When the scores filled the leaderboard of the Dubai CrossFit Championship’s (“DCC”) online qualifier last week, Reilly Good sat in 14th place and was poised to qualify for the in-person finals this December. But all that changed earlier this week when he was informed by the DCC that his Workout 3 score was adjusted after video review.
Workout 3 was a 15-minute AMRAP of long chipper with double-unders, wall balls, calories on a rower, chest-to-bar pull-ups, deadlifts and strict deficit handstand push-ups.Â
Good, who finished 14th at the Mid-Atlantic CrossFit Challenge Semifinals this year, logged 479 reps for the workout. This meant he completed one full round of the chipper and then finished 100 double-unders and 49 more wall balls before the 15-minute clock expired.
The DCC email, however, said that a 10% penalty was going to be applied against Good’s score. The reasoning behind the penalty was that his video submission did not clearly show the calories on the Concept2 monitor.
Good shared the links to the videos he submitted to the DCC for review. You can watch both below.
You will see that the rower is placed near the back of the visible space on both recordings. The videos also show all of the six movements without having to be moved during the workout.
A review of the Video Submission Standards on the Competition Corner website for Workout 3 state the following:
- Prior to starting, film all equipment used inside the workout, clearing showing the weights used on the equipment that applies.
- All video submissions must be uncut and unedited in order to accurately display the performance.
- A clock or timer with the running workout time clearly visible must be in frame throughout the entire workout, and the timer must ascend (count up to 15:00).
- Shoot the video from an angle so that all movements can be clearly seen meeting the movement standards.
- Avoid placing the camera too low to the ground – we recommend placing the camera at least 3 ft (90 cm) off the ground.
- Videos shot with a fisheye lens or similar will be rejected due to the visual distortion these lens cause.
- The athlete must stay in frame during the entirety of the workout.
- Ensure the judge does not obstruct the camera’s view of the athlete.Â
After watching both videos, Good appears to have met the video submission standards. However, a look at the Movement Standards is where it gets tricky.
Under the Rowing section, the second bullet point states “With the calorie count clearly in view throughout, the athlete rows to 60 calories”.
That bullet point is where the penalty comes in.
Upon receiving the penalty and after talking with Andrew Hiller, Good went to the monitor settings of the Concept2 rower and was able to take a photo of the rower history showing that 63 calories were rowed on the same day that he did Workout 3 of the qualifier.
Good sent the DCC the photo, but was told that the photo alone was not enough proof to reverse the penalty. The DCC responded by saying,
“Hey Reilly,
“I really appreciate your time and trying to prove to me that it was done, I personally have no doubt in that, the thing is that we have a team of judges deciding weather its [sic] a penalty or not.
“Showing the history of the machine also doesn’t prove to them that it is the same machine. The only hope for me is trying to help you where you can show me exactly on the video you have (a better quality video) a zoomed in screenshot. We have submission rules and its a hustle for the team to zoom in and see if its correct or not.
“Unfortunately I really can’t remove the penalty and I hope you understand our point of view.”
So with that, Good’s score for Workout 3 is no longer 479, but 431…a 48 rep penalty. He went from earning 35 points on the workout to 72, thereby dropping him down to 24th and outside the top 20.
Andrew Hiller discussed the topic yesterday on YouTube where his opinion was that Good’s penalty was potentially too severe, but wanted to get input from his viewers.
The Director of the DCC, Saud Al Shamsi, was one of the first to comment. Al Shamsi commented, “…everyone is equal ;).. Previous CrossFit champions were rejected too, we are fair here.”
To which Hiller replied, “As I stated in the video, I believe you did the right thing. My goal in this is to burn it into others brains to SHOW THE MONITOR on the video…”
Most of the other comments believed Good did the full 60 calories as prescribed but that not showing the monitor does warrant a penalty.
In talking with Good, he told The Barbell Spin that it is ultimately his fault for not showing the rower monitor, but that it was difficult to get a completely clear shot of the rower screen and include all of the other movements of the workout.
The DCC has shared that its goal is to complete the video review and finalize the top 20 athletes who will be invited to compete at the finals in December within 10 days of the video submissions. That timing would indicate that the top 20 will be cemented in the next day or so. And for Good, it appears that he will be on the outside looking in because of his video submission and not his work capacity.
