Breaking down the 2024 CrossFit Competition Rulebook

As CrossFit Games format continues to evolve, understanding the rules and regulations continues to be essential for athletes who participate at all levels. Here’s your cheat sheet for understanding the rules set by HQ for the 2024 season:

The Open

The Open is the first stage of the CrossFit Games. It is a three-week, online competition where athletes from around the world can compete to qualify for the next stages of the competition. The Open consists of three workouts that are released one week at a time. The athletes must complete these workouts and submit their scores online before the deadline.

For more information about The Open, look at our previous blog post that covers all the details.

The 2024 Open saw the introduction of a revamped scoring system designed to be easier to use and more self explanatory. The equipment requirements at Open level were also aimed at ease of access, such as the use of dumbbells which are typically found in every gym. And the floor plan for The Open was eliminated, aside from maintaining minimum distances between active competitors this made The Open 2024 much easier for gym owners to host.

One of the more significant changes to The Open in 2023 was in regards to the registration process. Athletes were asked to register their competitive region based on their country of citizenship. This has continued in 2024, and the competitive regions remain:

• North America East 
• North America West 
• Europe 
• Oceania 
• Asia 
• South America 
• Africa
  

The athlete will remain assigned to this region throughout the competition season should they qualify for Semifinals.

One exception is that athletes with dual or multiple citizenship may choose which country they would like to represent.

Athletes holding permanent residency in a different country than where they hold citizenship will still compete for the country where they hold citizenship.

Divisions

There are several different competitive divisions based on the birthdate and gender selected by the athlete during registration. The individual and team divisions go on to compete at the CrossFit Games in Fort Worth in Texas.

The divisions are as follows:

INDIVIDUALS:

• Men and Women

AGE-GROUP:

• Boys and Girls 14-15 
• Boys and Girls 16-17 
• Men and Women 35-39
• Men and Women 40-44
• Men and Women 45-49 
• Men and Women 50-54 
• Men and Women 55-59 
• Men and Women 60-64 
• Men and Women 65+

ADAPTIVE:

• Men and Women Upper Impairment 1 Point of Contact
• Men and Women Upper Impairment 2 Points of Contact
• Men and Women Lower Impairment Above Knee
• Men and Women Lower Impairment Below Knee
• Men and Women Lower Impairment Minor
• Men and Women Seated Without Hip Function
• Men and Women Seated With Hip Function
• Men and Women Seated Quadriplegic
• Men and Women Neuromuscular Major
• Men and Women Neuromuscular Moderate
• Men and Women Neuromuscular Minor
• Men and Women Standing Diagnosed
• Men and Women Visual Impairment
• Men and Women Short Stature
• Men and Women Intellectual

TEAM:

• Team

In addition to moving on to Quarterfinals, cash prizes will also be awarded to the top worldwide  individual men and women finishers at the end of The Open:

• First Place: $15,000
• Second Place: $10,000
• Third Place: $7,500 
• Fourth Place: $6,000 
• Fifth Place: $5,000

The Leaderboard

The leaderboard is the online platform where athletes can submit their scores and track their progress throughout the competition. The leaderboard is updated in real-time and allows athletes to see how they rank compared to other athletes in their division.

At the conclusion of the Open, athletes who  are ranked in the top 25% of the RX leaderboard in their region will qualify to compete in the Quarterfinal competition.

There are also scaled and foundations leaderboards, however there are no stages of competition following The Open. Athletes who are unable to perform an Open workout RX can do the scaled or foundations version of the test however a scaled test will be scored below all athletes who performed that test RX.

A foundations test will be scored below athletes who performed the test scaled.

Any score not submitted will receive a 0 and will be ranked below all athletes who have submitted a score.

Judging

In order for scores to be official on the leaderboard, the workout must be judged by an athlete that has passed the official Judges course, and then validated by an affiliate manager. Otherwise, workouts must be filmed and submitted to CrossFit HQ for online judging and validation.

Judges are responsible for enforcing movement and test standards, and for confirming the athlete’s score. Athletes will be asked to submit their judge’s name on the score submission page.

Scores must be submitted by 5 p.m. PT on the Monday following the workout announcement. Any score submission received after the deadline will not be accepted for any reason.

Affiliate managers have until Wednesday at 5 p.m. PT. to validate the submitted scores, otherwise it will be removed from the leaderboard. 

Teams Division

The Teams Division is a separate competition (known as the Affiliate Cup) within the CrossFit Games that consists of teams of two men and two women. The teams compete in a series of events to determine the Fittest team on Earth. The teams must qualify for the competition through the Open.

Any licensed CrossFit affiliate in good standing with CrossFit is eligible to register a team for the CrossFit Games team competition. Each team must include at least two men and two women who are validly registered for The Open.

Athletes wishing to compete as part of a team in the 2024 season must be added to their affiliate’s team by the team manager or join the team through their own Competition Dashboard after registering for the Open.

Each athlete will perform the Open workouts individually. Teams will advance to the Quarterfinals based on the top two male and top two female scores in each workout.

Quarterfinals

The Quarterfinals is the second stage of the CrossFit Games. It is a six-day, online competition that takes place after the Open.

The top 25% of athletes from each division and the top 25% of teams, will be eligible to move on from The Open to the Quarterfinals. These athletes will be sent an invitation to participate in the Quarterfinal stage and have until the first score submission deadline to register. Declined invitations will not be backfilled to the next ranked athlete.

The athletes must complete a series of 4 workouts and submit their scores online. 

During this stage, scores will be submitted similarly as in The Open however athletes will be asked for video proof even if you have a judge to certify your workouts.

Qualifying teams must finalize their roster and select 2-3 men and women should they advance to the next stage. Although athletes may choose to participate both as team or individual athletes, from this point on no changes can be made to the team roster.

Athletes can compete in any Quarterfinal that they qualify for meaning it’s possible to compete as an individual, on a team, and/or as a age group athlete.  

For more information about Quarterfinals, check out our page here.

Semifinals

The Semi-finals is the third stage of the CrossFit Games, and the final hurdle to qualify for The CrossFit Games. There will be 7 in-person, regional competitions that take place around the world over 3 consecutive weekends from May 17 – Jun 2, 2024. 

Following the Quarterfinals, the top 40 individual men and 40 individual women from each region will compete in person at the CrossFit Semi-finals. The top 30 teams from each region compete at the Semi-finals.

For age groups (masters and teens), the top 200 athletes from each age group will advance to the online Age-Group Semi-final to determine who will advance to the CrossFit Games. .

CrossFit has partnered with seven event organisers to host the 2024 CrossFit Games Semi-finals around the globe. All workouts in the Semi-finals will be programmed by CrossFit.

At the end of this stage, a minimum designated number of Games-qualifying spots will be awarded to each region with additional spots for the regions with a stronger field of competitors. 

The confirmed Games' spots for 2024 for each region are:

North America East: 11 men and 11 women
North America West: 9 men and 8 women
Europe: 10 men and 10 women
Oceania: 4 men and 4 women
South America: 3 men and 3 women
Asia: 2 men and 3 women
Africa: 1 man and 1 woman

More details about Semi-finals can be found here.

The CrossFit Games

The CrossFit Games is the final stage of competition and marks the end of the season. It is a 4-day, in-person event that will take place at Fort Worth in Texas from August 8 – 11. Forty men, forty women and thirty teams will compete in a series of tests to determine the fittest athletes and teams on earth. You will be able to follow the scores on the leader board here.

Athletes Competing in the 2024 CrossFit Games (Individual)

The following individual athletes have qualified for the 2024 CrossFit Games and will compete in Fort Worth, Texas:

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