A week after Annie Thorisdottir shared she would not register for the 2025 CrossFit Open, Elisa Fuliano has announced that she also not be competing this year. Fuliano, a three-time CrossFit Games veteran, explained her decision on Instagram this morning.
Fuliano withdrew from the 2024 CrossFit Games following the death of Lazar Đukić during Event 1 on Thursday. In the months since it appears that she has been struggling with how to best move forward.
And now, just three weeks before the start of the season, Fuliano has made her decision to sit out of the 2025 CrossFit Open and the rest of the Games season. However, she will step onto the competition floor at both European In-Person Qualifying Events, Wodland Fest and the French Throwdown. However, in both cases, Fuliano will not be competing with the intention of qualifying for the CrossFit Games.
After speaking with Fuliano following her decision, she shared that she will not be competing in the World Fitness Project this season. She was not one of the 20 “Pro” athletes selected for the inaugural 2025 season and would have had to qualify via the online Challenger Qualifier.
Elisa Fuliano’s full statement:
“After a lot of thinking, I’ve come to the decision that I won’t be signing up for the Open this year.
For months, I’ve done nothing but reflect on what I truly want from this season. I’ve imagine countless scenarios, changed my mind a thousand times, and tried to weight [sic] every possible implication. Being a full-time athlete means analyzing every detail with the utmost care, considering countless aspects. But now, finally, I feel at peace and happy with my decision.
For several reasons, I’m not motivated to take part in this year’s CrossFit Season. After what happened at the last CrossFit Games, the wound is still fresh to move forward without looking backward. The safety measures that were put in place weren’t enough to prevent similar situations, proving that the issue wasn’t handled with the seriousness it deserved. The hardest part to accept is that no one has ever taken responsibility for what happened, the complete silence of the following months, hoping that people would forget what happened, and to speak about transparency, when, in facts [sic], the actions never reflected those words.
That being said, I’m excited to compete at Wodland Fest and the French Throwdown-two competitions I consider “European championships” and a great opportunity to go head-to-head with some of the best athletes in Europe and beyond. However, I’ll be doing so without the goal of qualifying for the CrossFit Games. My only focus will be stepping onto the competition floor to deliver my best performance, showcase the hard work I put in every day, and fully embrace the experience.
I LOVE being on the competition floor. I love the rush of nerves just before stepping out, I love the adrenaline surge when the countdown hits “3,2,1 GO!”, I love the way I can turn every bit of energy from the crowd into fuel. I love battling rep after rep, sprinting to the finish to win by fractions of a second, I love celebrating in front of the roaring crowd, my coach, my friends, and my family who came to watch.
Those emotions that no online competition could ever give me, and, this year, I’m choosing to experience all of that and to enjoy every second of it.
Since last September, I’ve been supported by a sports psychologist, and one of my goals was to go back to compete purely for the joy of it, without necessarily the pressure of qualification hanging over me. That’s exactly what I felt at [TYR] Wodapalooza: I had fun, I was fired up, I gave everything I had, and finishing in the top 5 was incredibly rewarding because it meant something different, yet just as meaningful.
I’ve learned that every decision will always have people who support you and people who criticize you. And that’s exactly the reason why I made this choice by listening only to myself – because, in the end, WE are the ones who have to live with our own decisions. No one else can live our life for us, nor truly understand what lies behind every choice we make.
This is the decision that makes me feel good. It makes me happy, light, and motivated, and it 100% aligns with my values. This will be a season full of opportunities, one where I can truly enjoy the sport and, among other things, work on my weaknesses to become an even better athlete and aim for bigger and bigger goals.
It’s not the path that defines the destination, but how much commitment and determination you put into walking it. I am, and always will be, ready to give my all for what I believe in – just as I always have. And that will never change. You’ll see me out there, one the competition floor, smiling and doing what I love.”
