The CrossFit Games has sanctioned Team Opex for cheating, a charge that Team Opex disputes, arguing that it was given direct permission to use smaller plates that reduce the height of the barbell during the bar-facing ‘burpee’ workout. ‘Some top athletes chose to use smaller, metal plates in order to intentionally shorten the height of the jump on the bar-facing burpees in Open Workout 16.1’, read a 29 February statement from the CrossFit Games, which contained a link to to an Instagram video (below) posted by Dave Castro, organiser of the CrossFit Games. ‘Those who are found cheating in this way will receive a major penalty, and lose 15 percent of their reps on the workout. Athletes who are required to submit video must show that the proper equipment was used or else they will receive the same penalty.’

Some athletes from Team OPEX in the Southwest Region used metal plates, which shortens the height on the bar-facing burpees. From the CrossFit Games Rulebook “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 event movement can and will be disallowed. It is the responsibility of the athlete to notify their judge or CrossFit Inc. of any questionable movement before the workout.” In this case it means a Major Penalty and losing 15% of your reps for the workout. Those who we find evidence of cheating 16.1 in this way, will get the same penalty. @crossfitgames #crossfitgames

A video posted by @thedavecastro on Feb 29, 2016 at 7:22pm PST

The Instagram post confirmed that Team Opex had been sanctioned. ‘In this case it means a Major Penalty and losing 15% of your reps for the workout’, it read. ‘Those who we find evidence of cheating 16.1 in this way, will get the same penalty’.

The posting of the statement and the video prompted an angry reaction from Team Opex, which argued that it had been given direct permission to use the smaller plates in the Reebok Open Workout 16.1. ‘OPEX asked CrossFit® if it was ok to use smaller kilo plates instead of rubber plates…we were told that we could in fact use them’, read a statement posted by Team Opex. ‘We were shocked when the posts began coming out because we had asked the South Regional Director point blank “Can we use the small kilo plates on the bar instead of the rubber plates?” The Director’s response back to that question was “Yes as long as the weight is g2g.” That is a direct YES to the question of using smaller plates.’

Team Opex says it has been told by CrossFit that the team will be issued with the stated penalty ‘even though they told us that we could use the smaller plates’. It argued that there would be no point in attempting to cheat, as its athletes have to post all of their videos because Team Opex is not a CrossFit affiliate. ‘We can’t hide anything because we have to post our videos each week’, argues its statement. ‘We had a team at Regionals last year. We watched one of the teams make the range of motion MUCH shorter on GHD sit ups. They weren’t docked points or disqualified. I do not know if they asked their judge or not but this sure seems similar to me. We have seen numerous examples of smaller wall balls, shorter range of motion with hand placement on the handstand push-ups, and we have also seen examples of people using smaller metal plates in previous Open workouts on film. If they misunderstood our question about the plates they could have removed the posts and mentioned that there was a misunderstanding. They did not.’

The rules

The CrossFit Games statement accuses Team Opex athletes of using ‘uncommon movements’ during their competitive workouts during the 2016 Reebok CrossFit Open. The sanctions arise from videos submitted by team Opex competitors where the athletes used small metal plates (as opposed to standard 9.5 inch radius rubberised ‘bumper’ plates) to reduce the height of the barbell that athletes must jump over during the bar-facing burpees portion of the Open’s 16.1 workout (video below).

Athletes and teams competing in the CrossFit Open film videos of the five workouts for the five-week competition, and upload the videos to the CrossFit Games website for verification and validation. Athletes have a four-day window to submit final scores to the CrossFit Open leaderboard for each of the five workouts. Athletes can re-test open workouts as many times as they need within that window.

CrossFit state that the use of smaller plates to reduce height clearances violated the ‘uncommon movement’ clause in the CrossFit Games Rulebook. That clause states that, ‘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 event movement can and will be disallowed’.

Sanction

In the release, CrossFit HQ stated that those caught using small diameter plates during the 16.1 workout would be taking part in an ‘uncommon movement’.  Therefore, the use of the small-diameter plates would result in a ‘major penalty’ whereby final scores for offending workouts would be reduced by 15%. Major penalties arise when ‘Over the course of the [workout], the athlete demonstrates 5 or more “no-reps”’.

Because CrossFit considered the use of small-diameter metal plates improper, each burpee over the barbell in the offending athlete’s workout submission would be considered a ‘no rep’. This triggers a major penalty, as there are eight burpees per round of the 20-minute workout. It is also important to note that the ‘uncommon movement’ announcement occurred after the window for athletes to submit scores for 16.1 workouts closed, making it impossible for infringing athletes to resubmit their workout with the appropriately sized weighted plates.

Movement standards

The standards video (see above), and the workout description do not mention a prescribed barbell height for the burpee portion of the workout. Also, in the description for the required equipment, the workout only requires ‘plates to load to the appropriate weight for your division’. It does not discuss size, or the clearance height of the barbell. In contrast, previous years’ open workouts had included a requirement for a 9.5” target or barbell height to jump over for the same movement.

Appeals

The CrossFit Games Rulebook does allow athletes to appeal scoring discrepancies or questions about the judging or scoring of submitted videos by emailing [email protected]. However, Team Opex’s statement indicates that it thought it had permission to use the smaller plates and had been in contact with CrossFit representatives throughout the process.

The Rulebook itself does not prescribe any procedure outside of emailing the support address, and does not specify who would make decisions regarding appeals. If those deciding appeals are the same people who issued the initial decisions, then there is no real recourse for a challenge of the sanction to a neutral decision maker.

Should sanctioned competitors decide that CrossFit’s decision was improper, the only neutral decision maker available, then, would be State or Federal courts. Taking a dispute to court would take time and resources. Considering the Open only lasts five weeks and CrossFit is still a niche sport, a lawsuit to challenge the decision is most likely not worth the expense.

Uncertainty in application

The problem faced by CrossFit HQ and Team Opex is one of uncertainty around application of the rules. According to Team Opex, the CrossFit South Regional Director gave it direct permission to use the smaller plates, as he did not believe different sized plates violated the movement standards. CrossFit HQ is adamant that height of the bar was essential to the movement. However, the rules are clear that if there are questions about the movement standards, that participants should address CrossFit HQ, not Regional Directors.

However, it is a fair point to argue that CrossFit cannot enforce a bar height limit when it failed to include it in its standards video or workout description, as explained above. This argument becomes more pertinent when it is considered that a height limit was included in previous CrossFit Open workouts where they employed the same burpee-over-the-bar movement.

Also, just as it is a competitor’s responsibility to address the proper authority (CrossFit HQ) for clarifications on movement standards, it is also the responsibility of CrossFit HQ to train their subordinates (such as Regional Directors) to direct those questions to the proper authority.

Conclusion

As stated above, previous iterations of the CrossFit Open standards had prescribed the minimum height of the bar for the same movement. Also, it appears that CrossFit HQ has allowed modifications to other movements when the standard had not addressed the subject (for example, the use of smaller-diameter women’s bars for men in workouts). Therefore, from a reading of the rules in the context of the competition and its history, it is not clear whether the use of small plates actually constitutes ‘cheating’, as alleged in the CrossFit statement. This ambiguity and the ensuing controversy illustrates the need for specific and clear rules drafted at the outset of sporting competition.

All competitors will formulate strategies to optimise results within the rules of the competition. That is an essential part of sporting competition. Unclear rules create real questions as to what constitutes cheating and unfair advantages, and what constitutes valid sporting strategy. This lack of clarity creates a serious problem for protecting and promoting integrity in sporting competition, as it creates difficulties in establishing and enforcing the proper standards that competitors must follow.