After a lot of changes and several weeks of hype, the 2019 CrossFit Open is finally here! The Open has become an event that unifies everyone in the community, while inspiring a competition that is unlike anything else in fitness. It’s believed that an estimated 500,000 people around the world will train over the next five weeks to determine where they rank among the elite of the planet. 

How the Open Affects the Games

While there will be many athletes doing the Open just to see where they stack up in their own communities, keep in mind what’s on the line now. The qualifications for the Games changed in 2018. The Sanctionals were added to help determine who goes to Madison but the Open plays a big factor in who competes at the CrossFit Games. 

The individuals who win the Open in his or her own country will be declared the champion of his or her nation and will qualify for the Games. The top 20 overall finishers in the Open will also qualify. Remember that before, athletes would go to Regionals but that is no longer the case. Outside of those positions, there will be four at-large athletes selected by CrossFit, Inc. While they may not have to win the Open to get those spots, having impressive times and scores can be a factor so the athletes need to bring it every week.

How This Affects Sanctionals

There have already been four Sanctionals events that have been contested: The Dubai CrossFit Championships, Wodapalooza, Australian CrossFit Championships and Fittest in Cape Town. The Strength in Depth UK is taking place in London this weekend. If any of those winners earn a qualification through the Open, then the qualifying spot in the Sanctionals fall back to the second-place finisher. 

Let’s use the reigning Fittest Woman on Earth, Tia-Clair Toomey, as an example. She won Wodapalooza last month. If she were to compete in and win the Open, that qualification would be the one she takes. So the second-place finisher at WZA, Kari Pearce, would then take the WZA qualification. Patrick Vellner won the men’s spot at WZA. If he wins the Open in Canada, then his spot would go to Travis Mayer who finished second in Miami.

First WOD Announced – 19.1

The first workout for the Open was announced on Thursday, Feb. 21. It’s an “as many rounds as possible” (AMRAP) workout. 

15 Minutes AMRAP

19 Wall Balls

19 Calorie Row

Men – 20 pound (9 kg) ball

Women – 14 pound (6 kg) ball

This means you would perform 19 wall ball tosses immediately followed by rowing until you burn 19 calories. Once you complete both, that’s one round. You have 15 minutes to complete as many rounds as you can.

The weight of the balls are the recommended weights for the people who want to qualify for the Open. If you registered at Games.CrossFit.com, then you have until 5 p.m. PT on Monday, Feb. 25, to submit your score. You should also record your workout on video so you can submit it in case judges want to see it. If you haven’t registered yet but decide you want to, you can still do so but you have to be registered and submit your score before the deadline.

If you want to post about your performance or the workout on social media, the recommended hashtags are #19point1 and #InTheOpen.

While you’re at it, tag us @floelite and let us know how you did with 19.1.