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2020 Memorable Moments from the Morning Chalk Up

December 31, 2020 by
Credit: CrossFit Games
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Most years we would offer up a list of our ten most impactful stories over the past 365 days, but 2020 just hit us all a bit different. So, instead, I asked our writers to tell me about the most memorable story they wrote this year. Several of them are related to the tumultuousness of the pandemic and the upheaval at CrossFit HQ, but not all, and as we take a collective sigh of relief and usher in 2021, I hope you appreciate this look back.  

Joe Genetin-Pilawa, Senior Managing Editor: Glassman to Nine-Year Affiliate Owner “You are Delusional.”

  • “Oof. I joined the Morning Chalk Up at the beginning of 2020 and this story represents a moment when I was coming into my own. I knew that it would be read by a lot of people and that the story itself was going to have an impact. When I was hired, I assumed I’d get to write about people doing fast exercise, this moment drove home the idea that, while we do write about that, what we are doing matters a whole lot more.”   

Tommy Marquez, Staff Writer: Nicole Carroll Resigns

  • “Amidst the chaos that unfolded in June with CrossFit and Greg Glassman, the most sobering moment came when Nicole Carroll resigned after a 16-year initial tenure with the company. Nicole is universally respected as a pioneer in the CrossFit community, and as a former co-worker, she was someone that I truly admired for the passion and dignity she poured into the company at every turn. Her resignation was a reality check for the community about the gravity of the situation, and ultimately served as an ignition point for the sweeping changes that would follow.”

Emily Beers, Staff Writer: And the 2020 Games Athlete with the Best Love Story is…

  • “Because of the pandemic, my only opportunity to travel to a competition came during Stage One of the CrossFit Games when I went to Nanaimo and Victoria BC to cover Patrick Vellner and Adam Davidson. The opportunity provided a chance to actually sit down with both athletes and talk to them in an intimate setting I never would have been able to do in Madison, WI. It also allowed me to get to know Davidson’s wife Kelsey. She welcomed me with open arms, and along with Davidson in between events, told me their very candid, endearing love story of how they met.”

Patrick Clark, Staff Writer: CrossFit Community Grieves the Passing of Giancarlo Agostino Di Maria to COVID-19.

  • “The story I wrote memorializing CrossFit judge Giancarlo Agostino Di Maria, who passed away due to COVID-19 is something that still resonates with me for a number of reasons. Though I didn’t know him personally our paths intersected many times when I was part of the CrossFit judging community. We shared many close friends and I was told he was someone that I definitely would have been dear friends with. At first, I passed at writing the piece due to the connections we shared, but realized that I had to do it in his honor. Something that I was in a position to do. It had to be a tribute to him and talking to his close friends and Loud & Live President Matt O’Keefe about how the piece should be, I think I accomplished that. His passing brought the real presence of the pandemic into our community and instead of mourning him, we honored him and learn from him. Rest In Paradise my friend.”

Maggie Weaver, Writer: How Affiliates are Keeping Community Alive During the Pandemic. 

  • “There’s almost no consistency with COVID restrictions state-to-state, let alone globally. Talking to affiliates from across the nation and the world, it was incredible to hear how they kept their communities alive amid varying regulations. Paul Knowles, owner of Cohort CrossFit in Erina, Australia struck me with one sentence: ‘Whatever happens, we’ll make sure our members are ok.’”

Kay Wiese, Writer: Bigger, Stronger, Faster: Ranch Repeats Show Progression of the Fittest.

  • “The past few years in the sport of fitness have felt like a blur. With all the changes in 2019 and then the chaos that was the 2020 season, it’s easy to forget that at the heart of it all, everyone is out here just to get fitter. A deeper dive into the 2020 Games results, both in terms of times and weights reveals just how far this sport has come in the past few years. It’s a good reminder that at the end of the day, we are all just trying to get better.”

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