CanWest Winners Still Waiting for Prize Purse Money

October 4   |   POWERED BY

Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up.

In today’s edition:

• CanWest winners still awaiting payouts 12 weeks later
• Brazilian Pedro Martins gets drug suspension cut in half
• Would the CrossFit Games benefit from a competitor?
• Plant-based shoe launched by Reebok with National Geographic

“Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.” - Dalai Lama

CanWest Games Athletes Continue to Await Prize Purse Payouts Twelve Weeks Out

After a two-year hiatus due to the global pandemic, the CanWest Games in Coquitlam, British Columbia returned under new ownership last July with an advertised CAD $105,500 prize purse, which arguably helped them attract big names in the sport, including eventual CanWest champions, three-time CrossFit Games athlete Chandler Smith and up-and-comer Anikha Greer.

But 12 weeks later, athletes still have not received their prize money and were told via email by organizer Mike McLean last week that their payments have been delayed until an undisclosed date.

The details: After initially promising a cash prize for the top 10 individual elite men and women—including $15,000 for first place, $10,000 for second place and $5,000 for third—athletes were told at the end of July that their payments would be paid out four to six weeks after the competition ended.

• “We are just waiting on the last couple of wire instructions from athletes, and we are also waiting on funds that have been held by our payment processor…We will be paying athletes hopefully during the week of Aug 15,” McLean wrote in an email on July 19 to Dana Paran, who placed ninth in the elite women’s division.
• August came and went, and on August 29, McLean informed all athletes via email that their winnings would be paid out “as a percentage of your total amount” over the course of three payments, slated to be paid on September 30 (25 percent), October 31 (25 percent) and November 30 (50 percent).

What happened next: Once again, September 30 hit and athletes still found themselves waiting for their cash prizes. The next day, on October 1, they received an email from McClean saying he and his team are unable to “fulfill the CanWest Games prize payout schedule I had communicated on August 30.” The email went on to say that it is still their “intention to fully honor the prize purse payout as soon as possible.”

• “So what happens now?…We are working on several different alternatives to make this happen but we don’t have a specific timeframe we are comfortable committing to. While I don’t have a timeline, I will commit to another update either when I have more clarity on the situation or by October 31 at the latest,” McLean wrote.
• McLean also explained in his email that the CanWest Games operated “at a substantial loss” last summer, that they have budgeted to break even without paying themselves, but that “actual revenues were well below expectations, and we incurred some unexpected last-minute expenses that magnified the loss.”
• He told the Morning Chalk Up that he feels he has two options: “shut things down and end up with substantial personal debt because of it, or try to soldier on.”
• He added: “We still believe in the direction we are going, and we believe in the future growth of the sport and the business opportunity that goes with that, so we are going to soldier on.”

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In case you missed it: Lauren Kalil, the host of The Bottom Line, spoke to analyst Brian Friend and senior writer Emily Beers about how the CrossFit Games can appeal to non-CrossFit fans.

HQ drug testing update: CrossFit has released the following statement on its website:

• Hunter Williams, a member of Syndicate Crown’s second-place team CrossFit CLT, submitted a sample that contained a metabolite of GW1516. He will be sanctioned for four years starting May 22, 2022.

Very interesting: Is Brooke Wells wearing NOBULL cleats in this video? 🧐

Even better: HWPO Pro is now available for CrossFit athletes who are looking to compete at an elite level, and sign-up for pre-season registration which kicks off Oct. 16.

Interesting read: HealthDigest asks the question: is CrossFit a good workout for people with diabetes?

Brazilian Pedro Martins Four-Year Ban Dropped to Two After Tainted Supplement Found

Brazilian CrossFit athlete Pedro Martins has had his four-year drug suspension reduced to two. In July, the 32-year old rookie competitor qualified for the 2022 NOBULL CrossFit Games in dramatic fashion via the Copa Sur Semifinal.

However a month later Martins, who put his dream of becoming a medical doctor on hold to compete in CrossFit, took to his Instagram to notify his followers that CrossFit LLC had told him he had tested positive for a banned substance (Clomiphene) and CrossFit later confirmed that he would be receiving a four year suspension.

Remind me: CrossFit has handed down a number of high-profile suspensions this season, including Phil Toon, who was expected to be a potential top ten contender at the CrossFit Games.

Martins explained how his suspension was dropped from four years to two years in a post on Instagram that was translated:

• “Breakthrough! DOPING Hey guys, I got the final answer from CrossFit regarding doping and I’m sharing because I know a lot of people supported me and believed in me. I’m not here to quote any company, I’m just stating the facts.”
• He later told the Morning Chalk Up: “It has been a long process to prove it, so I’m not surprised by the final answer… I went through a very difficult time.”

Martins went on to explain that CrossFit notified he had Clomiphene in his urine and that he subsequently sent all of his supplements for analysis in the United States and in August he received a response that the “pre-training” (read: pre-workout) he took contained Clomiphene, but did not list it on the label, which he said “proved his innocence”.

The suspension reduction was confirmed by CrossFit on their website, stating: “Pedro Martins, the second-place finisher at Copa Sur, submitted a sample that contained clomiphene. He will be sanctioned for two years starting June 12, 2022.”

• “With that in mind, CrossFit has given me minimal punishment,” continued the 32-year-old. “I would like to thank everyone who believed in my innocence from the start.”
• Martins also said he has every intention of continuing to put his medical career on hold to pursue his Games dream. “I will continue training full-time to cover all my shortcomings, improve more and more and be able to represent my country even better from now on. I went through many difficulties in my life from an early age and this is just another adversity that I will go through with a lot of resilience.”

The bottom line: Similar to Larissa Cunha’s situation in 2021, Martins was able to prove that he took contaminated supplements. Cunha and Martins are both Brazilian athletes which raises a question about the integrity of Brazilian supplements more broadly. In a larger sense, the CrossFit community is losing out on some prime years of these Brazilian athlete’s careers due to these tainted supplements. Martin will be 34 when his suspension is over.

Of course, and always, it’s the responsibility of the athlete to know what they are putting into their bodies.

Does the CrossFit Games Need a Competitor?

Many times when discussing the growth of CrossFit, we look to Golf to draw parallels. Both are primarily individual sports, and their fan base partakes in the sport, just to name a few similarities. But for those who’ve been paying attention to Golf recently, the battle between the PGA Tour and LIV has become quite fascinating, raising the question of whether CrossFit needs a competitor too.
Morning Chalk Up’s Lauren Kalil sits down with Matt O’Keefe, the chief executive officer of HWPO, and Jared Graybeal, the general manager of Underdogs athletics, to break the question down further and answer the question of whether this would create positive change or become detrimental to our sport.

Plant-based NanoX2? Reebok Teams Up with National Geographic for New Shoe

Reebok has made another big move that will directly affect CrossFit enthusiasts. The company has collaborated with National Geographic for a line of “plant-based” Nano X2s, which will be available on October 4.

The details: The shoes, the Nano X2 Grow, will feature two separate schemes that focus on the animal kingdom. Though neither will have animal products. Instead, they will each have at least 50% plant-based materials.

• The upper portion of the Nano X2 Grow is constructed from cotton and eucalyptus. The midsole cushioning comes from sugarcane while the natural rubber outsole provides grip during workouts.

The first Nano X2 Grow ($160) will focus on a variety of “formidable” animals. The list includes the Python Snake, Puffer Fish, Poison Dart Frog, Scorpion, Grizzly Bear, and more. Available in unisex sizing.

• The second Nano X2 Grow ($160) is for those that appreciate cats. The graphics and colors highlight the Tiger, Cheetah, and Jaguar. Available in unisex sizing.
• Reebok also created an everyday shoe, the Club C 85 Vegan ($90). This shoe focuses on 16 endangered species. This list includes the Galapagos Penguin, Black Rhino, Eastern Gorilla, Ring-tailed Lemur, and Fiji Banded Iguana among others.

Fun for the whole family: The Nano X2 Grow line will be available in unisex sizing, which will make them available to more fitness enthusiasts. There will also be a separate line of National Geographic shoes in toddler and preschool sizes.

• The Club C and Classics will be available with animal prints. Both of these lines feature “at least 30% recycled or repurposed materials” in their construction.
• Purchases of these preschool and toddler shoes will support the National Geographic Society and its mission “to protect and illuminate our world through exploration, research, and education.”

Why this matters: The collaboration with National Geographic is nothing new. Reebok previously released some Nano X1 Adventures with the longtime magazine. However, this new line of Nano shoes is important given that Reebok focused on incorporating plant-based materials, which will appeal to the company’s vegan audience.

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• 🎂 Happy birthday, Tai Randall.
• 💍 Congratulations to Tommy Marquez and Tiffany Meeks on getting married this past weekend.
• Congratulations to 5-year-old Ivy from Las Vegas, NV on getting her first gymnastics glide kip.
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