In the Open, the Athlete is responsible for performing the workout as prescribed and meeting all movement standards.
Josh Golden of CrossFit Grover Beach posted 387 reps on 13.2. The score put him in a three-way tie for first worldwide.
Later on Sunday evening, a YouTube video of his performance started to circulate on social media. In the video, Golden clearly failed to meet the movement standards as outlined on the CrossFit Games site.
This morning, the General Manager of the CrossFit Games, Justin Bergh, contacted Golden to notify him that his performance would be rejected. Ben Green, the affiliate owner of CrossFit Grover Beach, responded on behalf of Golden and presented an earlier video of 13.2 in which Golden supposedly reported 380 reps. In both videos, the movement standards for the box jumps and shoulder to overhead lifts were not met.
In the Open, the Athlete is responsible for performing the workout as prescribed and meeting all movement standards. The Judge and Affiliate Manager are responsible for validating that performance. In this case, all three parties failed to fulfill their responsibilities.
The consequences for both the Athlete and Affiliate are severe.
Josh Golden will not have a valid score on 13.2, and thus he will be out of contention as an individual at the 2013 Southern California Regional.
CrossFit Grover Beach will not be permitted to validate workouts for the remainder of the 2013 CrossFit Games season. Their athletes and team may remain in the competition, but will need to perform the next three Open Workouts at another affiliate location or submit video.
CrossFit takes the competition and movement standards very seriously. Everyone competing, especially those aspiring to Regionals or beyond, must ensure their performances meet or exceed all established standards.
