After drastic change in 2019 to include one representative per country at the Games, after the COVID-19 pandemic, after the sale of CrossFit® LLC and the subsequent resignation of Dave Castro, absolutely no season was the same as the previous year.
And 2023 will be no different.
Meanwhile, let's see how elite athletes qualified for the 2022 Games: athletes had to participate in the Open and only 10% of the best per region qualified for the quarter-finals.
The top 30 athletes for each category qualified for the semifinals in which an invitation was awarded to the best of each region (number varying according to continent).
Index
What changes for the next CrossFit ® Games 2023?
Everyone will start the same way in 2023: doing the Open. Like this year, there will be the quarter-finals, the semifinals and the Games.
So what exactly has changed? For starters, something that was talked about a lot this year has become a reality. Given the huge difference in trials between the semifinals, they will now all have the same trials, scheduled by CrossFit® itself.
In other words, all athletes will do the same things.
This does not represent a return of the Regionals, like in 2018, when CrossFit® took care of all the semi-finals and everyone used the same equipment Arrogant.
This time CrossFit® will be responsible for the North American and European semifinals, but the South American, Asian, African and Oceania semifinals will be made by “partners”.
Furthermore, North America will only have 2 semi-finals instead of 4. The map has been divided into East and West and the athlete will already know in which semifinal he will compete.
Europe had two semi-finals and will now only have one. The number of seats for each semi-final has not been officially announced, but the general coordinator has revealed that it will remain unchanged: 10 for North America East, 10 for North America West, 10 for Europe, 2 for South America, 2 for Asia, 3 for Oceania and 1 for Africa.
There will no longer be the Last Chance Qualifier. The last two places will be chosen on the basis of a semi-final ranking based on the "strength of each semi-final".
The words of Justin Bergh
“Our goal is to increase the number of people who see and participate in our sport. We wanted to announce the formats and times of future seasons earlier than we have in the past, so that athletes and affiliates have ample opportunity to plan their training and schedules with confidence, ”said Justin Bergh, general manager of the sports sector of the company.
“We know how hard our athletes work and we want them to be ready to give their best. Anticipating our scheduled events will allow more people to reap the global benefits of CrossFit®. "
In conclusion, the changes for CrossFit ® Games 2023 are:
New race map: athletes will compete in regions based on their country of citizenship; then, from the Open to the semifinals. The most notable change in the map, however, concerns the individual athletes and teams of the North American division in two competition regions, East and West.
Standardized program: CrossFit® will standardize and schedule all events throughout the season, including all of the 2023 semi-finals.
Advancement from the semifinals to the CrossFit® Games: there will be a number of qualifying points for each semi-final. Therefore, instead of the Last Chance Qualifier, the last places for the Games will be assigned based on the semi-finals, according to a ranking system based on force of the field.
Team eligibility: all athletes on the team must individually complete their affiliate's CrossFit® Open workouts. After this phase, the teams will select six athletes - four competing and two alternate members - who will compete together in the quarter-finals, semi-finals and CrossFit® Games. Once the team of six has been selected, they are bound for the entire season.
Adaptive Competition Improvement: new eligibility requirements for adaptive competitions will be introduced and this information will be shared shortly.
The Open 2023
Start: from Thursday 16 February to Monday 6 March 2023
- Athletes must complete CrossFit® Open workouts at an affiliate with box owner validated scores or by submitting video evidence.
- Adaptive athletes will be able to perform CrossFit® Open scaled workouts and will be able to make adjustments based on their ability.
- Eliminate the use of a judge as the only way to validate scores.
Quarter finals
10% of the best individuals and the age group and 25% of the team will advance to the quarter-finals based on the results of the CrossFit® Open.
The team and age group quarter-finals will take place in the same week. Each race will have two windows of 24 hours for the submission of scores (instead of three).
The teams will compete from Wednesday to Friday and the athletes of the age group will compete from Friday to Sunday.
The individual quarter-finals will take place over three days, as in the 2021 and 2022 seasons.
Semifinals
CrossFit® will handle all semi-finals in the US (two) and Europe (one).
CrossFit® will collaborate with the organizers of the semifinals in Africa, Asia, Australia and South America.
Individual athletes and teams from the same affiliate will compete in the same venue as the semi-finals and, upon registering for the CrossFit® Open, will know which venue will be (if they qualify).
The best individual athletes and the best teams will go through to one of seven world semifinals.
The top 60 women, the top 60 men and the top 40 teams advance and participate in the North American Western and European semi-finals.
The top 30 in the individual women's and men's and the top 20 teams will be invited to participate in the semi-finals in Africa, Asia, Australia and South America.
The first 30 athletes of the age group will advance to the semifinals. All age group semi-finals will take place online, as in the 2022 season.
Each semi-final match will receive a designated and guaranteed number of places to qualify for the CrossFit® Games.
Additional qualifying spots at the CrossFit® Games may be awarded to a semifinal match based on the strength of the field at that specific event.
The CrossFit ® Games 2023
They will start on Tuesday 1st August until Sunday 6th August 2023, in Madison, Wisc.
- Introduction of a new six-day format.
- The total number of slots for CrossFit® Games remains the same for all divisions.