With various announcements surrounding changes to the annual CrossFit Games in recent weeks, you might be wondering what it is all about! Let’s take a look at what we know so far about the 2024 competitive CrossFit season, and what to expect over the course of the next few months in the lead up to the CrossFit Games.
But… before we get dive into the ins and outs, let’s re-wind for a moment, and take it back to basics:
What actually are The CrossFit Games?
The CrossFit Games are an annual athletic competition, owned and run by CrossFit, LLC. Athletes compete in a series of events at the Games, which may be various standard CrossFit workouts consisting of metabolic conditioning exercises (think ergs, running – what we tend to call ‘cardio’ on the whiteboard!) weightlifting, and gymnastics movements, as well as a handful of activities from other sports such as swimming, cycling, and strongman. The events generally are not revealed before the Games, and although the format of some of the events will be very familiar to the athletes, many of the exact details regarding number of workouts, movement combinations, length of workouts and even location have often been kept secret right up until they enter the competition floor.
The variety, volume and intensity, not to mention unexpected twists to workouts, challenge the athletes both physically and mentally.
Winners of the CrossFit Games earn cash prizes, and the title of ‘Fittest on Earth’. The competition started in 2007 and has been held every year since, normally in the summer.
So what do we know so far about the 2024 Season?
New Year, New Location
Arguably the biggest announcement in relation to the 2024 Games so far is the change of location. For the last few years, the CrossFit Games have taken place in Madison, Wisconsin. Prior to this, Carson, California was the home of the Games for 7 consecutive years, preceded by the CrossFit Games’ original venue: ‘The Ranch’, in Aromas, California.
This year, the Games are relocating to Fort Worth, Texas. This new location is sure to make for a tough competition, given the summer heat in the Lone Star State, with temperatures typically ranging from 25° – 36°. Whilst a number of the Games workouts often take place indoors in the arena, there will no doubt be some outdoor events (including running and swimming), so the question on many people’s lips is… will the Athletes cope with the heat?
What else is changing this year?
Just last month, CrossFit HQ announced another major change to the 2024 season: The Age Group and Adaptive Divisions will no longer finish their seasons at the CrossFit Games. Now, adaptive athletes will be separated entirely from the CrossFit season and instead compete in the WheelWOD competition, which will host its 11th annual event in 2023.
Masters division athletes (ages 35 to 65+) will continue to compete in the CrossFit Open, Quarterfinals, and Semifinals, but instead of progressing on to the CrossFit Games, qualifying Masters athletes will battle it out for the top spot at the Legends Championship.
Teen division athletes will also participate in the CrossFit Open, Quarterfinals, and Semifinals, but will finish their season at the Pit Teen Throwdown in southwest Michigan.
The CrossFit Open
Hundreds of thousands of CrossFit athletes (professional and amateur alike!) will no doubt be pleased to know that the Open will run in the exact format as last year. The clue is in the name: the CrossFit Open is the first, open-to-all qualifying round of the CrossFit Games season. Athletes around the globe will be able to sign up, with no pre-requisites needed, and take part in a series of three workouts spread across three weeks. There will be various categories as previous years, so participants can choose the most appropriate workout version for themselves. Key dates to note are as follows:
- CrossFit Open Registration Begins: January 9th 2024
Note that registration is only compulsory if athletes wish to submit their scores online, and see their placing in the worldwide leaderboard. Whilst we encourage signing up (because it’s pretty awesome being part of something so huge!), it’s important to remember that there is no requirement to officially ‘sign up’ to be able to join in on The Open workouts at UV.
The Open
The 3 Open workouts are released on Thursdays – stay tuned for exact details on timings nearer the event so you can catch the live announcement! Athletes then have from time of release until the following Monday (3-4 days) to take part and complete the workout, submitting scores online before the cut-off. The dates for the three workouts will be as follows:
- Workout 24.1: February 29th – March 4th
- Workout 24.2: March 7th – 11th
- Workout 24.3: March 14th – 18th
Quarter Finals
Qualifying athletes will be invited to take part in Online Quarter finals, as previous years! BUT, this year we are seeing a big change – instead of the usual ‘Top 10%’ making it to Quarters, CrossFit HQ have announced that this time, the top 25% (both individuals and teams) will be in invited to this second round! This is a huge and exciting opportunity for thousands of athletes who, in previous years, have missed out on the opportunity to take part in Quarters. We expect to see more challenging movements and heavier weights in the Quarter Finals workouts than those featured in The Open.
- Quarterfinal Registration Begins: April 1st 2024
- Team Quarterfinal: April 3rd – 8th
- Individual Quarterfinal: April 17th – 22nd
Semi Finals
Whilst qualifying numbers have gone up for Quarter, they have gone down for Semis! The third qualifying round for the CrossFit Games, the Semi Finals, will take place at various in-person events around the world as previous years. Qualifying for this stage is no easy feat, and this time will be no exception, with only the top 40 male and female athletes from each region and the top 30 teams being invited to take part (vs 60 individuals last year). This narrowing of the field will see the competition grow tougher across the board!
Similar to last year, all programming will be done by CrossFit and consistent across each Semi Final. Dates and locations for the CrossFit Semi Finals will be released at a later date – so keep your eyes peeled!
Summary
So there we have it – the lowdown on the lead up to the CrossFit Games! More more info check out the CrossFit Games site. Stay tuned for more details as the announcements continue, and for important updates of what we will be doing at UV and how you can get involved!
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