Margaux Alvarez has competed at the CrossFit Games the last six years. This year, however, Alvarez has different goals. With the 2019 CrossFit Open beginning this week, Alvarez shared why she is not competing in the worldwide online competition.
Via her email newsletter, Alvarez provides four reasons for skipping the 2019 CrossFit Open.
1) In order for me be competitive I will have to travel to sea level and I just don’t have the time or interest in spending money on that.
The Open is different this year. The Open will send the top athlete from each country directly to the CrossFit Games this August. For competitive countries like the United States, that means athletes have to remove every disadvantage possible. For Alvarez, that would mean moving to a location with a lower elevation. Alvarez calls Las Vegas home and with an altitude of just over 2,000 feet, competing against athletes at sea level is a disadvantage.
2) American Ninja Warrior tryout is the same time as one of the OPEN workouts, and I’m very interested to compete in the ANW.
Alvarez is branching out from CrossFit and is giving American Ninja Warrior a shot. Unfortunately, the timing of ANW and the Open coincide and Alvarez has decided to try something new this year.
3) The owner of CF doesn’t really care about us competing in CF, so I will continue to spread the word of CF Methodology through seminars.
This is definitely the most controversial reason for not competing in the Open this year. While the changes are shaking up the competitive landscape of the CrossFit Games, there is still a platform for athletes to compete. Time will tell how the changes impact the sport.
4) I am also competing in World Long Drive Golf competition in late March, and that leaves little interest to worry about this years leaderboard.
If you have been following Margaux on Instagram recently, you probably have noticed she has had a golf club in her hands a lot. That’s because she is preparing to compete in the World Long Drive Competition in a month. The Open will be wrapping up by that time, but prepping a golf swing after five weeks of Open workouts is not ideal.
And of course, Alvarez also runs her vineyard business, The Vine Yard.
So all of these things are contributing to one of the top female athletes in the world sitting out 2019. What do you think about the sudden changes in the sport and Alvarez’s decision to venture into new sports? Let us know in the comments below.
