Nicole Carroll Resigns
One of CrossFit Inc.’s longest-tenured employees, Director of Training Nicole Carroll has decided to resign from her position at CrossFit Inc. after 16 years. In an anonymous tip, the Morning Chalk Up has learned that Carroll, who is widely considered one of the founding pillars of the CrossFit community, resigned via an email sent to her staff late Sunday night.
In the email, Carroll states: “Unfortunately, a line has been drawn to where each of us will be held accountable for words that do not represent who we have been. Our loyalties will come into conflict with our values; individually and as a community. We will be subjected to defend ourselves against all manner of attacks. The pain and lived reality of the black community has been mocked, and the sincere hurt, confusion, anxiety & hopelessness that I know many of you feel over current events has been disregarded.
“At a time of the greatest economic and social instability this country has seen in our lifetime, you have been put in the unconscionable position of having to choose between your livelihood and aligning with something you do not believe in, with a diminishment of what we stand for. In my greatest of conscience, I can not stand with that.”
A major blow to CrossFit Inc.: It’s hard to argue that any one person has been more present, or instrumental in the growth and development of the company as it grew an underground, anti-establishment fitness movement, into the single greatest purveyor of health and fitness in the world with more than 14,000 affiliates in over 150 countries across the globe, and a sport with nearly half a million participants, with coverage on the world’s largest television network.
- Carroll’s resignation comes on the heels of nearly 400 affiliates worldwide stating publicly that they would end their affiliation, or do so if CrossFit founder Greg Glassman does not step aside.
- 14 Sanctionals have also spoken out publicly, removing the CrossFit branding from their event and putting future sanctioned status in doubt pending major change from the company.
The big picture: This is without a doubt the most significant resignation or disavowment that we’ve seen in the fallout from Glassman’s statements so far. Carroll is an executive-level employee leaving her post at the forefront of CrossFit HQ’s training department, and her departure is the first from a select group of employees considered to be within Glassman’s close-knit circle. The one of the leaders of an entire arm within the company has now stepped aside and left a significant void internally, drawing huge questions as to how CrossFit Inc. will proceed from here.
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