Joe Scali, 1st in Italy, Withdraws from CrossFit Open

Joe Scali lives in Canada, but was representing Italy in the CrossFit Open. The 2015 CrossFit Games veteran was leading the Italian leaderboard after the first four weeks of the Open. However, heading into 19.5, Scali announced that he was withdrawing from the CrossFit Open.

Scali’s reasoning was that his intention for the 2019 CrossFit Games was to compete as a team member of Pro1 Montreal. Because of this, Scali was going to decline his invite to compete as an individual in Madison this August. The 2019 CrossFit Games Rulebook states that if a national champion declines their invite, the 2nd place finisher is not invited to the Games.

Thus, if Scali had come out on top on the Italian leaderboard it would have meant that there would not be an Italian athlete represented in the 2019 CrossFit Games. Scali shared this news on Instagram and thanked those who have supported him on his journey this season. Scali commented, “Thank you to @snatchesandsamosas – my lovely sexy ass wife, nutritionist, life coach and support system – I would not have made it this far, this quickly post surgery without your support. Thank you to @aimees2cents for making me so strong in such a short time period – we will make a run for it next szn!”

View this post on Instagram

19.5 Score 1 It was a tough decision to withdraw from the open and give up making a run to qualify as an individual for the @crossfitgames this year. However, I made the decision to go team with a great Team (@pro1montreal) as I truly believe we are capable of making the Games. Why don’t I just decline the invitation to compete as an Italian if we qualify as a team? Because I contacted @crossfitgames and they stated that according to the rule book, they will not take the 2nd place Italian. This would mean that no Italians get the chance to represent the country at the CrossFit Games. I cannot have this happen as that would break my ❤️. Thank you to @snatchesandsamosas – my lovely sexy ass wife, nutritionist, life coach and support system – I would not have made it this far, this quickly post surgery without your support. Thank you to @aimees2cents for making me so strong in such a short time period – we will make a run for it next szn! Good luck to all the Italians competing for the spot to the games. I will be back for the next competition in 2020! @crossfitgames #stillbeatfikowski

A post shared by Giuseppe (Joe) Scali (@scalifit) on Mar 21, 2019 at 8:27am PDT

Scali posted a score of just one rep for 19.5, dropping him down Italy’s leaderboard. Stephano Migliorini was in 2nd place heading into 19.5 and has yet to post his score. He is trailed by Stefano Carosso by just 8 points.

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