On Tuesday, August 20, the Professional Fitness Athletes’ Association (PFAA) contacted CrossFit LLC to demand that the Director of Sport, Dave Castro, “be removed from his position in [CrossFit’s] Sport Team.” 

Before that happened, we had the chance to sit down with PFAA President Brent Fikowski and Chief Operating Officer Grace Paulus for an hour to learn more about what went into making their demand and gain other insights about the direction the PFAA feels CrossFit needs to take. Here are our five takeaways.

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1. Why Aim to Remove Dave Castro Only From the Sport Team?

After “numerous conversations,” the PFAA was very careful in its demand, asking that CrossFit remove Castro from its “Sport Team” rather than demanding a full resignation from the company.

“We’re representing athletes, right, so we’re representing athletes and their needs in the context of sport. So, we’re asking for the removal of Dave Castro from the Sport Team. If CrossFit feels it’s appropriate for him to [continue to] play a role with affiliates and training, that’s their decision,” Fikowski said.

2. Athletes’ Response: “This Isn’t it, Right?”

The PFAA hosted calls on August 19 and August 20 with members, including athletes, coaches, and agents, to inform them of the plan. 

Thirty-five people attended the first call, and 54 were on the second. While athletes were receptive, Paulus also said that a common sentiment was, “This isn’t it, right?”

Paulus said that the PFAA then “made sure that it was painfully clear” that these are three initial steps. She added that the point of these first three demands is to “get a signal from CrossFit Inc. [that they’re] listening and they’re very willing to collaborate with athletes that make up the sport moving forward. We need to see that sign.”

Fikowski also said he doesn’t expect unanimous agreement.

“Some may disagree publicly and privately,” he said. “However, there’s strength in all of us hopefully sticking together in a really strong unified group, because in the course of a year, we might have 20 or 30 things we’re pushing for. You might disagree with three of them. But [a cohesive group] is going to be really important to have.”

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3. CrossFit Has Been Unwilling to Collaborate for Years

Last week, Fikowski posted on Instagram, calling CrossFit out on its “pattern of behavior” when it comes to failing to prioritize athletes’ safety. He pointed to numerous occasions in the past where he felt CrossFit failed the athletes.

During our call on Tuesday, he provided the Morning Chalk Up with examples of when CrossFit showed complete disinterest in listening to athletes and, ultimately, complete disrespect of the athletes’ concerns and feedback.

Fikowski said: “In 2020, I was frustrated by a lack of consistency in approved attire allowed at competitions like knee sleeves. I asked CrossFit, ‘Do you want me to draft some rules?’ They were laissez-faire [and] didn’t want to commit to using them. I thought, ‘Screw it, I’ll do it anyway.’”

So Fikowski found rules from other sports to use as precedent and created a guide that applied to CrossFit.

“To my surprise, they added most of my recommendations into the 2021 rulebook. Success,” he said.

At the 2021 CrossFit Games, however, they did not actually enforce the rules.

“So prior to the 2022 Games, I emailed a PDF that could be printed, showing the main areas to look out for,” Fikowski said. “It could be placed in the warm-up area, and when we receive our ankle chip timers, an athlete control member could quickly check athletes for approved equipment. That was not done in 2022. I tried again at the 2023 Games, and it wasn’t done.” 

He “didn’t bother” emailing them again before the 2024 Games.

Fikowski explained that if something as simple as that is difficult for CrossFit to take action on, then you start to lose trust.

The second example Fikowski gave happened on Thursday of the Games, in the hours after Ðukić. 

After multiple hours of discussions between athletes, coaches, Dave Castro, and the CrossFit Sport Team to determine how or if the 2024 CrossFit Games would continue, Fikowski approached Castro and said: “‘It is not reasonable to label this as a decision made in collaboration with athletes […] CrossFit needs to take ownership for this decision to continue this competition.’ And [he] looked right at me and agreed in front of the room full of attendees.”

The next day, on the opening of the CrossFit Games broadcast, Castro reported that in an email survey of the athlete field, 78 percent wanted to compete. After some further discussion with sideline reporter Mike Arsenault, Castro said: 

“I’ll finish here; all of this was decided with [the athletes’] input. Ultimately, we made decisions that a lot of people won’t be in 100 agreement with, especially because of […] their grieving and there’s a lot of people grieving. But I feel like the process and the steps we took in getting to this point was the best process we could do in the condensed timeline and the tragic moment to get the most voices, get their voices heard.”

Ultimately, these past experiences with CrossFit led the PFAA to feel that they had no other choice but to publicly announce their demands to CrossFit on Tuesday. 

4. Why Only Dave Castro?

When asked why they only asked for Castro’s removal rather than the entire CrossFit Sport Team or even CEO Don Faul’s resignation, Paulus explained that some people had raised this sentiment, as the culture of a group cannot be held by one person. 

But through their multiple discussions around the topic, the feeling was “culture is set from the top.” And Castro, the face of the Games in some ways, is clearly at the top.

However, she reiterated that this demand is “the first point amongst many.” If CrossFit responds the way they hope they do, it will send the PFAA “the most powerful signal” that CrossFit is listening and taking them seriously.

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5. About the Independent Safety Advisor

One of the PFAA’s other demands to CrossFit was that “CrossFit creates an independent safety team to liaise with the PFAA on an ongoing basis.”

Fikowski elaborated that this safety team needs an individual “with a high degree of knowledge and experience” regarding athlete safety, with veto control over the initial writing of tests and on-site final approval. (Fikowski believes these decisions will likely revolve around weather concerns, such as air temperature, air quality, slippery surfaces, or swim water cleanliness.)

Second, this health and safety officer needs to be independent of CrossFit and any brand partnerships so there’s no conflict of interest.

Fikowski reiterated that the athletes understand there’s a certain amount of risk inherently involved in being a CrossFit athlete.

“We’re not looking to do burpees in bubble wrap,” he said.

That being said, they’re also not willing to have a “full disengagement with the culture of safety.”

Featured image: Carlos Fleury

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