Why Winning Semifinal Events Doesn't Guarantee a CrossFit Games Invite

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Good morning and welcome to the Morning Chalk Up.

In today’s edition:

• Get to know 22-year-old Australian CrossFit Games rookie qualifier Peter Ellis, who will join the big dogs from down under—Ricky Garard, Jay Crouch, and Bayley Martin—in Fort Worth, TX, this summer.

• Under CrossFit's existing scoring structure, consistency beats event wins. Learn why winning multiple Semifinal events doesn't guarantee a Games ticket.

• Owner Joshua Snyder's CrossFit Northtowne in Kansas City, MO, is our Affiliate of the Month for June.

Should your gym be featured as our Affiliate of the Month for July? Please drop us a note to explain why!

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“It was an unreal feeling. It’s been on my mind every day since I started this. It felt unreal to accomplish it.” - Australian CrossFit Games rookie qualifier, Peter Ellis, on earning his spot in Fort Worth

CROSSFIT GAMES

CrossFit Games Rookie Spotlight: Why Australian Peter Ellis’s Now or Never Moment Is His Favorite CrossFit Memory, So Far

Australia’s Peter Ellis is still buzzing after finishing fourth at the Oceania Semifinal and clinching his first ticket to the CrossFit Games.

It doesn’t hurt that the whole thing reads like a Hollywood script. 

The contest came down to the last event. With the top three spots all but secured, Ellis and fellow Games hopeful Luke De Jonge were sitting tied in points with one event to go. 

Whoever crossed the finish line first would earn their first ticket to the CrossFit Games in Fort Worth.

• “I either do it or I don’t. I wasn’t going to leave it to chance,” Ellis said in an interview with the Morning Chalk Up. “I sent the bike harder than I wanted to. I held onto those rings [unbroken] and then just got straight into the dumbbells and started lunging.” 

As he lunged across the finish ahead of De Jonge, Ellis was overcome with emotion.

• “At that moment I didn’t care where anyone else was, I just knew that I had to be ahead of lane number 2,” Ellis said.

“It was an unreal feeling. It’s been on my mind every day since I started this. It felt unreal to accomplish it. That was my favorite moment in this sport so far. It was now or never.”

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SPEED READS

🤬🤬 Memes by Wooley: Over the weekend, Make WODs Great Again, the platform created by affiliate owner/memelord John Wooley, was shut down by Instagram.

• Give his new platform, Memes by Wooley, a follow. Soon, Wooley will share the whole story with Morning Chalk Up readers.

• And order now to get your hands on a limited-edition “Block First. Block Hard.” T-shirt to celebrate the new platform 😉😆.

🏆🏆 Celebrate the launch of the all-new Jocko Hydrate Drink by winning some epic prizes! Win a Jocko Fuel x Blue Cube Ice Bath ($20,000 value), a year's supply of the brand-new drink, or be one of 10 lucky runners-up to snag prizes from YETI and GORUCK. Stay hydrated and win big!

🥇🎟️ Week three of the 2024 CrossFit Games Semifinals is done and dusted, bringing a close to the middle portion of the Games season. Get caught up on all the action from all seven regions below:

• North America East Semifinal Winners and Qualifiers: Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr and Jeffrey Adler Reign at Syndicate Crown

• North America West Semifinal Winners and Qualifiers: Justin Medeiros, Abigail Domit Take First, Proving Consistency Is Key

• Europe Semifinal Winners and Qualifiers: Laura Horvath and Lazar Dukic Reign Supreme

• Oceania Semifinal Winners and Qualifiers: Ricky Garard and Grace Walton Finish On Top Down Under

• Africa Semifinal Winners and Qualifiers: Ruan Potgieter and Gemma Rader Victorious

• South America Semifinal Winners and Qualifiers: Victoria Campos and Guilherme Malheiros Take Copa Sur 

• Asia Semifinal Winners and Qualifiers: Seher Kaya and Ivan Kukartsev Come Out On Top

Rogue Invitational Qualifying System: The Rogue Invitational announced a new qualifying system for its annual event, which is moving to Aberdeen, Scotland, in 2024.

• From the announcement: “Over the past few years, we have been working on the method to select the best CrossFit athletes in the sport. This system takes into account the most recent event performance along with the last five years. There is a predictive component to replace missing scores due to various life events.”

• The post clarified that Rogue “reserve[s] the right to invite anyone but plan on using this to choose a MIN of 10 along with 5 MIN from the Q.”

• Check out more details on the qualifying system and search for athletes here.

🇺🇸💪 Congratulations to Shaun Gardner: He completed 21 rounds of Murph in 24 hours and raised over $10,000 for WarriorWOD.

• WarriorWOD uses fitness, health, and mentorship as prescriptions to help Vets recover from PTSD and reduce veteran suicide. This is the third year that Gardner has done multiple Murphs, each year highlighting his strength, endurance, and support for veterans.

• Head here to read more about Gardner and his accomplishments.

🏳️‍🌈💛 Reebok Unveils “Unity by Reebok” for 2024 Pride: The collection, according to Reebok, “features expressive and colorful graphics inspired by the traditional tie-dyed garments seen within Pride parades across the globe, plus apparel featuring the collection’s mantra: ‘For Anybody and Everybody.’”

• Check out the full line and grab some new kicks and other gear, as Reebok also pledged to donate $10,000 to The Boston Alliance of LGBTQ+ Youth (BAGLY)!

🏆 TYR Wodapalooza Drops TYR Cup Details: The team at Loud and Live is dropping more info about the inaugural event this Fall. Stay in the know below:

• With more details out in the world, the TYR Cup crew posted this hype video laying out everything you need to know. Check it out now!

• The prize purse for the event will be $250,000, broken down as follows:

  • TYR Cup Champs: $160k per team
    Runner-ups: $40k per team
    MVP: $10k - Awarded to the individual with the greatest singular positive impact on their team’s success.
    The remaining $40k will be shared across the remaining division champs.

ICYMI: How long does it take to make it to the CrossFit Games? The answer might surprise you.

MEMBER EXCLUSIVE

Why Winning Multiple Semifinal Events Doesn't Guarantee a Games Spot

Olivia Kerstetter making the snatch ladder look like a pile of PVC pipes. 

Colten Mertens going touch-and-go to beat Brent Fikoski in Event 5. 

Uldis Upenieks edging out Luka Vunjak on the final round of front squats to take his second event win in a row to kick off the 2024 Semifinal stage.

These are some of the some of the most memorable moments of the Semifinals season this year. 

Unfortunately, it’s the last we will see of these three athletes on the competition floor season. 

Despite each of these athletes winning two events (out of six), none of them were able to clinch the coveted ticket to the CrossFit Games.

Remind me: CrossFit uses an incremental scoring table, where there are uniform increments in points based on position. 

• For Semifinals, the first-place finisher in an event receives 100 points, second place receives 97 points, third receives 94, fourth receives 91, and so on, through 40th place. 

While an event win will give an athlete more points than any other competitor in that event, there are no bonus points for crossing the finish line ahead of all the other competitors in CrossFit.

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COMMUNITY

Affiliate of the Month: CrossFit Northtowne Serves Veterans, First Responders, Adaptive Athletes Nationwide

When Josh Snyder finished serving in the United States Marine Corps, he realized firsthand just how difficult it was to transition back to real life. 

He also realized that now, more than ever, he needed CrossFit. 

While in the Marine Corps, Snyder was deployed to Afghanistan and put in charge of training 1,000 Marines. This experience showed him firsthand how helpful CrossFit was for them, both physically and mentally. 

• It led him to fall in love with helping people through fitness. 

So, in 2018, back home in Kansas City, MO, Snyder decided to help veterans through CrossFit.

• “I wanted to bring the structure, support, and accountability CrossFit has to offer to veterans and first responders but not have to have the conversation of, ‘Oh, it’s going to cost you $175 a month,’” Snyder said.

The result: Today, Snyder is the owner of CrossFit Northtowne in Kansas City and the founder of Bloc Life, a non-profit that dedicates itself to helping not only veterans but also first responders and adaptive athletes.

HIGHLIGHTS

Celebrating a PR, hosting a fundraiser, this, that, or otherwise? Send us a tip.

• 🎂Happy birthday to Chris Hinshaw.

• Congratulations to CrossFit CLF in Mexico on becoming a new CrossFit Affiliate.

• Congratulations to Gui Malheiros on setting the record on Semifinals Event 5 with a time of 4:43.

• Congratulations to Andreia Pinheiro, who is the only athlete this year to qualify for the Games as both a masters athlete and as an individual athlete.

• 🏋️‍♀️Congratulations to Lydia Fish, who completed the snatch ladder (Semifinals Event 5) at Syndicate Crown.