The first CrossFit-USAW Open is a hit with Oly lifters and CrossFitters alike. Mike Warkentin reports.
On Day 3 of the CrossFit-USAW Open in Colorado Springs, Coach Greg Glassman was standing in the back looking out over the indoor tennis courts at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort.
On his right, a crowd of CrossFitters in singlets were warming up on Oly platforms. On his left, a pack of bare-chested men were attacking a CrossFit triplet featuring squat cleans, pull-ups and double-unders.
“This is a sport that’s in trouble, and it doesn’t deserve to die,” Glassman said, gesturing to the lifting platforms. “We’re in the heart of a renaissance in weightlifting, and I’m really proud of that.”
He continued: “There’s another thing going on here that’s significant, and that is talking the purity of the weightlifting events and infusing it with a decidedly CrossFit component. So here we have a USA Weightlifting event, but what are the kids doing? They’re doing CrossFit out here.”