Just minutes ago the workouts for the Team Semifinals were published. Of those workouts, one stands out among the rest. Workout 4 features three separate 800-meter runs. My first thought was, “that’s a lot of shuttle runs.” Then I realized they were not shuttle runs, but was an 800-meter course of your choosing.
That’s when I wondered…what could go wrong?
If you’re lost, let me catch you up. Here is Workout 4 of the Team Semifinals:
For time:
800-meter run
100 pull-ups (one athlete working at a time)
800-meter run
100 chest-to-bar pull-ups (one athlete working at a time)
800-meter run
100 muscle-ups (one athlete working at a time)
Time cap: 25 minutes
Unlike previous online competitions, these runs are not shuttle runs. Instead, teams will designate their own 800-meter course using “tape, cones, or other objects.”
You get where this is going?
In the Workout Description & Scorecard it states, “Teams hoping to qualify for the CrossFit Games MUST have video evidence of their run course available on request.”
It adds that evidence must be:
- photos and/or screenshots of a GPS tracking device that shows the run course. It must
include distances in feet or meters AND - an uncut video of the course being measured. Must show distance at the beginning
and end of the run course.
In the Movement Standards section, it repeats the same language, but provides context that the course can be a single 800-meter loop or multiple loops that equal at least 800 meters.
Ok…so based on the standards, teams must provide GPS proof of the course and that it is 800 meters. Teams must also have an uncut video of said course showing it being measured.
Appendix D of the 2025 CrossFit Games rulebook states that the camera should capture 3/4 view of the athlete during all movements. Does this mean if athletes have to run around the building of their gym the cameraman must run with them to make sure they are on screen the entire time?
If not, how does CrossFit ensure the athletes are actually running the correct course during the workout? Does the GPS measurement have to be taken during the actual workout or just when you are measuring the distance?
If recording the run isn’t required, do the athletes actually run or do they go off camera, rest and come back in after a reasonable amount of time?
And then it comes down to fairness. What if your gym is at the top of a hill and your run has to be up and down that hill? How does that compare to a gym in Iowa that is perfectly flat? Does one have an advantage of the other?
We have seen athletes skirt the rules year and year out. Heck, we still don’t know if Cale Layman actually did the Open workouts. Yet we are going to trust athletes don’t cheat their GPS data or find a way to break the rules?
Can you manipulate GPS data? Well, yes. The website gotoes.org allows users to “merge GPS Tracks for Garmin and Strava, Repair Corrupted FIT Files, Edit Errant Points…”
With the team competition this year solely online, it doesn’t make sense to program something that appears to be open to cheating.Â
Maybe CrossFit has a plan to ensure that no one is breaking the rules, but maybe not. Like the Age Group Semifinals, I believe there is going to be a published FAQ. I’m sure that most, if not all the questions, will be around the 800-meter run.
Let’s see how they address the questions and what happens. While I hope for the best, I’m expecting the worst.
