All of the changes coming to the 2019 competitive season have left a lot of people scratching their heads, so we’re going to help you stay on top of it. We’ll keep this blog updated with all the most important details about what’s happening leading up to the 2019 Games.

11/2/19

With so many questions raised regarding the 2019 competitive season, one of the biggest was about the live Open announcements. Will they still happen? Are they changing in any way?

We finally have the answer.

Breathe easy, friends, because live Open announcements aren’t going anywhere — but there is one catch: they’re changing quite drastically.

As opposed to HQ managing them, the responsibility now belongs to the individual affiliates where the live events are being hosted. This means we can expect each announcement to look quite unique. Furthermore, we’re not sure we can expect to see Castro there.

What remains the same is that you’ll be able to watch the announcements on the Games website, as well as on social media.

9/1/19

HQ released the 2019 competition rulebook, and it’s answered a lot of lingering questions. Here are some of the key takeaways.

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1. You Have to Be a Citizen of the Country You’re Representing

In the past, elite athletes have moved to different regions to better their odds of ranking higher. However, moving forward, citizenship will determine which country an athlete represents. If they have dual citizenship, they can choose which one to represent.

2. Athletes Don’t Have to Compete in the Open If They Get an Invite From a Sanctioned Event…

… but they probably should anyway. This is because seeding at the Games is based entirely on scores from the Open. If an athlete doesn’t compete in the Open, they automatically get the lowest seeding at the Games.

3. There Are 4 Ways to Qualify for the Games

(1) Be in the top 20 in the Open, (2) be the top athlete in your country (even if you’re not in the top 20 worldwide), (3) win a sanctioned event, or (4) receive one of the four invites HQ will give away at their own discretion.

28/12/18

Good news from Iceland: the Reykjavik CrossFit Championship is officially happening, and we now have another sanctioned event to add to the list. Annie Thorisdottir confirmed the exciting news on Instagram, and the event now has its own page.


17/12/18

After a heated competition, the Dubai CrossFit Championship crowned its winners: Mat Fraser, Samantha Briggs, and CrossFit Invictus, consisting of Lauren Fisher, Regan Huckaby, Rasmus Anderson, and Tommy Vinas. This marks the end of the first-ever sanctioned event.

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According to the event’s leaderboard, Fraser won by a landslide, with more than 100 points separating him and
Björgvin Karl Gudmundsson, who came in second place.

The women’s competition was much closer, with Jamie Greene finishing in second place just six points behind Briggs

Ultimately, Invictus finished on top with 47 points putting them ahead of second place. What a week it was!

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15/12/18

Have you been keeping up with the Dubai CrossFit Championship? The competition isn’t over yet but there are already clear leaders claiming their spots. Will they stay at the front of the pack through the end of the competition?

For the men, Mat Fraser is (unsurprisingly) leading the way, with 535 points. Did anyone happen to catch that 137kg max snatch?

Samantha Briggs leads the women, with 509 points. For the team division, Invictus is currently in first, with 555 points.

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The competition is quickly coming to a close — do you expect any major changes in the leaderboard?

8/12/18

The Open is fast approaching, and HQ has confirmed the dates. The online competition starts on Thursday, February 21, and ends Monday, March 25. Here’s what the week-to-week schedule looks like:

  • Week 1 – Thursday, Feb. 21 – Monday, Feb. 25
  • Week 2 – Thursday, Feb. 28 – Monday, Mar. 4
  • Week 3 – Thursday, Mar. 7 – Monday, Mar. 11
  • Week 4 – Thursday, Mar. 14 – Monday, Mar. 18
  • Week 5 – Thursday, Mar. 21 – Monday, Mar. 25

Ultimately, the top 20 men and women in the world will get an invite to Madison, along with the fittest male and female in each country.

Mark your calendars!

6/12/18

A few days ago, Annie Thorisdottir shared with her fans that she had undergone a procedure to assess her heart arrhythmia. While the procedure came and went, it turns out her recovery has taken longer than expected, and it’s going to keep her out of the Dubai CrossFit Championship. In a post on Instagram today, Thorisdottir gave her followers all the details.

We’ll certainly miss seeing her compete there, but health comes first. Feel better, Annie!

5/12/18

The 2019 competitive is about to officially kick off, with the Dubai CrossFit Championship taking place December 12th to the 15th. This will be the first sanctioned event that sends athletes to the 2019 Games, naming the best male, female, and team.

The event team has released two of the workouts.

Workout 1: Gulf Swim

21-15-9

  • Dual KB snatch (24/16kg)
  • Dual KB front squat (24/16kg)

Then

350m swim

Score for time


Workout 3: 4 x 4

  • 4k run with tactical vest
  • 4k run without vest

Score for time

1/12/18

We lasted reported that Tia-Clair Toomey withdrew from the Australian CrossFit Championship, to which she received an automatic invite. It was safe to assume it was due to her move to the United States, and Toomey has now confirmed that getting to Australia simply doesn’t work with her schedule.

According to the Morning Chalk Up, Toomey says, “I would finish competing at Wodapalooza on (Sunday) the 20th of January, and then we would need to fly from Miami to Brisbane on the 21st and we would arrive into Brisbane Wednesday. The Aussie Championship, however, starts on Thursday leaving me minimal time to adjust or recover from the travel and competing days prior.”

Toomey adds, “As much as I would love to compete in Australia during Australia day (26th of January), I need to prioritize my goals.”

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In other news related to the 2019 season, the Dubai CrossFit Championship starts December 12th, and it’ll be the first sanctioned event happening under the newly structured season format. If you can’t be there in person but want to keep up with all the action, you can watch it on the Dubai CrossFit Championship website as well as their YouTube channel and RedBull TV.

29/11/18

The Australian CrossFit Championship online qualifier is officially finished and ironically, it was American athletes that ended up on top for the individuals. Jacob Heppner took a strong lead for the men, finishing with 19 points. James Newbury was behind him in second place, with 48 points.

For the women, Hilary Steele dominated the pack, with 32 points. In second place behind her is Ashleigh Corby, with 45 points.

The team events were nailbiting. Australia’s Project X — consisting of Khan Porter, Brandon Swan, Jessica Coughlan, and Harriet Roberts, dominated with 8 points total, with Reebok CrossFit Frankston just four points behind in second place.

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While plenty of big names competed, there are two we’ll be missing. Kara Saunders will be sitting out this season, after announcing she’s pregnant with her first child. Tia-Clair Toomey also announced she’s declining her automatic invitation to the championship in January. Disappointing? Of course. But considering Toomey and husband Shane Orr’s recent move to Cookeville, Tennessee, it’s perhaps unsurprising she doesn’t want to make the trip back to Australia unless she absolutely has to. Instead, she’ll be heading to Miami for Wodapalooza, and we can’t wait to see her crush it.

8/11/18

There are still so many unanswered questions surrounding the 2019 competitive season, but we’ve now got one more bit of information: the dates of the CrossFit Games. Morning Chalk Up noticed that Alliant Energy Center had posted the dates on their website:

Event Start Date: 7/31/2019

Event End Date: 8/4/2019

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Go ahead and book your hotel rooms, friends. It’s on.

31/10/18

CrossFit has announced five more sanctioned events, and there’s exciting news for Australians: two of them will be happening right at home!

The events are as follows:

  • Australian CrossFit Championship — January 2019
  • Down Under CrossFit Championship — May 2019
  • Asia CrossFit Championship — April 2019
  • Reykjavik CrossFit Championship — May 2019
  • Pandaland CrossFit — December 2019 (This will be to qualify for the 2020 Games.)

The Australian CrossFit Championship will take place in Queensland. It starts with an online qualifier to select 32 men and women and 16 teams. Those who move on in the competition will receive spots to compete at the Gold Coast Convention and Entertainment Centre for a ticket to the Games.

The Down Under CrossFit Championship will take place in Wollongong over the span of three days.

Australia, are you ready?

27/10/2018

Here is the schedule of the 2019 competitive season, based on the information released thus far.

2019 competitive season schedule

The first sanctioned event qualifier is in the books, and the Dubai CrossFit Championship qualifying athletes have (unofficially) been named. 37 males and 37 females (plus 10 teams) have prevailed after three weeks of events, and it’s these people who will move onto the Championship in Dubai later in December. Out of the bunch, one male, female, and team will be selected to go to the Games.

Here are the qualifying athletes, according to Morning Chalk Up.

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Men

  1. Mathew Fraser
  2. BK Gudmundsson
  3. Streat Hoerner
  4. Willy Georges
  5. Jacob Heppner
  6. Colten Mertens
  7. Dean Linder-Leighton
  8. Giorgos Karavis
  9. Connor Duddy
  10. Ben Smith
  11. Alex Anderson
  12. Alex Kotoulas
  13. Travis Mayer
  14. Luke Schafer
  15. Mitch Wagner
  16. Paul Castillo
  17. Casper Gammelmark
  18. Ruan Duvenage
  19. Jake Marconi
  20. Alec Smith
  21. Matt McLeod
  22. Uldis Upenieks
  23. Jason Smith
  24. Brandon Swan
  25. Roman Khrennikov
  26. Brendan Willis
  27. Frederik Aegidius
  28. Bayden Brown
  29. Jeffrey Adler
  30. Paul Tremblay
  31. Eric Carmody
  32. Bartek Lipka
  33. Viktor Langsved
  34. Samuel Cournoyer
  35. Josh Gervais
  36. Justin Ahrens
  37. Tyler Tosunian

Women

  1. Annie Thorisdottir
  2. Sara Sigmundsdottir
  3. Laura Horvath
  4. Jamie Greene
  5. Dani Speegle
  6. Chantelle Loehner
  7. Karin Frey
  8. Eik Gylfadottir
  9. Carolyne Prevost
  10. Jessica Coughlan
  11. Samantha Briggs
  12. Brooke Haas
  13. Gabriela Migala
  14. Keston Mendoza
  15. Kelley Jackson
  16. Pip Malone
  17. Bethany Shadburne
  18. Chelsey Hughes
  19. Camilla Salomonsson Hellman
  20. Harriet Roberts
  21. Carmen Bosmans
  22. Jaime Goodwin
  23. Hilary Steele
  24. Laken Watt
  25. Emma McQuaid
  26. Christina Agerbeck
  27. Samantha Pugh
  28. Paige Henry
  29. Mikaela Norman
  30. Alessandra Pichelli
  31. Mia Akerlund
  32. Casey Campbell
  33. Hayley Murillo
  34. Anna Fragkou
  35. Caroline Dardini
  36. Angonese Manon
  37. Ashleigh Wosny

Teams

  1. Cassidy Lance-Mcwherter, Jenn Smith, Adrian Mundwiler, Lukas Esslinger
  2. Joseph Tortora, Zach Sowder, Emma Chapman, Nicole Holcomb
  3. Lauren Fisher, Regan Huckaby, Tommy Vinas, Rasmus Anderson
  4. Chandler Smith, Travis Williams, Andrea Nisler, Taylor Williamson
  5. Marcus Erixon, Elin Rova, Emelie Lundberg, Linus Johansson
  6. Simon Mantyla, Amanda Franden, Sara Armanius, Alexander Elebro
  7. Manon Lesur, David Fontaine, Tola Morakinyo, Lorraine Allard
  8. Jennifer Dancer, Holden Rethwill, Kaitlin Kassis, Sam Dancer
  9. Philip Then Bisgaard, Frederikke Frandsen, Rebecka Vitteson, Klaus Uggerhoj
  10. Callerina Natori, Joey Szwec, Kyle Zozaya, Brandi McGoldrick

Wodapalooza, the second sanctioned event, also wrapped up its qualifiers this week, with 20 qualifying males and 20 females moving onto the main event in Miami in January of 2019.

Male

  1. Norman Woodring
  2. Nik Hecht
  3. Samuel Cournoyer
  4. Travis Mead
  5. Drew Wayman
  6. Paul Castillo
  7. Ryan Reeves
  8. Dex Hopkins
  9. Mitch Barnard
  10. Trevor James
  11. Josh Gervais
  12. Justin Medeiros
  13. George Sanchez
  14. Dylan Martin
  15. Nick Bloch
  16. Josh Woodhull
  17. Logan Southard
  18. Jeffrey Adler
  19. Hunter Wood
  20. Austin Spencer

Female

  1. Dani Speegle
  2. Kristine Best
  3. Hayley Murillo
  4. Chantelle Loehner
  5. Gabriela Migala
  6. KT Trombetta
  7. Taylor Streid
  8. Emma Ferreira
  9. Taylor Kinsley
  10. Colleen Fotsch
  11. Kelsey Kiel
  12. Samantha Pugh
  13. Leah Irons
  14. Lindsey Valenzuela
  15. Anna Rode
  16. Amanda Hardeman
  17. Chelsea Nicholas
  18. Keston Mendoza
  19. Constanza Cabrera
  20. Emily Tanner

Main image: Patrick Vellner/Instagram

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