This week is the start of the 2021 CrossFit Games, and I couldn’t be more excited. This past year, through the pandemic, definitely left a void in the Sport of Fitness. CrossFit did their best to keep the Games going, but it just wasn’t the same experiencing it in the bubble. I also love the new format of the CrossFit Games and I feel a resurgence amongst the community towards this yearly event. It is almost a breath of fresh air as the teams have been brought back to the affiliate, and the Sectionals are flying under the CrossFit banner once again.

This week is filled with some amazing highs and unfortunately a low for Conquer.

The highs lie within our age group qualifier athletes that are competing at the Games. Annie Sakomoto, Ron Ortiz, Jeremiah Head, Ben Kelly, Colette Cowan, Marshall Delk, and Kaiden Hogan are all competing and fighting for a podium spot. All these amazing athletes have busted their butts all year and overcome their own roadblocks to earn the title of “CrossFit Games Qualifiers.” Annie, Ron, and Ben are all going back to the Games, while Jeremiah, Marshall, Colette, and Kaiden are getting there for the first time. These athletes are prepared and ready to attack it this week and we can’t wait to see what they do.

For our team, team Move Fast Lift Heavy, unfortunately one of the athletes was taking a banned substance (DHEA). For those of you who know, there is no guiding research out there that proves this to be a performance enhancement drug, yet the rules are the rules and it is a banned substance. I take full responsibility around this for my lack of education to the athletes. In hindsight, I should have pulled out the book and gone banned substance by banned substance with each person to ensure we were crossing our T’s and dotting our I’s. This is a tough lesson to learn, and a lesson at the expense of other people, which is what makes it burn harder for me. This team will bounce back next year and be just as ready to crush their road to the games.

The field for the CrossFit Games this year is wide open for the males. With Mat Fraser retiring, the crown is up for the taking. This adds a whole other element of excitement for those watching! I still believe that Tia is going to run away with this on the female side, but I am still pumped to watch her dominance!

This year’s CrossFit Games is a breath of fresh air, and we are here for it! We are excited to see where this year’s Games takes us!

LFG!

-Coach Jay