Games ticket will be eligible to compete at the competition. Makes sense.
Syndicate Crown’s qualification includes the top 20 North America East athletes from the CrossFit Open. This creates a scenario where an athlete gets an invite to the Games from the Open, and then has it revoked if they qualify for Games out of the Semifinals.
And to make things more complicated, this can all potentially happen 12 days before the start of competition. In the CrossFit Rulebook the in-affiliate Semifinal leaderboard will be finalized no later than May 19th. The Syndicate Crown starts on May 30th.
Also happening at the same time is invites will be sent to the top 10 North America East athletes who did not qualify for the Games out of Semifinals.
With emails going back and forth and inevitable backfills, the final competition roster may not be finalized until less than a week from the start of competition.
Torian Pro: Will dreams be broken at the Torian Pro?
This should probably read, whose dreams will be broken at Torian Pro? With only 2 spots available to a men’s field of Jay Crouch, Ricky Garard and Bailey Martin, it’s likely someone is leaving empty handed.
At the Torian Pro in 2024 all three of these men were in the lead at one point in the competition, and all have had a top 15 finish at the CrossFit Games in the past 2 years. Bailey Martin probably has the most to fight for as he is the only one of the trio without a World Fitness Project contract, but is also the underdog of the three.
The Torian Pro is always my favorite “Semifinal” of the year to watch, and 2025 will be the same. A super fierce battle for the top spot and an entertaining competition is all CrossFit fans can ask for.
Renegade Games: Will the UAE expats take over?
The Rebel Renegade Games put a regional restriction on the competition to only allow passport holders from Africa and UAE or athletes who live and train in Africa or the UAE to compete. The goal of this move is to grow the sport in Africa and the UAE.
The challenge with this goal is there are a number of top athletes who are expats in the UAE
- Jamie Simmonds, 5 time individual Games athlete
- Sara Sigmundsdottir, 6 time individual Games athlete
- Victoria Campos, 2 time individual Games athlete
- Kalyan Souza, 2 time individual Games athlete
- Toby Buckland, 2nd at the 2024 Dubai Fitness Championship
On the women’s side, Jamie Simmonds would be the favorite to run away with the competition. Even in recent competitions, Simmonds has had better results than the 2024 Games competitor from Africa Gemma Rader and the nearest African competitor Christina Livaditakis.
For the men, it would be a close competition between the expats and 2024 CrossFit Games athlete Ruan Potgieter. If I was picking winners today, I’d probably lean towards Souza, but it’d be close.
Far East Throwdown: Will someone with deep pockets win the Games ticket?
Half of the IPQEs have restrictions on who can compete at them. The other half, including the Far East Throwdown, are wide open to whoever wants to step onto the competition floor. With no limits on who can enter, will we see someone from historically stronger regions take a trip to South Korea to try and claim the Games ticket?
It’s happened before. During Sanctionals, there were two competitions in China that award Games tickets all won by athletes outside of Asia.
- 2019 Asia CrossFit Championship winners were Kristin Holte and Brent Fikowski
- 2020 Panadaland CrossFit Challenge winners were Harriet Roberts and Khan Porter
There is a barrier to entry for elite athletes, which is a 6 event qualifier from March 24 to April 4th. In theory a top 20 Games athlete wouldn’t have to worry about the qualifier, but if you are willing to fly to South Korea are you going to take your foot off the gas during the qualifier?
There’s still plenty of unknowns with the Games season, but I’d be surprised if at least one perennial Games athlete didn’t end up at the Far East Throwdown.
NorCal Classic: Will we see “unique” events in a games qualifier?
The Northern California Classic has been around since 2019, and has run a successfully event. Historically in September, the competition has been a mix between traditional CrossFit, events that include the train of the local area (swimming and trail runs) and unique but functional events.
In 2024, athletes completed a Shaolin Bucket Hold in a stand alone event, and a seated pulley hoist. 2023 had a double broad jump, and a kayak.
These are all fun and challenging events that highlight the athleticism of the athletes and the benefits of the CrossFit methodology. My question here is, are they going to determine who the fittest athlete is, in order to advance to the CrossFit Games?
Last Chance Qualifier: WTF CrossFit?
Look, I have no issues with there being a last chance qualifier. We’ve seen athletes from the last edition of the LCQ go on to have great performances at the Games. In 2022, Arielle Loewen went from winning the Last Chance Qualifier to 11th at the CrossFit Games. Kristi O’Connell finished second in the LCQ in 2021 then finished 8th at the Games. We never would have seen Tim Paulson send it on the echo bike in 2022 if it weren’t for the Last Chance Qualifier. The question here is really why didn’t CrossFit announce it with the initial season plan in December? Or when they added the NorCal Classic as an in-person qualifying event? Or when they launched the rulebook? Instead, Rich Froning leaked it on his podcast and CrossFit dropped a meme a week later about it. Details to come soon-ish.
Wait and See
We have a bit of a lull in the season for the next couple weeks. The Northern California Classic should finalize its qualifier. The Mayhem Classic continues to announce their confirmed athletes. It won’t be until the Open until things heat up again, although this is CrossFit and anything is bound to happen.
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