Opinion | CrossFit: Rogue Invitational kicks off this weekend with star power amid uncertain future for sport

Controversies aside, the Rogue Invitational, an online competition streamed on YouTube, features a who’s who of CrossFit stars

Noah Ohlsen, Tia-Clair Toomey, Kristin Holte and Katrin Davidsdottir will all be competing this weekend in the first CrossFit competition of the Dave Castro era

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Who are you a fan of this weekend at Rogue? Photo: CrossFit Games

Published: 8:00pm, 11 Jun 2020Updated: 9:50am, 12 Jun 2020

In many parts of the world people are returning to some sort of normalcy and for the sport of CrossFit that’s happening in the form of the Rogue Invitational this weekend.

CrossFit has a chance to write a fresh chapter, hosting its first competition after Greg Glassman stepped down from CrossFit Inc. amid a swirl of controversy, and has been replaced by Dave Castro, the director of the CrossFit Games.

On June 13-14, 18 men and 18 women will compete in the first CrossFit competition since the global lockdown, only as an online competition, although it will be run out of Columbus, Ohio. In April we explained why this is such a critical event for the sport and now we look at who’s competing, what to expect and the major storylines leading into the competition.

The field of marquee athletes is staggering. On the men’s side we have Noah Ohlsen, Bjorgvin Karl Gudmundsson, Patrick Vellner and Chandler Smith, and for the women we have Tia-Clair Toomey, Kristin Holte, Jamie Simmonds, Sara Sigmundsdottir and Kari Pearce.

The big question is how Rogue will structure the competition. Will the results be different from what we’re used to seeing from these athletes in the perennial online competitions they compete in?

Can Noah Ohlsen upset Mat Fraser? Photo: Michael Valentin

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