Back in November, Chandler Smith made a post on Instagram with the caption, “Not stopping, just turning. Good run.” While cryptic, many interpreted the post to imply that the CrossFit Games veteran would no longer compete in the CrossFit Games season.
This afternoon those assumptions proved correct. In a series of text-based posts, Smith officially announced that he will not sign up for the 2025 CrossFit Open or compete in the Games season. Smith had registered for the CrossFit Open ten consecutive years prior to sitting out the 2025 season.
While Smith’s post, which you can read below, includes a long description explaining his thoughts behind sitting this year out, his caption sums it up such that “the Games enterprise as it’s currently built out isn’t worth supporting this year.”
Smith’s full statement:
“What’s the point in having a voice if it gets stuck inside your throat?
Today, I’m using my voice and following it up with action: I will not be competing in the 2025 CrossFit Games season.
To be clear, this is not because I don’t respect the sport, the methodology, or the community. Rather, it’s because I don’t think the brand as it’s currently established has done enough to make me believe that it is serious about doing things differently in regards to giving athlete concerns about safety, structure, and fairness the ability to affect what happens on the floor. Because of that, I don’t think it makes sense for me personally to do the Open.
The truth is that not everything has a tidy, one sentence explanation. Nowhere is that more true for me that with what I’ve experienced as a CrossFit athlete. CrossFit has been a huge force for good in my life and in the lives of millions across the world. Many of us have experienced extreme community and support through our time in this space. However, many have also experienced equally strong rejection and disillusionment, especially in the wake of the brand’s response to the death of Lazar Dukic. I’m extremely thankful for what I’ve been given – but gratitude and blind loyalty are not the same thing.
What CrossFit built has permanently changed fitness for the better, full stop. That said, I believe they’ve also made some pretty big missteps. Some of these perceived problems are unique to my personal relationship with these groups; some are athlete-specific; and others are more related to the community as a whole. I’ve consistently remained hopeful that my small influence could help bring about some of the changes I’d hoped to see in the space, but at this point there’s too much I’ve experienced, seen, and heard that tells me that the space maybe doesn’t value its athletes as much as we value it.
I’ve always desired to use competition as a vehicle for progress and growth for me and the community at large. To some, that’s made me seem like an emotional reactionary. However, I feel that my logic has always been consistent, because I’ve always had an internal “why” that was bigger than any external response could be. As a competitor, my desire for growth has always looked like treating my work as a tool to provide for my family. However, as an athlete, I’ve always aimed to use any influence I have to try to elevate both the sport of fitness and the science of training.
CrossFit has given me, and the other athletes, opportunities that I couldn’t have dreamed of back in 2010 when I watched Sanctionals [Sectionals] online and started doing Mainsite programming in my basement. I truly love the work, lessons, and people I’ve met along the way and I’ve always viewed my decision to compete as a way to give back to those groups. The best way, I believe, to support this year is by using my absence as a vote towards challenging the CrossFit community to follow through on the methodology’s stated focus towards continuous improvement.
This year Jessi and I will primarily compete and support the World Fitness Project and Hyrox spaces with their missions in the fitness world, but as per usual we’ll likely end up competing a bunch since that’s kind of the point of training to get really fit. If the last ten years of the Open taught me anything, it was to believe that competition brings out the best in anyone. With that said, I truly hope the decisions of myself and others inside and outside of the CrossFit ecosystem contribute to better opportunities for both CrossFitters and the rest of the fitness space worldwide.
I agree with the sentiments of the PFAA and will be present to support those who choose to support the community through their participation in the Games season. The open [sic] is awesome, it gets people to go hard and it connects gyms around the world. If you want, sign up, try hard, crush it. Some of my best friends will be part of the season, and I wouldn’t be a pal worth having if I couldn’t get behind cheering them on. If you’re a CrossFitter who supported me because I was a Games athlete, know that I’m still cheering for you, and I hope you can do the same for me.”
Chandler Smith competed at the CrossFit Games five times during his career – four as an individual and this past season on a team. His best finish was 6th place in 2020 followed by a 7th place finish in 2023.
As Smith mentioned, he is one of the 20 Pro Card athletes who will compete in the 2025 World Fitness Project.
