The 2020 CrossFit Games rulebook is here! With the CrossFit Open moving up to October, the rulebook has now been released.
The 2020 season is the second iteration of the format change that eliminated Regionals and brought us the Sanctionals. With a year of the new format behind us, the 2020 rulebook does not change much, but does offer several enhancements to the Open video review process.
The 2020 CrossFit Open begins Wednesday, October 16 and runs five weeks.
• Week 1: Wednesday, Oct. 16, at 5:00 p.m. PT
• Week 2: Wednesday, Oct. 23, at 5:00 p.m. PT
• Week 3: Wednesday, Oct. 30, at 5:00 p.m. PT
• Week 4: Wednesday, Nov. 6, at 5:00 p.m. PT
• Week 5: Wednesday, Nov. 13, at 5:00 p.m. PT
So let’s take a look at what’s new and what is still the same…
What’s New
1.31 – OPEN VIDEO REVIEW – SUBMITTING VIDEOS
This is the biggest change to the 2020 rulebook. Each week the top 40 athletes on the overall leaderboard will be required to submit their video for review. Athletes who fail to submit a video may have their score invalidated and changed to “0”.
This change to weekly submissions should reduce the number of penalties that are given after all five weeks of the Open are over. While it will be too late for athletes to re-do the workout after a video was assessed a penalty, it should provide a more accurate picture of the final leaderboard throughout the Open.
There will still be a similar video review at the end of the Open. Athletes who finish in the top 40 overall may be required to submit videos from prior weeks that had not yet previously been submitted.
CrossFit will also ask for video submissions from the top 5 athletes in each eligible country in order to determine the National Champions.
Athletes will be required to submit final videos by November 21 with final video review completed by December 16.
1.19 – OPEN WORKOUTS – VIDEO SUBMISSIONS – SCORING PROTOCOL
This year’s rulebook provides more clarity around the video review process and how scoring can be adjusted if it is deemed an athlete does not meet the standards of the workout. There are four possible outcomes that can be determined during a video review.
- Good Video: The athlete meets the required movement standards on all repetitions in the workout, and the score posted is correct. The score will be accepted.
- Valid With Minor Penalty: Over the course of the video, the athlete demonstrates a small number of “no reps” that result in a faster time or higher score for a given workout. A minor penalty will be applied, and a score adjustment will be made to the athlete’s final score. If the score is posted in the form of a time, the total time to complete the workout will be adjusted accordingly.* A minor penalty can be applied to more than one movement per workout, resulting in a greater score adjustment.
- Valid With Major Penalty: Over the course of the video, the athlete demonstrates a significant number of “no reps” that result in a faster time or higher score for a given workout. In this case, a major penalty will be applied and the score may be modified by subtracting 15 percent from the total rep count. If the score is posted in the form of a time, the total time to complete the workout will be adjusted accordingly.* A major penalty can be applied to more than one movement per workout, resulting in a greater score adjustment.
- Invalid: Over the course of the video, the athlete fails to complete the workout as required, a significant and unacceptable number of reps performed are “no reps,” or the video does not contain the criteria listed in the video submission standards. The athlete’s score may be rejected, and the video will be removed from the CrossFit Games website. The athlete will have to submit a new video prior to the score submission deadline to receive a score for this workout.
In situations where the workout is ‘for time’, CrossFit will use its own discretion to determine the length of each penalty applied.
1.22 – CROSSFIT GAMES LEADERBOARD – RANKING (INDIVIDUAL ATHLETES)
This year many of the Sanctionals and other competitions are utilizing the CrossFit Open leaderboard as the qualification method. CrossFit has now stated in the rulebook that the leaderboard will be finalized, with video reviews complete, by December 16.
1.28 – OPEN AFFILIATE LEADERBOARD
New this year, CrossFit will host a separate leaderboard for affiliates. The top affiliates will be recognized by CrossFit.
4.02 – THE GAMES – QUALIFICATION PROCESS FROM THE OPEN – NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
This year CrossFit will backfill a national champion spot if the athlete elects to compete on a team. Last year, the national champions were not backfilled under any circumstances. Under that rule last year, Joe Scali stopped competing in the Open once he decided to compete on the PRO1 Montreal team so that someone from Italy could represent the country.
This year Scali would be able to compete throughout the Open and once he earned an invite on a team that spot could be passed on to the next athlete from Italy.
4.05 – THE GAMES – INVITATION PROCESS FROM SANCTIONALS – TEAMS
With respect to team invitations to the CrossFit Games, the 2020 rulebook goes into more depth. The 2020 rulebook explicitly states that CrossFit reserves the right to invite the 2nd place team in the event a member of the 1st place team at a Sanctional fails a drug test.
Additionally, once an athlete is on the roster of a team that has been invited to the Games, that athlete may not compete on a different team.
What’s the Same
Basically, everything else. National Champions and the Top 20 will qualify for the Games just like last year. Sanctional champions (or the next in line) will be invited to compete just like last year. And there are still 4 wildcard invites available.
The cash prizes remain unchanged as well.
Top Overall Finish – Individual Athletes (men and women)
o First Place: $300,000
o Second Place: $115,000
o Third Place: $75,000
o Fourth Place: $50,000
o Fifth Through Eighth Place: $35,000, $30,000, $27,000 and $25,000, respectively
o Ninth Through 20th Place: $23,000, $21,000, $18,000, $16,000, $15,000, $14,000, $13,000, $12,000, $11,000,
$10,000, $9,000 and $8,000, respectively
• Top Finish by Event – Individual Athletes (men and women)
o First Place: $3,000
o Second Place: $2,000
o Third Place: $1,000
Top Overall Finish – Masters Athletes, 35-39 Division (men and women)
o First Place: $25,000
o Second Place: $10,000
o Third Place: $5,000
• Top Overall Finish – Masters Athletes (men and women, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, 60+ age divisions)
o First Place: $10,000
o Second Place: $5,000
o Third Place: $3,000
• Top Overall Finish – Teams (prize per team)
o First Place: $100,000
o Second Place: $70,000
o Third Place: $40,000
o Fourth Place: $25,000
o Fifth Place: $20,000
AGE GROUPS (TEENS & MASTERS)
And as for Teens and Masters, the Age Group Online Qualifier the top 200 from the CrossFit Open will be eligible to compete. The AGOQ workouts will be released on Thursday, March 12, 2020. Age-group athletes will have until the following Monday, March 16, 2020 to submit their scores and/or videos for these workouts.
The video review process will be completed by April 27, 2020, with the top 10 qualifying to compete at the 2020 CrossFit Games.
While you are here, The Barbell Spin is dedicated to providing the best coverage of the CrossFit Games day in and day out. We don’t hide behind a paywall as we think the fan should not have to pay to keep up with the sport they love.
We do, however, have expenses to maintain TheBarbellSpin.com and to continue to expand what we can provide to you, our reader. One of our primary sources of income is the Rogue Fitness affiliate links. By clicking on the link below when making a purchase at RogueFitness.com, we receive a small commission. There is no added cost to you.
Regardless of whether you purchase anything through Rogue, we appreciate your support and will continue to bring you the best in competitive fitness!
