Explainer | What is the CrossFit Open? Prize money and a place at the Games on the line
- The virtual competition takes place annually and is the first chance for athletes to book their spots at the CrossFit Games
- There is money for each round winner and an overall prize, too
The CrossFit Open 2021 starts on March 11, but what is this massive competition that all your CrossFit friends are signed up for?
The Open is online – each week, for three weeks, CrossFit releases a workout. Participants then have seven days to complete the workout and upload their scores. Typically, around 300,000 people sign up to the Open.
In 2019, the number reached 358,646, but dropped off to 239,106 in 2020, with many gyms closed because of Covid-19. This year, the organisers have assured CrossFitters that the workouts be accessible and possible to do at home.
The metric of success depends on the workout and CrossFit is by its nature varied and unpredictable. The workout could be the fastest to complete a particular workout – like 10 rounds of 10 box jump burpees, 10 dumbbell snatches on each arm. Or, it could be the person who completes the most reps in a set amount of time – such as, the most rounds of 10 push press, 10 box jumps and 50 calorie rows in 10 minutes.
Participants can have as many attempts as they want to get their best score before uploading. If they want to compete at the top of the leaderboard, they will need either an in-person qualified judge during the workout or upload a video.
A place at the Games
The Open is the first step to qualifying for the CrossFit Games. The top 2 per cent of the Open finishers will advance to the quarter-finals, held during the week of April 5. The quarter-finals will also be online.
There will be 10 in-person semi-finals held worldwide between May 24 and the week of June 14. For those who fall just short at the semi-finals, there was be a “last chance” online qualifier during the week of June 28.
The Games will take place in person, from the week of July 26 in Madison, Wisconsin.
Prize money
Athletes have the chance to win up to US$21,063 in total. That is broken down as $2,021 per round win and $15,000 for the overall Open winner. Second place gets $10,000, third $7,500, fourth $6,000 and fifth $5,000, for both men and women.
