For more than 15 years, the Affiliate Cup at the CrossFit Games has been an ode to the heart of what makes the CrossFit community so special. 

It’s a love letter to the CrossFit community as affiliates from around the world put their best athletes forward to come together and push each other to new levels of fitness. 

This year, we felt that sentiment more than ever.

On the morning of Thursday, August 8, before the start of the team competition, the individual division faced a tragedy that would cause shockwaves through the CrossFit community. 

After individual athlete Lazar Đukić drowned during Event 1, the field of athletes, including the team division, became paralyzed as they worked through the grief of what they just experienced. 

The first team event was canceled, and fans and spectators were asked to leave. 

While it was unclear if the competition would continue, CrossFit HQ announced on Thursday night that it would proceed with the Games.

[Related: Athletes Withdraw From 2024 CrossFit Games Following Death of Lazar Đukić]

While two teams, CrossFit Walleye Orka and C23 CrossFit The Progrm Motion, chose to withdraw from the competition, the remaining teams found a number of ways to honor Đukić:

At the start of the team competition in heat one, CrossFit Butchers Lab Flaek remained at their starting mats for one minute after the call of “3, 2, 1…Go.”

In heat two, all other teams followed suit except for CrossFit Mayhem, whose team captain, Angelo Dicicco, chose not to observe the moment. Instead, Dicicco chose to compete “as fiercely as [Ðukić] did” on the floor.

Later in the weekend, the teams gathered once again after Event 6 for a moment of silence to honor Đukić’s memory.

While Đukić’s memory and incredible legacy remained at the forefront of everyone’s minds throughout the weekend, the team competition continued to showcase the work and dedication the athletes put into their sport. 

Here are the top stories from the weekend.

The Affiliate Cup Heads Overseas

For the first time since the start of the team competition, the Affiliate Cup will leave the United States and journey to Raw Iron CrossFit after Kara Saunders, Khan Porter, James Newbury, and Emily de Rooy became the first Australian affiliate and the first international affiliate to stand atop the podium.

Throughout the weekend, Raw Iron CrossFit Mayhem Thunder proved that experience and teamwork were the keys to victory.

The team only finished one event outside the top five and four of seven events in the top three.

While their celebration was modest out of respect for the sentiment of the weekend, there is no doubt that this was a deserved win for the four former individual Games athletes. It was extra poignant for Saunders, a 10-time individual Games athlete who announced her retirement on the floor following her team’s win.

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“It turns out, in order to be a winner, I needed my people; I needed my community around me,” she said, fighting back tears as she reflected on her more than 10-year journey to the top of the podium. “I wasn’t supposed to do it on my own.”

Raw Iron teammate James Newbury added, “This group has embodied what it means to be a team. To stand atop the podium at the CrossFit Games is a dream that I never even dreamed, to be honest.”

Raw Iron CrossFit Mayhem Thunder wasn’t the only team from down under that found themselves on the podium this year.

Last year, CrossFit Torian finished 30th at the Games. This year, they were back for redemption with a nearly identical roster (Jack Jeffrey replaced Brandon Swan).

“We came here to put our best foot forward,” Royce Dunn said after their Friday night event win.

“The record itself doesn’t really drive us,” he continued, alluding to the fact that prior to 2024, an Australian team had never finished inside the top six.

Seeing Double (or Triple) on the Leaderboard 

If you had to do a double-take after seeing Mayhem’s name three times in the top five on the leaderboard, you weren’t the only one.

After Rich Froning retired in 2022, Mayhem took a brief hiatus from dominating the leaderboard, with only one team, CrossFit Mayhem Independence, finishing in the top 10.

This year, Mayhem returned to dominate as five teams competed under the banner.

At the end of the weekend, three Mayhem teams finished in the top five, with two of them sitting on the podium, including Raw Iron CrossFit Mayhem Thunder, who took home the affiliate cup.

Mayhem wasn’t the only team with multiple banner teams. All four Kriger banner teams finished in the top 20, with CrossFit Oslo Kriger BLST taking home seventh overall. CrossFit Invictus also placed both of their teams inside the top 10 overall.

The Earthworm Returns

Saturday afternoon brought the return (from 2023) of the Rogue Earthworn.

The worm has been a staple in the team division at the CrossFit Games, appearing in some fashion every year since its introduction in 2013.

Though the actual worm has evolved over the years, the most recent iteration, the four-person worm, has been in every Affiliate Cup competition since 2018.

In 2023, the Earthworm put a new twist on the four-person worm.

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Each section of the Earthworm is handled separately by athletes as an individual section, making it harder for teammates to pick up the slack for another teammate in the weight category.

Two of the sections weigh 100 pounds each, and the other two weigh 125 pounds each. This brings the total to 450 pounds, which is 85 pounds heavier than the original worm.

Mexico’s First CrossFit Games Team 

For the first time in CrossFit Games history, Mexico sent a team to the affiliate cup.

Despite it being their rookie year for all but one team member, the team still managed to finish 14th overall.

This team also marked Paulina Haro’s return to the Games. Between 2018 and 2021, she competed three times in the teen division, earning herself a third-place finish in her final year.

The Big Picture 

Despite the somber circumstances surrounding the event, the 2024 Affiliate Cup was a true testament to the power of the CrossFit community. 

As the athletes in the team division rallied together to support each other through a time of immense grief and heartache, we saw the essence of what makes CrossFit so special: It’s a community that stands to lift each other up, whether in moments of tragedy or triumph. 

As we look back on the weekend’s competition, we see more than just strength in fitness. We see the strength of the unbreakable bonds formed both on and off the competition floor.

Final 2024 CrossFit Games Team Leaderboard

Featured image: @rawiron / Instagram

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