Friends and foes: Exploring how community and competition coexist within the CrossFit Games Open

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Date
2021-03
Authors
Peachment, Benjamin T.
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Abstract
Community is an integral part of CrossFit training and programming. Competition, another prominent component of CrossFit, is intensified for participants of the CrossFit Games Open. The objective of the study is to understand how community and competition coexist within the context of the CrossFit Games Open. This qualitative research project utilizes an ethnographic approach to combine participant observation and in-depth interviews to explore individual and group conceptions of community and competition in the CrossFit Games Open in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Two predominant themes were identified: (1) competing with yourself; and (2) community of competitors. These two themes each contain four subthemes, which are explored with reference to prevailing literature on competition and community. Rather than existing in opposition, community and competition appear to be reflected either internally or externally within participation in the CrossFit Games Open.
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Keywords
CrossFit, Community, Competition
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