The format of the Games this year certainly got people talking. Even some of the competitors hinted at their dissatisfaction with the way things were run. Brent Fikowski was cut at the end of Day 2, after landing in 23rd place. There’s no doubt he’s a stellar athlete, and it goes without saying that being eliminated probably stung. But Fikowski suggested we all look at things from a slightly different perspective.

Here’s what the athlete wrote on Instagram.

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One of my favourite moments of the #CrossFitGames: watching @jamesnewbury crush this event. From the stands with fellow #boyswhogotcut @pvellner, @esslingerlukas we were saying “oh you could definitely sprint the bike and still go unbroken on the rings”. It’s one thing to say that with a beer in hand, it’s another thing to do it when the pressure is on. Seeing him go #fullsend for 100pts, $3,000, and his first ever event win was epic. Riskin' it for the biscuit. Although it exhausted him for the next event in my opinion it was worth it. #glory and #moreoverallpoints We shared a great coach @rawstrengthandconditioning in some of our previous years at the Games, those around James have known he has the fitness to be near the top of the leaderboard. Stoked he made it happen in 2019 and finished the weekend in the top 5. #crossfitJAMES Lots of opinions on this year’s Games, one thing to think about is try not to hate the players. Maybe your fav got cut and you think they “deserved” to be there but the 10 athletes that made the cut have stories and good reason to be there too. Give them an IG follow to watch their next year unfold: @mattmcleodd @willmoorad @saxon_panchik @adrianmundwiler @bk_gudmundsson @jheppner66 @scottpanchik @nohlsen @mathewfras Photo cred @antlucic 📷

A post shared by Brent Fikowski (@fikowski) on Aug 5, 2019 at 7:32am PDT

He makes a good point. The competitors all went there with the same goal: Do their best. Win. Some made it to the end. Many didn’t. Was it the best Games thus far? Was it totally fair? Maybe, maybe not. But one thing’s for certain — these competitors gave it their all and are beyond inspiring.

Main image: Ahmet Zehir Photography/Instagram