10 CrossFit stories that shaped the news in 2021, from the Fraser v Froning spat to the Games winners
- Here are the most viewed stories about CrossFit this year, including a bizarre discussion on spitting
- All the usual names, like Mat Fraser and Tia-Claire Toomey, all feature in this years most read stories
CrossFit continues to grow in popularity, and this is reflected in the stories you love to read. Here is a collection of the top stories from 2021 in terms of most views.
Two legends of CrossFit chewed that fat on podcast “JOSH MAT SEVAN”. In a time when Covid-19 was on everyone’s mind, spitting in gyms caught the CrossFit community’s attention.
Fraser was on top of his game. No one was close to him as he romped to his fifth Games title, so it came out of the blue when he announced he was hanging up his boots and calling it a day on his CrossFit career. He has since started a popular YouTube channel that shows some of the tricks and methods that helped his illustrious career.
Weightlifting is such a key component of CrossFit it is no wonder so many CrossFit fans took interest in a weightlifting dispute. The feud between Hall and Bjornsson hit the headlines again when the latter set the dead lift world record, formerly held by Hall. Then Hall called him a liar on his social media channels, showing new footage of an old competition. The fall out rumbles on.
One place above Hall and Bjornsson’s petty weightlifting feud, we have a geopolitical feud that shapes foreign policy the world over. Mainland China continues to pressure Taiwan, hoping to reunify itself with the island nation. As the geopolitical temperatures rose in 2021, a top CrossFitter in Taiwan voiced his and his compatriots’ displeasure at having to fly China’s flag instead of Taiwan’s.
Sigmundsdottir is a crowd favourite. The CrossFit community is willing her to fulfil her potential, but she cannot catch a break from injury. Their sympathy is shown by how many read this opinion piece.
The CrossFit Games is the big dance. When Toomey made history with her fifth straight title, Medeiros announced himself on the scene as the successor to the great Fraser. The Games is always the centrepiece of the CrossFit calendar, so it would be strange if this story was not in the top 10.
Ricky Garard was banned from CrossFit for using performance enhancing substances. Fraser said that Garard has claimed to be covering-up for Fraser as well. “He literally told me, ‘I know you’re doping. Don’t worry, I won’t tell.’ And I was like, ‘What are you talking about? No.’ And he was like, ‘I know you are’,” Fraser said on the “JOSH MAT SEVAN” podcast and it made headlines.
More podcast gossip. Fraser said Froning was not speaking to him. But according to Froning, this story is a non-story. He said they were not close, but not for any particular reason.
Fraser is one of the biggest names in the sport and Joe Rogan hosts one of the biggest podcasts on the planet. When the two met, it was sure to stir a lot of interest in the community. Sure enough, it has made number two on our list of most read articles.
The origins of the Fraser Froning spat, or non-spat as Froning said. Fraser said on The Darren Woodson Show, another podcast, that Fraser had “excommunicated” CrossFitters. Fraser had moved to the same area as Froning, but claimed to be the latest person to be shunned and not embraced.
