Tuesday 7 July, the organizers of Mayhem Madness they announced on Instagram that they have postponed the competition for teams only created by Rich Froning.
The reason? Too many travel restrictions because of COVID-19 pandemic for qualified international teams who had to go there.
The week-long race in Cookeville, TN, it was to be held from 2 to 9 August, but it has been postponed to August 23-30 (date still to be officially confirmed).
Index
Just to clarify ...
The United States still has many travel bans and restrictions for some of the countries from which the athletes of the qualified teams come.
In fact, four out of nine of the teams that received the invitation to the competition through the Sanctionals are subject to travel restrictions. The purpose of Mayhem Madness and its creator Rich Froning was to bring together "The Best Teams on Earth"And organize a unmatched event.
If many of the best teams will not be able to participate in the race due to the health emergency, the event risks not meeting the expectations of the organizers and, above all, of the fans.
The latest news ...
Before i online qualifier began, the Team Butcher's Lab, winner of the team category at the Pandaland CrossFit® Championship, declined the invitation due to travel restrictions.
Instead, last week another team, The Canadians, which counts some of the best CrossFit® athletes in the northern United States, had to give up participation because of current travel restrictions in America.
Also The Athlete Program, The Progrm, Taranis Lifetree and Starr Strength Black they are international teams that are expected to participate, but currently have travel restrictions to the United States.
The Australian team Starr Strength Black is the one with the most severe restrictions: Australia closed all borders at the beginning of the pandemic and has seen a new increase in COVID-19 cases since they reduced the restrictive measures, for which the country has decided to limit one more time travels inside and outside the territory.
The United States has also had a new surge in COVID-19 cases in the past month, leading many countries to issue travel restrictions to those areas.
On Wednesday, the Tennessee Department of Health reported 2.472 COVID-19 cases, setting a new record in the number of infections in one day.
And the Froning race?
Mayhem Madness organizers will reevaluate travel bans and restrictions on August 1 and issue a statement to teams and athletes on August 3, reporting the results and decisions made.
Mayhem Madness wrote in a post on their Instagram, "This postponement is a great disappointment to us and we appreciate your understanding."
They also added: "We have done and will continue to push forward the creation and delivery of a world-class event for the teams."
We just have to hope!