More 2025 CrossFit Games Season Details Emerge

November 27th, 2024

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Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up.

In today’s edition:

  • Last week, CrossFit announced some of the 2025 Games season details, but Dave Castro provided more information on the monthly Affiliate Town Hall. Mike Halpin from Known and Knowable puts it all together for us.

  • We sat down for an exclusive chat with Annie Thorisdottir about how her body is recovering from her recent C-section, how her new business is going, and whether or not she plans to return to the Games in 2025.

  • In a Thanksgiving-themed op-ed, senior writer Emily Beers remembers why she’s grateful she found CrossFit back in 2008. But also how the things that caused her to love it are still the same today.

The Morning Chalk Up team will be taking a day to enjoy time with our family and friends tomorrow, but we’ll see you back here on Friday morning with more. Happy Thanksgiving! 🦃 🌽 🏋️

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I haven’t made any decisions yet, but that’s not different than usual. I don’t think I will really make up my mind until January what I’m going to do. And I don’t think I can [make a decision] yet because I’m still not [100 percent],” - Annie Thorisdottir on her 2025 CrossFit Games season plans.

CROSSFIT GAMES

Credit: @known_knowable / Instagram

Piecing Together 2025 CrossFit Games Season Details

Late last week, CrossFit HQ announced “a few changes” to the 2025 CrossFit Games season, which turned out to be a top-to-bottom refresh of the entire season structure. 

CrossFit made the announcement on its website and social media accounts, and Dave Castro presented the season overview himself at the monthly Affiliate Town Hall meeting. 

While the information shared across these platforms was mostly consistent, there were a few variations that we want to highlight below, especially in the information Castro shared with the select crowd.

  • Note: Affiliate owners and coaches with access to the Affiliate Toolkit can view a recording of the Town Hall meeting. 

Here’s what we know about the 2025 season so far.

The CrossFit Games Qualifying Process

In comparing the announcements, there is general agreement about the total number of athletes who will earn a spot at the CrossFit Games, with one small difference. 

  • The Games site stated, “30 men and 30 women will advance to the 2025 CrossFit Games where we’ll crown the Fittest on Earth.”

  • At the monthly Affiliate Town Hall, Dave Castro said, “From the in-affiliate Semifinal and from those in-person events, there’s going to be a total of 30 athletes going to the Games.”

That appears consistent, but the Crossfit Games’ Instagram post states that a “Minimum of 30 Men/Women move on to the Games.” (Fine print on page two; emphasis ours). This could simply be imprecise wording, or it could mean there are scenarios in which more than 30 athletes qualify in a division. 

A MESSAGE FROM MONEY

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SPEED READS

🏋️🐐 Rich Froning’s Basement Gym: Check out the first part of this video series touring Rich Froning’s Cookeville, TN, fitness compound from our friends over at Garage Gym Reviews.

📺👂Hear Their Stories: CrossFit’s new video series, Hear Their Stories, brings viewers into the heart of the CrossFit community. The newest episode, “Taking the Capitol By Storm,” features Games athlete Rebecca Fusilier and one of the most iconic moments in CrossFit Games history, “The Capitol.” Watch now.

😎🌴 2024 TYR WZA Miami Beach Roster Updates: In case you’ve missed it, TYR WZA Miami Beach has begun to announce the athletes “confirmed to celebrate!”

  • So far, the roster includes “the Boys” (Noah Ohlsen, Chandler Smith, and Travis Mayer), “the Broadway Girls” (Haley Adams, Brooke Wells, and Sydney Wells), Ricky Garard, Pat Vellner, Dani Speegle, James Sprague, and Arielle Loewen. Many more to come.

ICYMI: How would the new 2025 CrossFit Games qualification rules have affected recent seasons? Find out who would’ve missed the cut.

MEMBER EXCLUSIVE

Credit: @anniethorisdottir / Instagram

Interview: Annie Thorisdottir on Postpartum Recovery, Motherhood and the 2025 Season

When it comes to the CrossFit Games, there almost isn’t anything Annie Thorisdottir—the Queen of Iceland—hasn’t done. 

Not only is she a two-time CrossFit Games champion, but she has been competing at the highest level of the sport for an unprecedented 16 years.

Remind Me: Thorisdottir has competed at the Games as an individual 12 times and with a team one time. Two of the three years she has sat out since 2009 were because she was pregnant.

  • Thorisdottir missed the 2020 season because she was pregnant with her daughter Freyja, but then she did the unthinkable: She returned in 2021 and finished third on the podium, her best result since 2017. 

Last spring, Thorisdottir gave birth to her second child, a son named Atlas. 

So, where is Thorisdottir today? How is her body recovering from her recent Cesarean section? Will she make a triumphant return in 2025?

We had the chance to sit down with Thorisdottir in an exclusive interview to find out all the details about her recovery and her plans for the future.

BLACK FRIDAY

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OPINION

Credit: Ralph Steele

Why I’m Thankful I Found CrossFit in 2008

Last week, I was chatting with another member at my gym, Kea Athletics, in Surrey, B.C., and I suddenly became very thankful that I started CrossFit back in 2008 when I was a college rower. 

During a simpler time.

This other member started at the beginning of 2020, so the first thing she experienced was her gym shutting down during the first lockdown of the global pandemic.

The immediate months that followed were filled with more drama and instability at CrossFit headquarters: Dave Castro was fired and re-hired. CrossFit’s new owner, Eric Roza, removed himself as CEO and was replaced by Don Faul. 

And on and on. 

And just as it seemed like things were starting to feel more stable in the CrossFit world, tragedy struck at the 2024 CrossFit Games: Lazar Đukić drowned in front of the entire community. CrossFit promised transparency and initiated a third-party investigation, but when the investigation was complete, they announced that they’re not releasing details.

As for the 2025 season, the number of opportunities for the best athletes in the world to compete in person and in front of fans seems to be shrinking. 

HIGHLIGHTS

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