“Do not whine... Do not complain. Work harder. Spend more time alone.”- Joan Didion
INDUSTRY
Greg Glassman, Dave Castro, Robb Wolf Headline Speakers at RevitaFest in October
Four months ago, when CrossFit LLC let go of approximately 20 percent of their workforce, Karen Thomson was among the casualties.
“I started panicking…It was so unexpected,” said Thomson, who had been involved in building CrossFit Health since 2017 and was the CrossFit Health Lead at the time.
“My heart sank. CrossFit Health was my baby and it was something I cared so deeply about,” she added.
As a single mother of two kids, Thomson wasted no time feeling sorry for herself or harboring ill will against her former employer.
“There are no hard feelings. I know it was just a business decision…I will forever be grateful to CrossFit, “ said Thomson, who grew up in South Africa and moved to the United States in 2016 shortly after she met CrossFit founder and owner at the time Greg Glassman at a health conference and began working for CrossFit.
Out of work Thomson—the author of Sugar Free: 8 Weeks to Freedom from Sugar and Carb Addiction—started planning her next move, and quickly realized that what she really wanted to do was, not only educate people about health and fitness, but do it in a way that could get them excited about making health changes.
A few short months later, Thomson has managed to organize and launch RevitaFest, a five-day health festival with a line-up of impressive guest speakers, including Glassman, Dave Castro—CrossFit’s General Manager of Sport and Education— and Robb Wolf—author of The Paleo Solution and Wired to Eat.
The details: RevitaFest is a five-day virtual event will run from October 17-21 and is designed for coaches, health professionals and individuals looking to become more educated about health, fitness and wellness, but in a “fun and exciting way,” said Thomson, who before getting into CrossFit, founded and operated a psychiatric and addictions rehabilitation facility in South Africa for more than a decade.
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🚨🚨New Brand Partnership: American Eagle has partnered with Games athletes Dallin Pepper, James Sprague, and Alec Smith. They are brand ambassadors for the season, supporting the AE 24/7 line of products. This is the second year Smith has partnered with AE, learn more.
🤝 TYR Wodapalooza Online Challenge and Qualifier (WZAOC): The WZAOC is the first step in earning a spot to compete in Miami at the TYR WZA fitness festival in January, but it’s also a great opportunity to throw down with your gym family, Friday Night Lights-style. Athletes have two options for the TYR WZAOC, individual or team of three. Check it out register now!
Building Resilient Athletes, Part 2: An Athlete’s Perspective with Samantha Briggs
(Editor’s Note: This is the second part of a series, if you missed part one, check it out now.)
When thinking of the concept of longevity in the sport of fitness, all eyes should turn to Samantha Briggs.
The 41-year-old UK firefighter has been competing in CrossFit for over a decade and after winning the CrossFit Games at age 30 in 2013, has continued to qualify for the Games year after year, despite entering the masters division at age 35 and has continued to compete (and win) in the masters divisions.
CrossFit Oslo Navy Blue on Competing, Community, and What’s Next
For the third year in a row, CrossFit Oslo Navy Blue representing CrossFit Oslo Norway stood on the podium at the CrossFit Games. Aside from their record of being one of two affiliates this year to send three teams (Invictus also broke the record in the same season), CrossFit Oslo Navy Blue is also one of only two teams to stand on the podium three years in a row.
One big thing: CrossFit Oslo Norway’s third-place finish this year is continued evidence of the growth of the sport of fitness in the small country of Norway.
Not only did CrossFit Oslo Navy Blue stand on the podium, but three of the four Norwegian teams made it into the top fifteen at the Games this year, meaning 20% of the top 15 teams were Norwegian.
Remind me: In 2021, CrossFit Oslo burst onto the scene with a second-place finish at the CrossFit Games.
Two years later, they not only had an additional second-place finish under their belts but also managed to send six teams to Semifinals as an affiliate and three teams to the CrossFit Games.
After five days of intense competition, CrossFit Oslo Navy Blue would once again stand on the podium in third place overall, just a few points behind CrossFit East Nashville PRVN.
Behind them, fellow Norwegian competitors, CrossFit Trondheim stood in 12th, while fellow affiliate members, CrossFit Oslo Blackout would finish in 14th and CrossFit Oslo Najs would finish in 27th.
But this year of victory for CrossFit Oslo Navy Blue nearly didn’t happen. In August of last year, following their second second-place finish at the 2023 CrossFit Games, the team thought they were done.
“The entire 2022 season, everyone was thinking this will be the last season and that was our mindset after the Games,” said team captain Elvind Dahl Ringard.
“But when we sat down [in September of 2022], we said why not do this again,” he continued.
“After that, we had a chat with Kristin and we decided we were going to be a Kriger team and in October started to put together a plan about how we were going to attack the next season,” he added.
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⚾️Congratulations to the CrossFit Invictus team of Brittany Weiss, Joshua Al-chamaa, Devynn Kim, and Jorge Fernandez, who got to throw out the first pitch at the San Diego Padres game.
💍Congratulations to JT Healy of CrossFit Magna in Phoenix, AZ on his engagement to Savannah.
CrossFit Formidable, in Canby OR, will be hosting a fundraiser for their member Gabe, who has recently been diagnosed with stage four esophageal cancer.
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