Copenhagen Curveballs – Major Athlete Adjustments Ahead of World Fitness Project Finals
The World Fitness Project’s first season nears its end in Copenhagen, Denmark, but the Pro Division roster continues to change as athletes withdraw and backfills step in.
The busiest season in recent memory started with the CrossFit Open in February (for athletes competing in both the Games season and the WFP season), along with one-off events like Wodapalooza (both Miami and SoCal) and the Rogue Invitational, and is now nearing its end
Exhaustion and injuries are unavoidable in any season, but with more competitions this year, we’ve come to expect more withdrawals from events than usual.
- Earlier this year, Emma Lawson announced that due to a nagging back injury, she would not be participating in the CrossFit Games season. Alex Gazan suffered an injury from a car accident this summer that kept her from competing at the Games as well. Recently, Dallin Pepper shared that he couldn’t compete at Rogue due to Rhabdomyolysis following the TYR WZA SoCal event.
And now, with the WFP finals taking place from December 18-21, several Pro Division athletes have withdrawn, opening spots for backfill athletes.
The details: At the time of this publication, there are five athletes in the Pro Division, three of whom are signed pros and will not be traveling to Copenhagen.
- Emma McQuaid, Bethany Flores, Haley Adams, Victor Hoffer, and Lexi Neely have all withdrawn.
While no reason was given for Adams’ absence, McQuaid, Hoffer, and Neely cite injury as their reason for withdrawal, and Flores is pregnant.
On a social media post shared recently, Neely wrote the following:
- “As much as I want to compete, this recovery has taken more time than I originally expected. But I want my focus to be on fully healing, not rushing back to compete before I’m ready.”
Hoffer shared on social media that, due to a knee injury sustained at Tour Stop II, he has been unable to compete at a high level.
Over the weekend at the Rogue Invitational, signed pros Emma Tall and Sam Kwant suffered injuries during competition, and they are expected to withdraw.
Backfill invitations have been sent to Jennifer Muir, Elena Carratala, Tola Morakinyo, and Emily Rethwill. Next in line for backfill spots are Janie Cheverie and Julius Kieser.
Featured image: Shutter WOD
