"These are athletes, not soldiers" - CrossFit Games 2015
I saw the following anonymous post below on reddit and grabbed the text to save it for posterity (controversial reddit posts often get deleted).
Regardless of what you think about the 2015 CrossFit Games, discussion and dissent make our community stronger.
I'm very curious how the 2015 CrossFit Games will be remembered. The below text is not the FringeSport view on the Games, but it reflects a lot of the chatter I heard in the crowd at the Games.
Read on, and let us know what you think in the comments. Please remember that this is not the opinion of FringeSport.
As someone "on the inside" inside the athletes village I can say that the general complaints about the workouts you see here were shared by the athletes as well.
This was a lot more than "having to do Murph when it was hot." This was athletes genuinely concerned about permanent kidney damage.
This wasn't "trouble with pegboards" it was athletes with who literally couldn't put their arms over their heads and asked to perform an event they didn't even have a chance to try before they had to do it live on ESPN.
I coach a multiple year Games athlete who had serious money on the line and straight up had to be convinced to go out for the last day because they were scared for their health. Everyone accepts that they are participating in a sport where injuries are a reality. Chad Mackay injures a rib, and Neal Maddox pulls a hamstring; fine. Those are injuries that you accept as an athlete. But heat stroke and rhabdo (which were genuine and WIDESPREAD fears among the athletes) are unacceptable and worst of all avoidable if the workouts were better programmed.
At the end of the day these are ATHLETES not soldiers. This isn't BUD/S it's a showcase of athletic potential.
The athletes don't want the one who "sucked the least" to win and I HOPE the viewers don't want to see what is tantamount to a modern roman coliseum either. Anyone who says "well so and so #1 completed EVENT 12 just fine and so and so #13 completed EVENT 15 without complaint" needs to look up the definition of confirmation bias.
If a drug trial caused 10% of people to pull out because of adverse side effects it would be considered a failure. If 10% of the "fittest athletes on the planet" pull out voluntarily than this should be considered a failure as well.
IMO: The Games shouldn't be a test of survival it should a showcase of well rounded fitness. If CrossFit and the general public don't learn a lesson from 2015 I'm genuinely scared at what 2016 has in store.
What do you think?
Photo credit to Michael Brian, CrossFit Games
Here is an idea, why not shift the Games to a 4 weekend-type event conducted in a several environments each weekend?
Maybe 2-4 events on Sat & Sunday spread across 4 weekends. I’m thinking…
1) Mt Hood or Mt Ranier – snow events
– fly to next site on Sunday evening
– acclimate to environment and final prep
2) San Diego – water events
– fly to next site on Sunday evening
– acclimate to environment and final prep
3) Colorado Springs, Olympic Training Center – options unlimited
– final events and ceremony
Regarding programming and Games, it is painfully apparent that “training to failure” is bad for athletes and bad for business (an assumption on my part). Sure, Crossfit Games are a sport, so is the hockey in the NHL and football in the NFL. Will Crossfit Games become the next sport that has to deal with a traumatic brain injury-type (Rhabdo, kidneys) like the NHL, NFL and a host of other professional sports which have taken decades for problems to manifest? How about employing some tried and tested energy system testing similar to OPEX’s approach. I own PETN1.66 Crossfit in Northern Virginia and we departed from everything that resembles Crossfit, except the name, over two years ago…smartest decision we ever made and our clients progress has skyrocketed. That said, we spend more time defending Crossfit to a prospective client which has worn us to the absolute fringe. Crossfit has it’s own kryptonite! Is it the Games and the Games pipeline?
This is to Joe C. The workout is called Murph in Memory of LT. Michael Murphy(KIA Navy Seal Officer), which leads me into your next comment of an athlete being a cry baby. No they are not when there overall health is of a concern but ask a team guy if he was told he had to do it, would he? Without blinking an eye. Then move on to the next like clockwork. Does anyone at the crossfit games have to do that? Hell no, they can pull out whenever they want. Furthermore Athleticism isn’t what makes someone a “team guy” it is a hell of a lot more than that. Let’s refrain from comparing crossfit to special operations especially if you literally have no idea about one of the two subjects.
Other than that good article I enjoyed the read.
Hey Mer- You are right. It shouldn’t have been called Murph. It was a weighted Angie with a weighted mile run before and after. I wouldn’t call the athletes a bunch of cry babies either. What they are doing is beyond what most “Team guys” could do athletically. As a matter of fact I don’t think any competitor out there this year was/is a SEAL.
Strength Coach for 16 years (BS,CSCS, USAW, CFL1, blah, blah blah credentials to go along with it), 5+ years avid CrossFitter and the programmer for my CF Box for the past 3 yrs and I agree the programming was way off. Way too much volume and the “unknown and unknowable” should stick with the MetCon, not the movements themselves. If HQ does not put it on main site, then it should not be expected to be seen at the Games. Test the athletes based on the demand it is going to take on the body and program accordingly. Power then strength then edurance. Let the athlete be tested in each category when the body is most likely going to respond the most effeciently. Let the most rounded athlete win. Not the one that can avoid Heat Stroke, Rhabdo, Kidney damage, etc. The Games were exciting and had a lot of really amazing events and test, but it also made me cringe at the same time. From a business standpoint this really makes it hard to convince the uneducated public to walk in your doors after they see the Elite of the elite drop out of competition because it was just too much. I hope CF HQ can learn and evolve. Time will tell.
You fags need to stop calling it “Murph”. Can’t run a mile, do some pull ups and push ups unless you’re in an air conditioned gym, then don’t call what you’re doing anything related to the Navy SEALs or the legend of Mike Murphy. Mike did it in Afghanistan, not southern California in a stadium. Bunch of cry babies.
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