If, like many around the world, you’ve sat down to watch the CrossFit Games, watching the suffering that seems permanently etched into the faces of the athletes competing in such a thing, it’s likely that a thought has crossed your mind during viewing – one in which you think, “I reckon I could do that.” While we’re prone to self-exaggeration and an often inflated sense of self belief, for some the dream to be a CrossFit Games athlete is worth spending hours in the gym training for. But while only some might leave the dream to be crowned champion, 2021 might just be your shot to prove what you’ve got.
CrossFit has announced the inception of the Virtual Games: an event series where amateur athletes around the world will have the opportunity to test their skills in a series of workouts that have been designed to mimic those that the elite athletes have to endure at the CrossFit Games.
Revealing the newly created 2021 Virtual Games, Dave Castro said, “We are excited to announce a new virtual competition that we’re gonna host this year during the CrossFit Games.” He added, “it’s going to be an event that you can do at home to follow along what the athletes are doing. Some of the events will closely mimic what the Games’ athletes are doing, so you’ll have a chance to play and compete and complete something very significant.”
The hope is that the Virtual Games take on a status of their own and that in years to come, the virtual competition becomes “something special” that people train hard for and rally behind as the one mega event they do in a season.
Still, if you’re someone who likes to be ahead of the pack, you can always prep for this year’s event. Castro has already announced that the first individual event of the Games will include a “long” swim and an “even longer” paddle board competition, while the second event will be sled pull, pig flip, muscle-ups, back to pig flip and finishing with sled pull. And seeing as the Virtual Games will mimic the real thing, those disciplines might be a good starting point with training.
Registration for the Virtual Games opens July 8, 2021 with the event scheduled to begin not he same day as the CrossFit Games on July 28. You can register for the Virtual Games here, where all registrants will receive an exclusive event t-shirt, with those who post scores for every workout receiving the designation “Virtually a Games athlete.”
