CrossFit Games

Thorisdottir, Root, Maddox & Hobart Named to HQ’s Athlete Advisory Council

August 25, 2020 by
Photo Credit: Athlete’s Eye (instagram.com/athleteseyephotography)
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On Tuesday CrossFit HQ announced that Annie Thorisdottir, Meredith Root, Neal Maddox and James Hobart have been named the founding members of the inaugural Athlete Advisory Council. First mentioned by new CrossFit owner and CEO Eric Roza during last Wednesday’s Community Town Hall, the four Games veterans will help HQ gain insight and input from athletes on the wide range of issues affecting the sport of CrossFit.

The Founding Athletes: With a combined 27 years of Games experience between the four athletes, each provides varying degrees and expertise in the sport of CrossFit.

  • Thorisdottir: “Iceland Annie” is one of just three women that have won multiple “Fittest Woman on Earth” titles, winning back-to-back in 2011 and 2012. Overall she has podiumed at the Games five times in her ten trips to the Games. This year she qualified for her 11th trip after placing second in the World-Wide Open but withdrew in February due to pregnancy. Thorisdottir is still at the top of her game as evident from her Open finish, she is just three years removed from her third place finish at the 2017 Games.
  • Root: Placed 30th in her lone Games appearance in 2018. She has four Regionals appearances and has also competed in Sanctional competition. One of the sport’s more out-spoken athletes when it comes to nutrition and sport performance, she is a biological engineer, CrossFit coach and co-owner of Tactic Functional Nutrition with partner and fellow Games athlete Alex Parker. She knows the toll that the athletes put their bodies though due to her knowledge of nutrition and how it correlates to performance.
  • Maddox: A veteran of eight Games appearances before retiring from competition after winning the 40-44 age group division at the 2018 Games. Maddox appeared as an individual competitor from 2010-2015 before moving onto the masters division. He provides insight at both levels of competition. He has over 20-years of coaching and programming experience.
  • Hobart: A member of HQ’s seminar staff, Hobart has eight Games appearances. Five of those appearances were in the team division where he won three Affiliate Cup championships including back-to-back titles with CrossFit Mayhem in 2015 and 2016. He is also the co-owner of CrossFit One Nation in Boston. Along with fellow Games veterans Austin Malleo and Spencer Hendel, they created the HAM Plan which has provided programming for numerous Sanctional events.

The Council’s mission: The Council will provide advice and insight in the areas of judging, scoring, appeals and other topics for the upcoming stages of the 2020 Games.

  • They will also provide input on future rulebook changes and competition formats.
  • The council will also communicate with individual athletes, affiliates, sponsored events, other stakeholders, and the newly formed Professional Fitness Athlete Association.
  • HQ announced that more athletes will be added to the council in the following months.
  • “The CrossFit Games has grown into an ecosystem involving hundreds of athletes, judges, and partners. Working closely with those various stakeholders will allow our sport to reach new heights,” said Justin Bergh, General Manager of the CrossFit Games. “In addition to speaking with individual competitors and groups of athletes, we’ve established the Athlete Advisory Council to tap into the deep experience of some of our most respected athletes. We have already begun engaging with them to make our first online/in-person event a success.”

The bottom line: Proving to be both a man of his word and of action, Roza has answered the call from athletes for more regulation in the sport with this announcement. Athletes have long asked for a seat at the table and this is a huge step in the right direction. How this inclusion actually plays out in the Games planning process, especially for this year’s Games, is to be determined.

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