BREAKING: CrossFit announces the season structure of the new games, dates for 2021

Image credit: CrossFit LLC

The CrossFit community received an early morning holiday gift, as CrossFit LLC announced a slate of details about the 2021 CrossFit Games season, including some new invitations to the season.

CrossFit Sports General Manager Dave Castro mocking the Tuesday night news via Instagram, and in Castro’s classic fashion, the post featured a cryptic image that left many wondering the details of the information and the impact it would have for the season.

One big thing: Among several new changes to the season, a new accreditation degree for the Games will be added in 2021. Signed on the “Quarterfinals,” this rating will be held online in the same way as the Open and it will be an additional competition stage after the Open. The change leaves it the first time in history that the CrossFit Games season will feature four distinct levels for individuals and teams.

• The Quarterfinal level covers about 10% of Open athletes, which means that a wider range of athletes around the world will have the opportunity to hold their season beyond the Open. For reference, regionally accredited athletes for team and individual competition accounted for approximately .3% of the total open enrollment in 2018.
• CrossFit CEO Eric Roza strained the idea on the Talking Elite Fitness podcast in November when he considered calling for the addition of a similar certification degree for future Age Group athletes.

What’s New:

• The Open begins March 11th to give gyms and communities time to work through local pervasive constraints to ensure more people have the opportunity to compete during the Open.
• New Semifinal Stage: A highly speculative departure from the original form of Sanctionals was confirmed by a new semifinal level in man that is effectively a hybrid between the Regionals and Sanctionals system, with 10 accreditation events taking place on six continents run by “CrossFit Partners, ” Former Sanctionals event organizers are thought to have been there.
• The Adaptive Division is officially here, and the news complements Roza ‘s statements about the region’ s introduction in the previous months.
• The Affiliate Cup is back: Linked teams return to the competition form, and teams compete at the Open, Quarterfinals, Semifinals, and CrossFit finals. There was no word on what would happen with the excellent team form of the previous two seasons.

• Last Chance Certificate: A new single opportunity for athletes who have narrowly missed out on the semifinal cut to compete online for a place at the Games. The last qualifier was previously used in 2009, when Tommy Hackenbruck won the 2nd place finisher at the Games, earning a place through the award to Aromas.
• The gift of fitness: CrossFit also announced for the first time that it will be selling “gift codes,” for Open registration that will allow members of the community to purchase registration for the 2021 Open as a gift to friends and family.

2021 CrossFit quarterly calendar

• January 7th – Open registration will begin.
• Week of March 8th – Open, Week 1.
• Week 15 March – Open, Week 2.
• Week 22 March – Open, Week 3.
• Week 5 April – Quarter-completion, respectively.
• Week 19 April – Quarter-end, Teams.
• Week 3 May – Masters / Teenage Warrant.
• Week of May 24th – Semifinals, Week 1.
• Week 31 May – Semifinals, Week 2.
• Week of June 7th – Semifinals, Week 3.
• Week 14 June – Semifinals, Week 4.
• Week 28 June – Last-Chance Warranty.
• Week 26 July – CrossFit Games Finals.

*Note Authors: CrossFit has clearly stated that online contingency plans are in place for all competition levels if personal scheduled contests are impossible due to ongoing restrictions.

It is worth noting: There was no mention of accreditation numbers for the semifinal level for individuals and teams, or the accreditation numbers for age group athletes at CrossFIt Games. Many had predicted that the Age Groups would see their proper numbers after a 50% reduction in 2020.