With Quarterfinals in the rearview mirror, it’s time to look ahead to the third stage of CrossFit Games competition: the 2021 NOBULL CrossFit Semifinals.
This year, CrossFit partnered with a series of event organizers to host the inaugural Semifinals. As a brand new phase of the season, the Semifinals will serve as the final hurdle for individual athletes and teams hoping to qualify for the 2021 NOBULL CrossFit Games.
The 2021 Semifinals will take place over four consecutive weekends from May 28 to June 20. Please see each Semifinal detail page for dates, venue information, and more.
Semifinals Seeding
The 10 CrossFit Semifinal events are seeded with qualifying athletes and teams from each continent. Most continents have only one event, so the athletes and teams on those continents are seeded based on their Quarterfinal leaderboard position for that continent.
For the continents with more than one Semifinal event (North America and Europe), additional considerations were used to determine which individual athletes would be placed into which event.
In Europe, both Semifinal events have moved online, so individual athletes were divided between those virtual events based on their rank in the Quarterfinal and past Games performances with the goal of evenly distributing the competitive field.
In North America, the following guidelines were used to determine event placement:
- The top 10 male and female athletes in North America were given their first choice of Semifinal event.
- Athletes living in the same state as an event were placed at that event (unless their first choice was elsewhere).
- All athletes qualifying out of Canada and Mexico were placed in the online Atlas Games to accommodate travel restrictions related to COVID-19.
- The remaining athletes were placed in events based on a combination of factors, including their stated preferences, Quarterfinal leaderboard positions, and past Games performances to ensure an equitable distribution of the competitive field.
Based on this selection process, the overwhelming majority of athletes in North America were given their first or second choice of Semifinal.
In addition, a COVID travel restriction survey was sent to athletes in regions holding live events notifying them of the specific travel restrictions currently in place in their regions.
Based on responses to the survey, CrossFit determined the six athletes below likely would not be able to travel to their respective Semifinals in Africa and Oceania. These athletes were placed in online events and may have an opportunity to compete at a live event close to their physical location.
| Name | Division | Original Event | Seeded Event |
|---|---|---|---|
| Christina Livaditakis | Women | CrossFit Fittest in Cape Town | CrossFit Asia Invitational |
| Lee Keyrouz | Women | CrossFit Fittest in Cape Town | CrossFit Lowlands Throwdown |
| Tafadzwa Mushandu | Men | CrossFit Fittest in Cape Town | CrossFit Atlas Games |
| Carla Henriet | Women | CrossFit Fittest in Cape Town | CrossFit Atlas Games |
| Tia-Clair Toomey | Women | Torian Pro | CrossFit Atlas Games |
| Emma Chapman | Women | Torian Pro | CrossFit Atlas Games |
CrossFit is aware that placing athletes outside their continental region affects the competition field. Keeping this in mind, any event that has an athlete from another continental region competing will get four spots at the Last-Chance Qualifier instead of the original three. No additional qualifying spots will be added to the Games.
Due to these changes, CrossFit has canceled the Catch-All Virtual Semifinal event, as all athletes have now been placed in live or virtual Semifinal events that allow their participation.
Team Semifinals Seeding
The 10 CrossFit Semifinal events are seeded with qualifying teams from each continent. Most continents have only one event, so the teams on those continents are seeded based on their position on the Quarterfinal leaderboard for that continent.
In Europe, teams that placed first, third, fifth, seventh, and ninth were seeded at the Lowlands Throwdown, and those in second, fourth, sixth, eighth, and 10th went to the German Throwdown.
In North America, the following guidelines were used to determine event placement:
1. The top 10 teams in North America were given their first choice of Semifinal event.
2. Teams living in the same state as an event were placed at that event (unless their first choice was elsewhere).
3. All teams qualifying out of Canada and Mexico were placed in the online Atlas Games to accommodate travel restrictions related to COVID-19.
4. The remaining teams were placed in events based on a combination of factors — including their stated preferences, Quarterfinal leaderboard positions, and past Games performances — to ensure an equitable distribution of the competitive field.
Based on this selection process, the overwhelming majority of teams in North America were given their first or second choice of Semifinal.
View Individual Semifinal Invites
View Team Semifinals Invites
Please see the image below to learn which Semifinals are virtual and which will run in person, and check out this article for more information.
Semifinals Seeding Update: Added May 4, 2021
The final rosters for the 2021 NOBULL CrossFit Semifinals are in the process of being confirmed as CrossFit moves forward with the seeding process. As previously announced, several athletes who could not travel to their respective Semifinals were placed in online events instead, while CrossFit determined if there would be an opportunity for them to compete at a live event closer to their physical locations. With spots opening up at the Mid-Atlantic CrossFit Challenge, Granite Games, and Torian Pro (all in-person Semifinal events), CrossFit has offered several of the athletes who could not travel to their continent-based event the opportunity to compete at a nearby live event. Those athletes are listed below.
| Name | Division | Qualifying Region | Current Location | Seeded Semifinal Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christina Livaditakis | Women | Africa | Australia | Torian Pro |
| Lee Keyrouz | Women | Africa | United Kingdom | CrossFit Lowlands Throwdown |
| Tafadzwa Mushandu | Men | Africa | Canada | CrossFit Atlas Games |
| Carla Henriet | Women | Africa | United States | Granite Games |
| Tia-Clair Toomey | Women | Oceania | United States | Mid-Atlantic CrossFit Challenge |
| Emma Chapman | Women | Oceania | United States | Mid-Atlantic CrossFit Challenge |
CrossFit is aware that placing athletes outside their continental region affects the competition field. Keeping this in mind, any event that has an athlete from another continental region competing will get four spots at the Last-Chance Qualifier instead of the original three. No additional qualifying spots will be added to the Games.
Individual Semifinal invites will be sent out later today to the individuals listed above. How does seeding work? The...
Posted by The CrossFit Games on Wednesday, April 28, 2021