Community Mourns Passing of Masters Athlete Jeff Giosi
The CrossFit community is grieving after the news of the unexpected passing of Jeff Giosi on Saturday morning in Morgantown, WV. According to his wife Sarah, doctors believe a genetic aortic aneurysm, a condition that ran in his family, likely caused his sudden death and that an autopsy will be performed to confirm the cause of death. He was 40-years old.
A family man and pillar of the community: Giosi leaves behind two young sons, Arlen and Mackie with his wife.
- Giosi owned and managed CrossFit Morgantown with his wife, who he met when he bought the gym in 2014. They soon married in 2015.
- A native of Long Island, NY, he made his way to the Mountain State to attend college at West Virginia University as a decathlete.
- Giosi later worked as an assistant strength and conditioning coach for WVU, working with both the men’s and women’s basketball programs.
- He would later leave the Mountaineers program to become a firefighter and train professional and Olympic athletes.
- In 2018, Giosi became the first and only CrossFit Trainer in the state of West Virginia to earn his Certified CrossFit Trainer Certification (CCFT CF-L3).
- Giosi started to make his name known in the competition circuit recently as a Masters athlete.
- This past season was his first in the 40-44 age division and he placed a career best 55th in the Open.
- He would end up placing 23rd in the Age Group Online Qualifier, just missing out on his first career CrossFit Games invitation.
- Giosi competed at the Masters Fitness Collective Championship in August, placing sixth.
The CrossFit community remembers and honors Giosi: The outpouring of love and support for Giosi and his family has resonated throughout the community.
- Matt O’Keefe, President Loud And Live Sports: “Man what a tough one to wrap myself around. Jeff supported everything I have been involved in over the years. He was bigger than life. Eternally positive. I have a mailbox full of congratulatory and motivational messages from him from over the years. He loved to compete. Whether it was CompTrain workouts daily, at his affiliate, Granite Games or the CrossFit Games season, he was always pushing himself and everyone around him. We are going to miss Jeff a lot. There will be a noticeable gap in everything we do without him.”
- Eamon Coyne, Masters Fitness Collective and fellow Masters athlete: “Jeff lived a life of servant leadership as he consciously and consistently put the needs of others before his own. He was a bright beacon in every community he was a part of. He always had a smile and an encouraging word, even on the competition floor. Jeff lived his life with intensity and honor in everything that he did. He was a loving father to two young boys and his wife. To me, he was the example of what a man should be. He lived an epic life in his short 40 years. I can only imagine the impact he would have made with 40 more. His legacy will live on as an example of how to live.”
- A GoFundMe page has been set up in his honor to assist his wife and children.