Lucy Campbell finished 16th overall in her rookie year at the CrossFit Games last year. Not only that, Campbell walked away with two event victories in the process. But just days away from the start of the 2023 CrossFit Open, Campbell shared that she will not be competing this year.
Campbell, who would have competed out of the Europe region this year, has been dealing with a wrist injury since Quarterfinals last year. Despite the injury, Campbell pushed through the pain at the CrossFit Lowlands Throwdown where she finished 5th to qualify for her Games debut.
Following the Games, Campbell has been working diligently to try to resolve her wrist pain to no avail. Two cortisol injections later and still with pain days from the start of the Open, Campbell made the difficult decision to sit this year out with long-term plans in mind.
Campbell shared on Instagram, “I truly believe I’m just at the start, and I have so much more to give. But I don’t want to struggle to get back to the games [sic] for another 15-20th finish. I want to see how good I can be and I think my best is better than that. I want to be in the top 5. I want to be on the podium one day. So I’m waiting for the two marshmallows.”
For those curious about her last sentence, Campbell is referring to the Stanford Marshmallow Experiment. The experiment dating back over 50 years tested the willpower and self-control of young children by offering them a choice between one marshmallow immediately or two marshmallows if they could wait for a short period of time. The results showed that the children who were able to delay gratification and wait for the two marshmallows performed better in various aspects of their lives in the future.
So for Campbell, she is skipping this year’s Games for a better result in the future.
Campbell’s withdrawal will have an impact to the Strength of Field calculation this year. Campbell is safely ranked inside the Top 100, currently 30th overall. Her ranking would give the Europe region another “vote” while running the D’Hondt method calculation prior to Semifinals.
However, now that Campbell is out, so is her ranking and her “vote” towards an additional unallocated qualifying spot to the Games.
If you still don’t know how the qualifying spots to the 2023 CrossFit Games are determined, check out our video below that explains the calculation and how it will be used to send athletes to the Games.
