Is it Really Cheating?
Earlier today, it was brought to my attention through the CrossFit games website that some affiliates had used smaller plates for the Open workout 16.1, and they would be penalised 15% of their reps. You can find the official announcement here.
I saw the announcement but hadn't looked any further into it until a friend of mine posted a link to a blog from OPEX Fit, a non-affiliate gym. In that blog (found here) they discuss the problem from their end. I found their blog to be interesting for several reasons, but I will get to that.
I started by reading the OPEX blog. OPEX is a non-affiliate gym. What that means is they are not affiliated with CrossFit. For the athletes from this gym to participate in the Open, they would need to submit video submissions. Which is what lead to the post from CrossFit about the penalty? In this blog, they discuss the fact that they asked the South Regional Director about using the smaller plates. They did not, however, verify what these smaller plates look like with the regional director.
Initially, I thought, this should be deemed as okay because the regional director approved it. But as I looked further into it, you can clearly see some problems with their judgement on this particular workout. Here is a link to a video submission, posted by Dave Castro on Instagram. And here is a link to the directions for the standards from the CrossFit website. I strongly suggest you watch the video and review the link for the standards before reading on or this won't make sense.
Now that you have reviewed that, I am curious, what is your initial reaction? Mine was shocked. OPEX states in their blog they have had over 50 athletes attend the games. I find their participation in the games entirely questionable based on this information.
Next let's take a look at what the rulebook for CrossFit says. "Any movement deemed uncommon, out of the ordinary or used to amend, shorten or change the accepted movement standard or range of motion including line of action of any action of any movement can and will be disallowed."
If you review the video, it CLEARLY shortens's the height they have to jump. It is a blatant disregard for the movement. On one side, bar height was not stated. Which could result in a deviation. Yes, they asked the regional director about using smaller plates but is their interpretation of motion, and the use of smaller plates the spirit of CrossFit? To me, it is certainly not.
The comments on their blog tell it all. Why not just use the regular plates? While I understand the concept of the Open is to allow someone to do these workouts in their garage, this choice was made by a gym who has had people go to the games before. Why? It looks like they were trying to gain an unfair advantage.
Asking "can we use smaller kilo plates" and asking "can we use 2.5-kilo change plates is not the same question. Depending on which of the above questions was asked, there are two answers. Asking a potentially vague question and getting an answer does not equate to approval in my opinion.
I don't care that they used plates in kilograms, what I care about it that they used a combination of plates a fraction of the width used by literally every other competitor. It's an advantage unrelated to fitness or strength.
As a CrossFit athlete, I am aware that there have been issues with movement standards in the past and I do not deny there have been variations. However, I have to side with CrossFit on this one. It's difficult to argue this is not "uncommon, out of the ordinary or used to amend, shorten or change the accepted movement standard."
I saw the announcement but hadn't looked any further into it until a friend of mine posted a link to a blog from OPEX Fit, a non-affiliate gym. In that blog (found here) they discuss the problem from their end. I found their blog to be interesting for several reasons, but I will get to that.
I started by reading the OPEX blog. OPEX is a non-affiliate gym. What that means is they are not affiliated with CrossFit. For the athletes from this gym to participate in the Open, they would need to submit video submissions. Which is what lead to the post from CrossFit about the penalty? In this blog, they discuss the fact that they asked the South Regional Director about using the smaller plates. They did not, however, verify what these smaller plates look like with the regional director.
Initially, I thought, this should be deemed as okay because the regional director approved it. But as I looked further into it, you can clearly see some problems with their judgement on this particular workout. Here is a link to a video submission, posted by Dave Castro on Instagram. And here is a link to the directions for the standards from the CrossFit website. I strongly suggest you watch the video and review the link for the standards before reading on or this won't make sense.
Now that you have reviewed that, I am curious, what is your initial reaction? Mine was shocked. OPEX states in their blog they have had over 50 athletes attend the games. I find their participation in the games entirely questionable based on this information.
Next let's take a look at what the rulebook for CrossFit says. "Any movement deemed uncommon, out of the ordinary or used to amend, shorten or change the accepted movement standard or range of motion including line of action of any action of any movement can and will be disallowed."
If you review the video, it CLEARLY shortens's the height they have to jump. It is a blatant disregard for the movement. On one side, bar height was not stated. Which could result in a deviation. Yes, they asked the regional director about using smaller plates but is their interpretation of motion, and the use of smaller plates the spirit of CrossFit? To me, it is certainly not.
The comments on their blog tell it all. Why not just use the regular plates? While I understand the concept of the Open is to allow someone to do these workouts in their garage, this choice was made by a gym who has had people go to the games before. Why? It looks like they were trying to gain an unfair advantage.
Asking "can we use smaller kilo plates" and asking "can we use 2.5-kilo change plates is not the same question. Depending on which of the above questions was asked, there are two answers. Asking a potentially vague question and getting an answer does not equate to approval in my opinion.
I don't care that they used plates in kilograms, what I care about it that they used a combination of plates a fraction of the width used by literally every other competitor. It's an advantage unrelated to fitness or strength.
As a CrossFit athlete, I am aware that there have been issues with movement standards in the past and I do not deny there have been variations. However, I have to side with CrossFit on this one. It's difficult to argue this is not "uncommon, out of the ordinary or used to amend, shorten or change the accepted movement standard."
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