“We often add to our pain and suffering by being overly sensitive, overreacting to minor things, and sometimes taking things too personally.”- Dalai Lama
CROSSFIT GAMES
CrossFit HQ Announces Fort Worth, Texas as New Home for 2024 CrossFit Games
“The stars at night are big and bright…”
CrossFit HQ announced on Tuesday that the 2024 CrossFit Games will be located in Fort Worth, TX, following months of speculation. The premier event of the CrossFit season has been held in Madison, Wisconsin since 2017.
The details: The CrossFit Games will be held at the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth from August 8-11, 2024.
“Fort Worth is a proven, easily accessible destination for high-profile events, and we’re excited to add to the growing number of sports and entertainment options at the state-of-the-art Dickies Arena,” CrossFit CEO Don Faul said in a press release Tuesday.
The venue nearly reaches 30,000 square feet of event floor and more than 10,000 seats available for spectators.
The press release hinted that this move is gearing up towards a move overseas in the future.
Dave Castro, General Manager of Sport and Education at CrossFit: “The move to Fort Worth is the first step for where we want to take the CrossFit Games. Just as we expect our athletes to adjust during competition, we’ll need to do the same as we rethink our execution so that we can bring the Games to not only more cities in the United States, but also consider expansion overseas.”
Remind me: The Chippewa Herald, a news outlet local to Madison, Wisconsin, reported a week before the 2023 CrossFit Games that the event would not return to Madison after six years there.
“As great as it’s been, having a new look, a new venue, a new city is the right move for the future of the sport. For where we want to take this, for what we want to do, staying in the same location is not the right strategy,” CrossFit’s General Manager of Sport Dave Castro said at a press conference at the CrossFit Games last month.
Just last month Castro wouldn’t share many details of the new location, and added: “I think laying the groundwork and foundation for being able to take this overseas is some of what we’re doing in the future years. We will eventually take it overseas sooner rather than later but just not yet.”
The bottom line: The announcement of the new location will bring forth a lot more questions regarding programming, travel, flow of the season, however, now that the location is clear fans and athletes can start to plan ahead for the 2024 season.
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💪 🔥 Brute Camp, CrossFit Flora: On October 14 and 15, the Brute Strength crew and coaches will offer a training camp at CrossFit Flora in Flora, MS. The two-day camp will feature group workouts, lectures and skill sessions with Brute athletes, Dex Hopkins, Head Coach Matt Torres and Micah Shoemaker. Register now!
ELFIT x Underdogs Retreat: Following the ELFIT CrossFit Championship, members of the Underdogs Athletics team (the technical partner for the event and programmers for the championship) will host the Hurghada Fitness Retreat with ELFIT. The retreat is November 22-26 and will include workouts and skill training sessions, excursions on Mahmya Island, a sunset safari, relaxation on the Red Sea beach, and more.
The first ten people to register will receive a $100 discount, so sign up now!
ICYMI: The Weekly Buzz: Check out the new collab between the Morning Chalk Up and Kettlebells and Cocktails and get caught up on some of the top community, affiliate, and sport stories of the week.
On this episode: TYR WZA Updates, the Down Under Championship Qualifiers, the Rogue Invitational roster, Core City Kids, the Ultimate Hawaiian Trail Run, and more.
COMPETITION
MEMBER EXCLUSIVE
Who is the Current King of Europe? Bjorgvin Karl Gudmundsson, Jonne Koski, or Lazar Djukic
Ever since Bjorgvin Karl Gudmundsson finished 3rd at the 2015 CrossFit Games, he has basically been known as the “Unofficial King of Europe” thanks to his consistent high finishes at the Games.
In fact, since that 2015 finish he has finished inside the top ten at the Games every single year, until this year where he finished 11th (tied for 10th in points with Jelle Hoste who took the spot via tiebreaker with a test win).
Throughout the past 9 years however, he has had to fight off his biggest European rival Jonne Koski, who has also been phenomenal, with five top-ten finishes at the Games as well.
Brooke Wells Leaves PRVN to Join Hard Work Pays Off Training Camp
Last night, eight-time CrossFit Games athlete Brooke Wells announced via Instagram that she would be moving to join the Hard Work Pays Off training camp.
One big thing: With this move, Wells joins nearly a dozen athletes who currently call the Hard Work Pays Off Training their home, including Katrin Davidsdottir, Mal O’Brien, and Samuel Kwant.
Remind me: The past few years for Wells have consisted of a rocky series of ups and downs.
In 2021, Wells tore multiple ligaments in her elbow during the snatch event at the 2021 CrossFit Games.
The absolutely devastating injury forced her out of the competition and put her on the road to recovery.
Despite all that, Wells still managed to make a comeback during the 2022 season with a fifth-place finish that summer at the CrossFit Games. This comeback is the subject of her forthcoming book, Resilient.
This past season, Wells experienced another stumble when she tore her plantar fascia during the run in Test 1 of the North America East Semifinals. While she didn’t withdraw from the competition, her fourteenth-place finish would not be enough to qualify her for the 2023 CrossFit Games.
While Wells did not disclose her reason for leaving the PRVN training camp, she wrote about her excitement for the move to Hard Work Pays Off in her Instagram post.
“Grateful for all this journey has offered me and absolutely ready for the next chapter. Very excited for what’s to come this season with HWPO. Now let’s get to work.”
Help Your Members Save Money without Losing Revenue: Get Approved to Accept HSAs
The North East CrossFit Affiliate team posted on their Instagram promoting an upcoming call to help affiliates become approved vendors for accepting Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) at their businesses. Affiliate Reps and TrueMed will be on the call, which will take place tomorrow, Thursday September 21st from 2:00 PM-3:00 PM eastern time.
What is an HSA? Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) let you set aside money before it’s taxed to pay for health care costs.
Withdrawals used to cover qualified medical expenses are tax-free.
HSAs may be funded by contributions from the employer, employee, or both.
Employers may choose to contribute a set amount or make “matching” contributions.
What is TrueMed? TrueMed integrates a gym’s existing payment flows to enable clients to reimburse payments using their HSA funds.
Many supplements, exercise classes and equipment, gym memberships, sleep aids, and other health services count as qualified medical expenses.
Gym members will need to get a Letter of Medical Necessity (LMN) from a licensed provider, validating that the services or products at your gym can aid in disease prevention or reversal. TrueMed makes the process of obtaining these LMNs simple and straightforward.
If a customer’s claim is denied, TrueMed has a reimbursement guarantee, where they will compensate for the difference.
The bottom line: If gym members are able to fund membership dues with their HSA. it allows them to utilize pre-taxed dollars, which for some, may have partially been contributed by their employers.
This means the gym will not lose any revenue, while allowing their members to save money, setting the stage for better retention in the long term. To learn more about this, register and join the call this Thursday.
THINGS TO...
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Five Principles for Training Success
Learn a few important principles for training success from Invictus coach Kirsten Ahrendt, who has coached thousands of people over the past decade.
Unlocking the Power of Metrics for Personal Trainers
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Congratulations to the Chicken Nuggies team of Kelsey, Rhae and Kate, for their 1st place finish at the Girls Gone RX event.
🤓Congratulations to Allie of CrossFit Greater West in Mount Druitt, Australia for receiving her Level 3.
⭐️Congratulations to Team Dad Bods from Livingstone Athletics in San Antonio, TX for their heavy clean and jerk of 345 pounds/156 kilos at the Duality Comp.
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