The TFX Invitational is one of four In-Person Qualifying Events (“IPQE’s) in the United States for the 2025 CrossFit Games season. The organizers of the TFX Invitational also run The TFX Championship, one of the largest off-season competitions (in terms of number of athletes) in the world.
To qualify for the TFX Invitational or Syndicate Crown, another IPQE in the United States, the two competitions decided to utilize the North America East and North America West regions that had been used in last year’s Semifinal regions.
But the path to qualifying to each was slightly different. The TFX Invitational will host 36 men and 36 women in the elite division with the top 2 advancing to the 2025 CrossFit Games. In a post on Instagram, the TFX Invitational outlined how to qualify for the 36-athlete roster.
The two paths to qualifying included…
- Invitations to top individuals on the NA West Leaderboard (1st-33rd) after the Open. Declined spots are backfilled to the next athletes on the leaderboard.
- Top 3 men and women who podium in the Pro Division at the TFX Championship will earn their invitation to the Invitational (as long as they also finish in the top 1% of the CF Open).
Bullet point #2 is where the controversy comes in.
The top 3 women at the TFX Championship were Katelynn Sanders, Hannah Black and Tracy Johnson.Â
The three women, along with the three men on the podium, received a piece of paper with the word, “CONFIRMED”, in addition to prize money and a weightlifting belt.
That “CONFIRMED” paper was in relation to qualifying for the TFX Invitational in May.
I even wrote an article about how the podium finishers were the first athletes to officially qualify (not receive an invite) to an IPQE.
However, it appears that organizers from the TFX Invitational have rescinded the invites to Katelynn Sanders and Tracy Johnson who finished 1st and 3rd, respectively, at the TFX Championship.
The reason?
Both live in the North America East region.
Late last week, both women were contacted by organizers of the TFX Invitational. “[TFX] called me yesterday and let me know that they had to keep their integrity of their agreement with Syndicate [Crown] and not allow East athletes at their event,” Sanders told The Barbell Spin over the weekend.
The problem is, however, that it was never communicated that the podium finishers at the TFX Championship had to reside in North America West to earn an invite.
Throughout all of the announcements on Instagram, it only said the top 3 podium finishers would receive an invite. The only geographic restriction was in relation to qualifying via the CrossFit Open.
Don’t believe me? Check out the infographic that was posted to Instagram just three days ago.
There is no mention of geographic restrictions with respect to the Pro Indy podium finishers…only to those on the Open leaderboard.
In hearing about this, I reached out to TFX for comment. I received the following communication regarding the official invite process. It was also sent to the athletes who finished on the podium at the TFX Championship.
Again, this is the first time it had ever been communicated that there would be a geographic restriction tied to the podium finish qualification path.Â
In speaking with Sanders and Johnson, it appears the issue is how the TFX Invitational and Syndicate Crown partnered to restrict athletes from North America West and North America East, respectively. However, if the intent was only invite the top 3 from NA West, it was never communicated that way.
As for the men’s podium, all three men reside in North America West.
Now, the question is whether the TFX Invitational will invite the podium finishers based on its “intent” or how it was conveyed to the athletes.
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