Some CrossFit-branded gyms in Greater Victoria are cutting ties with the U.S. fitness brand after the company’s founder made insensitive comments about Black Lives Matter protests.
Kelsey Goodwin and Adam Davidson, who own CrossFit LoLo on Store Street downtown, said Thursday they will “de-affiliate” with the company immediately.
Several other affiliated gyms across the region are expected to follow the dozens who have quit the CrossFit brand in B.C., Canada and the U.S. after founder Greg Glassman’s comments last weekend.
On Saturday, the research firm Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation tweeted: “Racism is a public health issue.”
Glassman replied on his Twitter feed: “It’s Floyd-19,” a reference both to COVID-19 and George Floyd, who died two weeks ago after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed a knee on his neck for several minutes. The incident, captured on video, sparked worldwide protests. Four Minneapolis officers were arrested in his death.
Glassman has apologized for his tweet, calling it a “mistake,” but the fallout has been swift.
“It goes completely against what we stand for,” said Goodwin. “Our gym, LoLo, means Love on, Lift on and we don’t feel that aligns with how Glassman is representing CrossFit.”
It’s especially painful for Davidson, 28, who won the International Brazil CrossFit championship in March and was one of only 30 men worldwide to qualify for the CrossFit Games to compete for the “Fittest on Earth” title.
Davidson was the last athlete in the world to qualify to compete in the elite sporting event before sanctioned events worldwide were cancelled due to COVID-19. Upon winning the Brazil championship, he had to quarantine while his own gym was shut down for two and a half months.
“The high to low was like a candle flame being blown out — and now this situation with CrossFit as a whole … it’s just one thing after another.”
But Davidson said it’s important to “stand with people who want to make a change.”
“I’m a human first,” he said. “It’s important to value human rights. It’s sad to see a company get hit so hard for the comments of one man. [But] it was extremely inappropriate and insensitive.”
Davidson was scheduled to take part in a video conference with fellow CrossFit champions on Thursday afternoon to determine the future of the competition, including discussions about competing under a new banner.
Greater Victoria has at least seven CrossFit-affiliated gyms. Calls to others were not immediately returned. One business had its phone line disconnected.
Goodwin said her gym received a message on Thursday from someone who wanted to join, “but only if we de-affiliate with the CrossFit brand.”
She said several other local gyms are expected to follow, with some taking the CrossFit brand off social-media feeds. Many are preparing formal announcements to members.
CrossFit, an exercise brand that incorporates movements such as high-intensity interval training, Olympic weightlifting and power lifting, was founded by Glassman and Lauren Jenai in 2000 in Santa Cruz, California. There are 13,000 affiliated gyms worldwide.
CrossFit is not a franchise, and while gym coaches must be CrossFit certified, individual gyms are free to develop their own training programs.
Gyms pay an annual affiliate fee on a sliding scale depending on the year a gym signed up. The affiliation fee for Canadian gyms was $4,068 this year ($4,455 in Quebec).
Affiliation allows use of the CrossFit name and whatever advertising benefits that come from that, plus inclusion in the CrossFit Open, a competition for gyms worldwide that is the first qualifier for the global CrossFit Games.
Jason Darr, who owns Vancouver gym CrossFit 604 with his wife, Riley, said the affiliation fee virtually paid for itself in drop-in fees from out-of-town visitors. “We’ve built a very successful business using that name by having the freedom to run our own business the way we run it,” Darr said.
What prompted the Darrs to de-affiliate, he said, was CrossFit’s “absolutely horrid cringeworthy, public-facing identity.”
Darr noted that one of the prizes for the 2016 CrossFit Games was a Glock handgun. The prize sparked outrage from participants and prompted title sponsor Reebok to say in a statement: “We, unfortunately, do not have input regarding other partners or promotions.”
In 2018, CrossFit chief knowledge officer Russell Berger was fired after he thanked an Indianapolis gym for “refusing to celebrate sin” when the gym cancelled a Pride Month workout.
On Monday, Reebok announced it was cutting ties with CrossFit after 10 years, saying in a statement it had been in negotiations for a new contract, but that “in light of recent events, we have made the decision to end our partnership with CrossFit HQ. We will fulfil our remaining contractual obligations in 2020.”
Glassman issued an apology, saying “I, CrossFit HQ, and the CrossFit community will not stand for racism. I made a mistake by the words I chose yesterday. My heart is deeply saddened by the pain it has caused. It was a mistake, not racist but a mistake.”
The apology wasn’t enough for Katya Campbell, manager of Power by You in Nelson.
“In a time where we desperately need brave, soul-searching leadership, CrossFit has been silent — and worse, offensive,” said Campbell. “Silence is no longer acceptable.
“We are a worldwide community of people that come together to improve our health, strengthen our bodies and minds, and we do this together for a reason. Together we’re stronger. In this important time in history, we need to stand together and be brave enough to call out systemic racism, moral ambiguity, and to look at our own value systems and see how we can make an impact that supports those who are marginalized, discriminated against and undervalued.”
