After last year’s sweeping changes to the CrossFit Games, the 2019 Games Open was the awkward middle child in a new family of qualifications. With some Sanctional events having already taken place and others still to come before the Games, the qualification process became quite the juggling act as various Sanctional winners qualified through the Open and their spots were backfilled.
This time around, we’ve got a fresh start: The Open is the official kickoff to the new chapter of the CrossFit Games.
So here’s who will qualify for the Games solely from their Open performance:
National Champions: The top finishing male and female athlete from each country with a CrossFit affiliate will qualify for a spot at the CrossFit Games, provided they finish all Open workouts as prescribed. If the athlete declines the Games invitation, CrossFit will NOT backfill the spot.
NEW for 2020: CrossFit WILL backfill a country champion’s spot if the champion elects to compete on a team at the CrossFit Games.
Top 20 Open Finishers Worldwide: Once again, CrossFit will invite the top 20 male and female finishers overall worldwide to the CrossFit Games. If a top 20 finisher is also a national champion, CrossFit will backfill their position with the next athlete in line. A position will also be backfilled if a top 20 finisher elects to compete on a Games-qualifying team or declines the invite.
This could affect who goes on to compete in Sanctional events once the Open finishes. If you’ve already qualified for the Games, why risk injury and spend money qualifying and traveling?
Speaking of Sanctionals, several events are using the Open workouts as their official qualifiers:
- Pandaland CrossFit Challenge, Dec. 7-8
- Dubai CrossFit Championship, Dec. 11-14
- CrossFit Mayhem Classic, Jan. 11-12
- CrossFit Strength in Depth, Jan. 24-26
- Norwegian CrossFit Championship, Feb. 14-16
- Australian CrossFit Championship (individuals only), March 5-8
- Brazil CrossFit Championship, March 6-8
- West Coast CrossFit Classic, March 20-22
- Reykjavik CrossFit Championship, April 3-5
- Madrid CrossFit Championship, May 1-3
- Down Under CrossFit Championship, May 22-24
- CanWest CrossFit Championship, June 5-7
- Asbury Park Summer Games (individuals) June 20-21
- CrossFit French Throwdown, June 26-28
- Mayan CrossFit Classic, July 3-5
The winner of each Sanctional will receive an invite to the CrossFit Games. If a winner has already qualified through another means, the second-place finisher will fill the spot.
As in previous years, CrossFit reserves the right to invite up to four individual wildcard athletes.
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