“I’m not in this role to earn popularity points. I’m in this role to drive the sport forward.” – Dave Castro
On Monday, Dave Castro, CrossFit’s Leader of Sport Team, took to YouTube for his usual “Week in Review” segment, during which he discussed the history of cuts at the CrossFit Games and the controversial cuts scheduled for 2023. The cuts, which will shrink the field to the top 30 men, women and teams after the events of Friday, August 4th and condense the field again to the top 20 men, women and teams after the events of Saturday, August 5th, were announced last week to much backlash.
While many believe that cuts favor specialists, decrease the excitement of an underdog rising from the back of the pack and make it more challenging for up and coming athletes to secure sponsorships, cuts are not a new concept in the sport. “As unpopular as it is,” Castro said of the cut schedule being announced, “that doesn’t mean it’s not the right direction to go.”
After going through a history of cuts at the CrossFit Games (cuts began in 2009 and were consistent until 2015, when the competition began and finished with 40 men and women. “We cut all the way down to 10 one year,” Castro said, referring to the 2019 Games, “which was really unpopular and really… a lot of people did not like that.”), Castro came to the defense of the controversial cut schedule by reminding viewers that they were announced about a month out from the Games, giving athletes plenty of time to prepare.
To Castro, this year’s cuts are not nearly as contentious as they could be. “To back up to the 2008 Games… we learned a lot there about cutting people after two events. It was overly aggressive. I think the cuts we’re doing now are A) very appropriate and B) incredibly fair.”
In defense of what he believes to be a reasonable cut schedule, Castro reminded viewers that the first cuts don’t happen until after two full days of competition. “Completely fair,” he said, “and you can assume that on any given CrossFit Games day, there are two to four workouts, so let’s call it three on average. If there are three workouts on Thursday and three workouts on Friday, that’s two full days of competition and roughly six events before any athlete gets cut, and at that point, it’s the bottom ten.” This, Castro said, is roughly the same amount of competition as a Regionals event.
“On scene,” Castro said, referring to the CrossFit Games, “the days are long. When you don’t have any cuts, the days are continually long day after day after day for four days.” As a live spectator, Castro believes long days (sometimes 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM) doesn’t give fans much of a break from the competition, which is not beneficial or in their best interest from an experience perspective.
For fans at home watching online or on television, Castro says, “having days that get more focused and reduce viewing time is beneficial.” Having so many heats for each event with athletes who “aren’t even in contention anymore,” Castro mentioned, makes for a long and muddled viewing process. He went on to discuss the benefits of cuts to the staff and judges, who in turn have much more downtime and rest between duties. “This is not why we’re doing it, but there are the things we’re taking into consideration.”
“For the athletes,” Castro said, “going to the Games was earned, not given. Earning the right to go to the Games was really challenging, and these guys put a lot of work and time and effort into getting to the Games.” Castro elaborated, “you have to earn your right to stay there in the Games and to compete with the best in the world. I think that’s totally appropriate and totally okay.”
Finally, Castro mentioned programming. “The cuts allow us to get really creative and do different things with the programming. As we reduce the field and athletes earn the right to advance, we are able to really do things differently.” Two of what he feels were the Games’ most memorable events involved a single platform lift where athletes came up one at a time, which, he says, could not have happened if there were a larger field.
“I completely own the decision,” Castro said. “I’m owning this, I believe it’s the right thing to do, and finally, everyone talks about the professionalization of sport. They want it to be more professional. Things like this, these hard decisions, are exactly what help us take it to the next level for professionalization.”
Castro did, however, admit to one mistake on the part of the Games team. “Maybe this is also a messaging issue.” Instead of using the phrase ‘cuts,’ he says, “even phrase it as ‘opportunities to advance.’”
