The Beginning
On March 6, 2013, the first Live Open Announcement was held at CrossFit Vitality in Concord, North Carolina. Rory McKernan was the host for the duel between Dan Bailey and Scott Panchik, with Tanya Wagner and Chase Ingraham calling the event. This was the start of Dave Castro’s infamous workout description delivery, which he continued to hone in future announcements.
Workout 13.1 was a combination of two previous Open workouts: 12.1 and 12.2. The 17-minute AMRAP included 40 burpees, 30 snatches at 75/45 lb., 30 burpees, 30 snatches at 135/75 lb., 20 burpees, 30 snatches at 165/100 lb., 10 burpees, and then as many reps as possible of snatches at 210/120 lb. The burpees required athletes to touch a target 6 inches above their reach when standing with arms extended.
Bailey held a slight early lead through the first half of the workout. However, Panchik caught up with him after the third set of burpees and pulled away at the end to take the first Open announcement victory — 194 reps to Bailey’s 190 reps. Panchik was able to complete four successful snatches at the 210-lb. bar, while Bailey missed his one attempt at the weight at the end. The affiliate was full of loud fans cheering on the competitors, which made for a great broadcast for the millions of viewers from around the world who watched from home.
The weekly buildup and hype for the announcements became a familiar routine for fans to follow with anticipation each week as all waited to see what Castro would cook up. Watching the athletes perform the workout after having just 5 to 10 minutes to devise a strategy provided Games-style entertainment. Often, the competitors would repeat the workouts later in the week and better their scores. But watching the first athletes in the world take on the workout each week was a real treat.
The First Two Opens
During the first two years of the Open, the workout announcements looked a little different. In 2011, for example, the workout announcements and demonstrations were pre-recorded at an affiliate in Santa Cruz, California. The workouts were performed mostly by CrossFit Media talent, such as McKernan and Pat Sherwood. Guest athletes, including Rebecca Voigt, Heather Bergeron, and Cherie Chan, completed the demos of the workouts.
In 2012, Castro and Adrian Bozman took the workout demonstrations on the road. In pre-recorded spots, various elite athletes — including Bailey, Voigt, Rich Froning Kristan Clever, Annie Thorisdottir, and Graham Holmberg — performed the workouts for the community. For the final workout, 12.5, Castro brought Jason Khalipa and Clever (her second demonstration in 2012) to the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. They dueled one evening on a small rig set up in the center of the Tennis Stadium, exactly where the CrossFit Games crowned its champions from 2010 to 2016. It was a great visual to watch with the backdrop of such a significant location; however, the addition of screaming fans would, without a doubt, have added to the excitement of the spectacle. In another demonstration of 12.5, Castro brought Froning and Bailey (who had squared off earlier in the Open for the 12.2 demonstration) to CrossFit Aledo in Texas — this time to do the workout in front of cheering fans. Although CrossFit Media didn’t produce a video of the event, others captured footage that showed the excitement was real as the two guys went head-to-head and fed off the crowd’s energy. From there, the idea of doing live announcements really took off.
2013-2018 by the Numbers
Over the course of five years of Open announcements, there were a total of 30 announcements and a total of 34 matchups (some weeks featured two matches, sometimes even at different locations). For the first four years, all the announcements were held in the United States, mostly at affiliates. In 2017, the announcements went international, moving from Montreal, Canada, to Paris, France, and Mexico City, Mexico. The 2018 season kicked off in São Paulo, Brazil, for 18.1 and ended in Reykjavík, Iceland for 18.5. Sometimes the announcements were filmed from unique locations, such as Rogue Headquarters, a U.S. Air Force Base, larger pavilions/venues, the Ranch, and even one CrossFit athlete’s garage gym.
In total, 47 top athletes threw down during these live announcements. In 2018, regular everyday CrossFit athletes also competed alongside the sport’s best athletes during the announcements.
Most Open announcement matchups included two athletes. However, sometimes there were three, four, or even five top athletes competing at once. Open Announcement 14.5 was a battle royale among former champions Samantha Briggs, Froning, Thorisdottir, Khalipa, and Holmberg.
Two athletes competed during five announcements: Panchik and Briggs. Froning and Thorisdottir competed in four. There were four athletes to compete in three: Mathew Fraser, Camille Leblanc-Bazinet, Katrin Davidsdottir, and Sara Sigmundsdottir. The title for most wins in the live announcements goes to Froning, Panchik, and Briggs in a three-way tie. However, technically Froning won four workouts by taking the W in both 15.1 and 15.1a against Fraser.
Other unique matchups included a masters vs. a teenage athlete (Shawn Ramirez vs. Nick Paladino) and masters vs. masters (Kyle Kasperbauer vs. Neal Maddox). There were exact rematches on three separate occasions: Briggs vs. Kristin Holte, Davidsdottir vs. Sigmundsdottir, and Panchik vs. Josh Bridges. There also were four times when two athletes competed against each other in a larger match group of three to five competitors: Froning vs. Khalipa, Froning vs. Fraser, Briggs vs. Leblanc-Bazinet, and Briggs vs. Thorisdottir). Davidsdottir and Sigmundsdottir actually faced each other three times total; the third time also included Thorisdottir.
During this time, frenemies McKernan and Bozman would regularly go head-to-head after the show in their own friendly competition. Local fans would stick around and cheer them on, and often, the elite athletes who just competed for the show would serve as their judges. This matchup acquired momentum each year to the point where the Update Show would cover the Ro vs. Boz performances every week. In the later years, their matchups would be shown on Facebook Live. Overall, Bozman holds the lead with 18 post-announcement workout wins to McKernan’s 11. Currently on social media, there has been buzz that the Ro vs. Boz matchups may be rekindled for the 2021 Open — we shall see.
The Scaled-Down Format
After the restructuring of the CrossFit Games season in 2018, CrossFit’s centralized live announcements were put on hold. Instead, the different Sanctional organizers and other groups held their own live announcements in 2019 and 2020, and these were then shared via the CrossFit Games site. Each week’s announcements included multiple locations from around the world.
Comeback
Because many missed the energy and showmanship of Castro’s workout releases, for the 2021 Open, CrossFit is bringing back the Live Open Announcements, all airing from CrossFit’s Home Office in Scotts Valley, California. Unfortunately, COVID-19 restrictions may affect the number of cheering spectators who can accompany the announcement. However, Castro will be back, delivering the workout descriptions himself, and top-tier CrossFit athletes will throw down for the whole world to watch. Again, due to COVID restrictions, this year’s announcements will not have as much international athlete representation as years past, but the matchups are sure to provide the excitement the CrossFit community needs to find the motivation and inspiration to take on the workouts themselves. Click here to see this year’s matchups.
The 2021 CrossFit Open kicks off this Thursday, March 11. Tune in for the live announcement of the workout and what will no doubt be an epic rematch (the two faced off in Open Announcement 17.2) between Kari Pearce and Kristi Eramo O'Connell at 5 p.m. PT:
