Breaking: CrossFit HQ Announces Age Group and Adaptive Changes to 2024 Season
Following September’s announcement that Fort Worth, TX and the Dickie’s Arena would be the new home of the CrossFit Games, CrossFit HQ has just announced more changes.
The end-of-season competitions for the Age Group Divisions will be hosted by the Legends Championship (Masters) and Pit Teen Throwdown (Teens), while the entire Adaptive season will be hosted by the WheelWOD Games for 2024 and beyond.
- “We believe this is a move that will benefit each division in significant ways, most importantly more than doubling qualifying spots for masters and teens and allowing every adaptive division a place at the in-person championship,” said Dave Castro, General Manager of Sport and Education at CrossFit in a press release today.
- “Masters athletes represent more than half of the CrossFit Open participants, and combined with the teens and adaptive divisions, these athletes sit at the core of the sport’s continued growth. It’s the right thing to do to reward each group with their own distinct championship event and expand our overall championship season,” Castro concluded.
The details: The first part of the Age Group season will remain the same. Athletes will follow the traditional CrossFit Games season through the first three stages by competing in the CrossFit Open and advancing to the Quarterfinals and Semifinals.
- Then, they will complete their season at the Pit Teen Throwdown or Legends Championship.
- The WheelWOD Games, in collaboration with CrossFit, will host the full competition season for adaptive athletes from the WheelWOD Open through the finals.
Remind me: The masters division for athletes over 50 was added in 2010 with additional divisions for men and women added in subsequent years.
- As of this year, there were seven masters divisions; 35–39, 40–44, 45–49, 50–54, 55–59, 60–64, and 65+.
- The teens division was added in 2015, with the ages ranging from 14-15 and 16-17. Adaptive athletes were welcomed to the Games for the first time in 2021.
In 2021, 20 athletes in the masters and teens division were invited to the Games. In 2022 that number was cut to only top 10.
The bottom line: The move is likely going to raise many eyebrows for athletes in the community who have been trying to make it to the Games in a division outside of elite individual or team.
The Games have evolved over the years with age groups and adaptive divisions only competing the first part of the week at this year’s competition, while giving individuals and teams the spotlight over the entirety of the weekend.
While abrupt, this change ultimately could be a good opportunity for unaffiliated competitions to become the premier venues for competitive, age division and adaptive athletes around the globe.
Separately, there has been backlash from athletes and those in the community for a lack of video coverage at the Games for divisions outside of individual and team. This change could bring the spotlight back on these communities, while not at the Games, but at a competition dedicated to them.
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