Rich Froning condemns Greg Glassman’s George Floyd tweet as CrossFit Games athletes boycott competition
- CrossFit CEO Greg Glassman’s ‘Floyd-19’ tweet prompts Rich Froning to leave the sport, though he stops short of announcing his departure from the sport
Four-time winner of the CrossFit Games, Rich Froning, has said he can no longer follow a sport that preaches division, after a controversial tweet by the CrossFit CEO. Other high-profile athletes have boycotted the CrossFit Games until changes are made to the organisation’s management.
On Saturday, CEO Greg Glassman tweeted “Floyd-19” in reply to a post from the Institution for Health Metrics and Evaluation about the link between racism and public-health, adding that their model for lockdown had failed.
George Floyd was killed when a police officer knelt on his neck for nine minutes during an arrest on May 25. The death caused protests across the US against systemic racism, despite the Covid-19 lockdown and social distancing rules.
Froning took to Instagram to condemn the tweet. He said: “The comments this weekend only divide. At this time, in the world we live in right now, we don’t need comments or people to divide us even further, we need to come together. I feel like if I was continue to follow along with someone who was going to preach division, and not bring us together, I would be going against who I am as a person.”
Froning, an important figure in the world of CrossFit, stopped short of announcing his departure from the sport, but indicated he could sever his ties with the body. CrossFit gyms pay a fee to be affiliated with the brand, and Froning’s comments appear to indicate his influential gym, Mayhem, will end its affiliation.