Athletes, affiliate owners and trainers:
Congratulations on an exceptional Open.
The first page of the Leaderboard shows household names such as Sam Briggs, Mat Fraser and CrossFit Mayhem, but let me be the first to direct you to pages 2, 11 and 3,897. There you’ll find the fittest woman in Brazil (Anita Pravatti), a 74-year-old man who completed all workouts in the 60+ division as prescribed (Jim Lindstrom), and a team based out of Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan (Vulture CrossFit).
As much as we’re all inspired by the athletes at the top of the Leaderboard, we should remember and congratulate everyone who participated in the Open and hit their own PRs, whatever those may be. From getting a first bar muscle-up to improving on 14.5/16.5, we should all be proud of what this community can accomplish together.
With the Open concluded, the fittest among us will advance to the Masters Qualifier and the regionals. There, they'll compete side by side for an invitation to the 2016 Reebok CrossFit Games. Before we move forward to the next round of competition, I’d like to take this opportunity to share the direction we are moving in 2017 and beyond.
The Games have grown tremendously in Carson, California over the last six years, and we’re thrilled about the event we are planning for our 10th year—our seventh at the StubHub Center. However, we’re currently considering new venues for the CrossFit Games, which could mean a move out of Carson as soon as 2017. Part of the search is for locations where the competition and the communal aspects of the Games can further evolve. We're excited about the possibilities we've considered so far.
Over the next two years, we’re also going to be working on the CrossFit Games website and apps, and we plan to implement many of the suggestions we’ve received from the CrossFit community. Your feedback has been invaluable. Several projects are already in motion, including a fully responsive website, customizable profiles, as well as completely re-imagined Games apps. Watch for updates as we approach next year’s Open.
Finally, in addition to the worldwide live stream of the Open, regionals and Games, we're endeavoring to share our televised content beyond U.S. borders. This means the live and tape-delayed shows we’ve previously produced exclusively for ESPN will be made available to international broadcasters in the future. We’re proud to share a bold new class of athletes with TV audiences around the world as both the sport and our affiliate community grow.
Our belief is that these developments will not only help the Games continue to grow, but will benefit CrossFit affiliates, coaches, athletes and soon-to-be athletes everywhere.
As always, thanks for your support. We hope to see you in Carson, California, for what will be a memorable 10th year of the CrossFit Games.
Sincerely,
Justin Bergh
