Friday, July 16, 2010

The Games Begin


(Trailer from "Every Second Counts," a documentary about the 2009 CrossFit Games)

The fourth annual CrossFit Games start today! In previous years, the event was held in the boonies -- Aromas, California, population: 2,797. But this year, the CrossFit Games have gone big-time: The competitors for the title of "World's Fittest" will be competing at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California -- home of L.A.'s Major League Soccer franchises.

By just glancing at the Games' logos, you can tell that in the span of just a few short years, the Games have quickly grown from a quirky, simple, seat-of-your-pants affair to a HUGE, GLOSSY BEHEMOTH with more corporate sponsors than you can shake a stick at:

2007:


2008:


2009:


2010:


And just what are the Games? According to the official website:
The CrossFit Games are the ultimate test of fitness. It's a grueling three-day competition in which the world's fittest athletes compete in a variety of workouts. What are the workouts? Each year they change, and the details of them are not announced until a couple days before the event. This means that all year long, the athletes are training for a competition whose format is almost completely a mystery.
The 2010 Games will have five main competitions: Men's Individual, Women's Individual, Affiliate Cup Teams, Men's Masters and Women's Masters (over 50). The winners of the individual competitions will each receive $25,000 cash, sponsored by PROGENEX. There will also be many cash and material prizes for the other winners and top performers.
This year, 50 men and 50 women will compete -- all of whom had to qualify to enter, either by being a past champion, a top finisher in 2009, or by kicking ass in Sectional Qualifiers and then kicking more ass in Regional Qualifiers held around the world.

If you're curious about what the best CrossFitters in the world can do, you can check out the live feed of the Games here (where archived footage will also be posted).