Breaking: Details Announced For Mayhem Madness
Some exciting new details have just been released about the Mayhem Madness competition that is stepping in to fill the void left by the cancelation of the 2020 team division at the CrossFit Games. It was previously announced that Rich Froning and his CrossFit Mayhem crew would host a team competition for the qualified teams that earned their way through Sanctionals, but now as more details have come to light it seems like athletes and fans of the sport are in for a real treat.
The nuts and bolts: The competition will take place on August 2-9 in Cookeville, Tennessee at CrossFit Mayhem and “the surrounding areas.” The competition will include the nine teams previously qualified for the Games through Sanctionals as well as three new teams that will earn their spot through an online qualifier.
- The online qualifier will feature workouts that can be done individually, and team scores will be a combination of individual efforts similar to how teams qualified for Regionals through the CrossFit Games Open from 2011-2018.
- Prizes will be awarded to the top three finishing teams. First will receive $3,000, second will receive $2,000, and third will get $1,000, and neither Mayhem team is eligible to receive prize money.
- The top three new teams from the qualifier will receive an invite, and all nine previously invited teams will also need to participate in the qualifier in order to seed all 12 competing teams for the purposes of setting up an “event draft” to help determine the programming.
You read that right: One of the exciting new wrinkles to the format is the “event draft” where each team competing will in some fashion have a hand in determining not only what the programmed workouts will be, but also when they show up during the competition.
- A pool of past workouts made up entirely of past CrossFit Games season events — some updated to better suit the demands of the sport’s elites — used during Regionals, Games, or the Invitational will be created and provided to all the teams by mid-June.
- The events fall into four categories: Individual Relays, Mixed Gender Relays, Same Gender Relays, and Fours. A framework for the entire competition will be created for the public and teams, that will provide outlines for workouts within those four categories to be slotted in for each day.
- During the event draft, teams will then decide which events go where and when, with the top seed from the qualifier getting the first opportunity to pick an event from the pool and place it where they want in the competition. Each team will subsequently get a pick in the order of their seeding. Each team except for the two Mayhem teams gets a pick, but the top five seeds will get two picks, adding value to the online qualifier.
The competition will also last an unprecedented eight days and will feature a new and unique format in terms of scheduling. Two days of competition will be followed by one day of rest, for two cycles before finishing with two final days of competition over the weekend.
- Cuts will be included in the competition, however, every team is guaranteed two full days of competition at a minimum and after each two-day cycle, four teams will be cut. Starting with 12 teams, then the “elite eight,” will move on, after the last cut the “final four,” will finish out the weekend.
- Team rosters will follow the exact same rules as the CrossFit Games season, with four main roster members plus two alternates. Pre-qualified teams will use their previously declared rosters.
- There will be a free livestream of the competition available to fans, but there has been no commitment about whether or not fans will be allowed on the premises. Additionally, prize money for the in-person event has not yet been announced either.
One big thing: The announcement post on Instagram includes CrossFit branding as a licensed event, so it’s safe to say the event has CrossFit Inc.’s blessing which is an added bonus. More details about the competition will be provided during the coming weeks via the Mayhem Classic Instagram, and this announcement will surely be a morale booster for a CrossFit Community that has been reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Get the Newsletter
For a daily digest of all things CrossFit. Community, Competitions, Athletes, Tips, Recipes, Deals and more.
"*" indicates required fields
