Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up. Throughout the Games coverage over the weekend, CrossFit LLC aired several commercials highlighting diversity, Tommy Marquez has more. And, now that the dust is settling, we are shifting our focus to highlight the broader community.
Did you have a CrossFit Games watch party at your affiliate or home? Submit a photo so we can share with the community.
Thank you for all the quote suggestions, story tips and PRs. Keep them coming at tips@morningchalkup.com.
“I train scared all the time, the guys I'm going against are super strong, super capable. Leading up to a competition I'm imagining me having my worst day...I'm picturing them having the best day that they've ever had...I'm always stuck in that mode of like, this is my rookie year.”- Mat Fraser, five-time CrossFit Games Champion, on feeling like an underdog.
CROSSFIT GAMES
Commercial Success: CrossFit Messaging Shines Between Competition
The CrossFit Games broadcast this past weekend gave fans and members of the community plenty to be hopeful about. The production quality and wall-to-wall coverage was a clear signal towards the company’s future plans to once again elevate the platform of the sport.
But for many in the community, the biggest signal for the future of CrossFit came in between the action on the competition floor, as CrossFit’s commercial breaks during the stream were occupied by packages and featurettes highlighting stories within the community that were centered on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
For Best Coach Retention Results, “Pay them well” and “Put them first,” Gym Owners Say
Two weeks ago, we reported on one of the biggest problems affiliates face: Recruiting and hiring coaches. The only arguably bigger challenge gym owners face is figuring out how to retain coaches long term.
Many gyms face a constant revolving door of coaches, leading to a “never ending quest” to replace them, said Pete Mongeau, the owner of Zanshin Fitness in Peachtree Corners, GA.
The Danish Functional Fitness Championship Showcases Community
The Danish Functional Fitness organization, Funktionel Fitness Danmark, will host the first-ever Danish National championships starting Friday, October 30th.
The details: The competition, only open to Danish citizens, will take place online from October 30th through November 15th.
Two workouts will be released each week.
Workouts will be announced each Friday at 12:00 PM local time (7:00 AM EST) with a live announcement featuring some of the top athletes in Denmark going head to head.
Athletes can either register for the elite individual division or for the community division as pairs.
It was a long season, over a year to be exact, but the 2020 CrossFit Games came and went last weekend and it did not disappoint. Relive the historic performances in this highlight video from CrossFit LLC.
Dave Castro claimed that Atalanta, the final event of the 2020 CrossFit Games, was the hardest CrossFit Games event of all time. Not so for Kari Pearce and her PowerAbs. Pearce, a lifetime gymnast, and six-time Games Veteran annihilated the event taking an event win and securing her 2020 third-place podium. Get abs just like Atalanta, I mean Kari Pearce, with her ten minutes a day for thirty days program, PowerAbs.
For fit mamas or mamas-to-be, training during pregnancy can a tall order. Not because of your fitness, but because of the conflicting information and advice out there. Check out this great piece that offers some no-nonsense insight into how to train pregnant.
Butternut Squash, Chickpea, and Lentil Moroccan Stew
The nights are getting colder and this is exactly the kind of meal that can warm you up. It's a cozy vegan Moroccan stew simmered with spices, tender butternut squash and protein-packed chickpeas & lentils. This incredible, healthy Moroccan stew recipe makes a wonderful plant-based dinner the whole family will love. Serve with naan for the perfect meal!
Congratulations to Ben T., who was the first to correctly answer how many 30 years old or older athletes have won the CrossFit Games as an individual. The correct answer was three – Mathew Fraser (CFG20), Samantha Briggs (CFG13), James Fitzgerald (CFG07).
Today’s question: Which athletes have won all three individual CrossFit Games podium medals?
Good Read: Balance and Order Restored After Tumultuous Year for CrossFit
Earlier this week, the South China Morning Post published an opinion piece by Patrick Blennerhassett entitled “Balance and Order Restored after Tumultuous Year for the Sport” and it’s a pretty good read. In it, the writer argued that despite the global pandemic and the controversy surrounding Greg Glassman, CrossFit looks to 2021 with renewed vigor following a successful Games competition. Here are a few takeaways:
“On top of a global pandemic which ended the season before spring, axing some 17 Sanctionals in the process, the Games almost never went off.”
“In the end, 30 men and 30 women competed online via their home gyms, and then 10 made their way to Aromas in California for a three-day final. The fact that many of the events took place at the birthplace of the sport, “The Ranch”, was fitting, as 2020 has been a storied year of destruction, rebirth and renewal for CrossFit.”
“There were no country champions, no fans, no atmosphere, but CrossFit got its Games done in a bubble format, much like other professional sporting leagues have done in this pandemic landscape.”
“Enter CrossFit’s new savior, Eric Roza. The tech founder is everything the sport needed to move on: progressive, a savvy intellectual with boatloads of business acumen, and he also does CrossFit. He bought the company along with an investment firm and slowly the community got back on board. He pushed the Games through, and this weekend’s competition went off without a hitch, both logistically and philosophically speaking.”
“After a tumultuous year of controversy, the world of CrossFit has risen like a phoenix from the ashes. Balance and order have been restored, and the future couldn’t be brighter. How the sport moves forward with in-person competitions is still anyone’s guess, but the promise is bountiful.”
There’s a lot more in the article, so be sure to give it a read.
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