CrossFit Games 2020: Dave Castro ‘confident’ online competition will produce top five men and women

New format features 30 men and women competing via their home gyms around the world

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Dave Castro said he is confident the online competition will produce the best athletes to head to the final of the 2020 CrossFit Games in California in October. Photo: CrossFit

Published: 7:32am, 18 Sep 2020Updated: 10:49pm, 18 Sep 2020

CrossFit Games director Dave Castro has no hesitations that the events he has programmed will produce the best of the best, after fans and athletes deriding last year’s workouts for not testing a wide enough range of fitness.

Castro, speaking to CrossFit’s Niki Brazier in the pre-event show, said he went with “benchmark workouts with a twist” for the online part of the 2020 CrossFit Games.

“The top five fittest men and women will advance to the next stage,” said Castro. “I am confident … any weaknesses these athletes have will be exposed by these workouts.”

Castro’s workout designs came under fire last year. Critics said there was too much running and not enough classic CrossFit, which meant the athletes did not get a chance to test their overall fitness. As cuts thinned the field, pre-tournament favourites were removed from the competition before firing a shot.

Dave Castro is the director of the CrossFit Games. Photo: Handout

The online part of the 2020 competition is now under way, and features CrossFit Games staples like pull-ups, thrusters, one-rep max clean squats, dead lifts, rowing and overhead squats. Castro said he is hoping these seven events, which must be completed by the athletes within a specific time window, will also be an overall test of fitness.

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