CrossFit Responds to Scott Panchik Injury

May 22, 2022

The following is a statement from CrossFit GM of Sport Justin Bergh regarding Scott Panchik's injury at the Syndicate Crown this weekend:

Scott is a remarkable athlete, person, and ambassador for the sport, and we are deeply saddened about his injury. As soon as we were notified, our team reached out to Scott and the event director to determine what happened.

Unfortunately, Scott's concerns about the rope climb did not reach CrossFit HQ prior to the event. Ensuring a real-time channel of dialogue and escalation for athletes during events was the reason we created the new Competition Liaison position this season, but clearly there was a breakdown in this situation, and we need to better educate both athletes and event officials on when and how to engage with the Competition Liaison.

The Competition Liaison position was announced in the Hopper that was sent on May 18: 'Competing athletes may request the Competition Liaison to assist with communication with event organizers. Issues may include appeals, schedule discrepancies, warm-up area requests, safety issues, and concerns about competition fairness.'

Going forward, we have relayed the issues around rope length to upcoming event organizers and instructed them to shorten the ropes if needed for safety. We are also working to ensure both organizers and athletes contact the Competition Liaison whenever they need to address future issues of this kind.