CROSSFIT Guam

The chances of the Fittest Athlete on Earth living on Guam dropped nearly 80 percent this year

Changes to the CrossFit Games format in 2015 will make it tougher for Guam's fitness athletes to advance to the regional round and beyond, but that will just force the local competitors to work harder, says CrossFit Gof Metgot coach Shane Concepcion.

"I approve it. CrossFit's goal is to find the fittest person in the world and statistically Asia hasn't been up to par," Concepcion said. "When the announcement was first made (in December), a lot of us were upset because we had high goals of sending a team to regionals. It's still doable, but it's going to be a lot tougher."

Register today

Registration for the Open, the first round of Games qualification, starts today and Open competition begins with 15.1 on Feb. 26. The 15.1 is the first of five Open workouts. The numbers reflect the year and the workout number, i.e., others this year will be 15.2, 15.3, 15.4 and 15.5.

Top finishers in the Open advance to regionals, and top finishers there qualify to advance to the CrossFit Games, which crowns the Fittest Man and Fittest Woman on Earth.

In past years, the Open's top 48 men, top 48 women and top 30 teams were invited to one of 17 regional competitions.

Biggest change

There will be just eight regionals this year, with Asia and Australia combining for the Pacific Regional. The bigger change, at least for Guam athletes, is that now only the top 10 Open finishers in Asia in individual and team competitions will qualify for regionals.

Guam has sent athletes to regionals in each of the past two years.

Nicole Tainatongo finished first in the Open in 2013 and won the Asia Regional to advance to the Games. Eric Sweet finished ninth in the Open in 2014 and 17th at the Asia Regional.

Jocelyn Lamas, the Marianas Trench Throwdown champion, also qualified for regionals in 2013 by finishing 37th in the Open. That finish in 2015 would not be high enough to advance.

Had the new rules been in place in 2013, Tainatongo would not have advanced beyond regionals.

Retroactive look

An article on games.crossfit.com breaks down how the changes would have impacted the Games each year, had they been in place retroactively, and in most cases the Asia champ comes up short -- "the rules aren't so nice" to Asia and a few other regions that are now paired with stronger competitors, it says.

The goal is to find the fittest, not to diversify the field.

"By combining weaker regions with stronger regions, the super regional model serves to balance out regional variation in fitness," the article states. "Everyone will have to face similarly tough competitors at the regional level, and those who qualify will undisputedly deserve their spot on the world stage."

Silver lining

The new format could be an advantage, if a Guam athlete can advance past the first round.

In past years, most regionals sent their top three finishers to the Games. The Asia Regional only advanced a single winner.

For 2015, the top-five finishers at the Pacific Regional will qualify for the Games.

"A lot of our athletes felt like regionals was a very realistic goal," Concepcion said. "It's still realistic, but it's going to separate the elite."

The 2015 CrossFit Open begins Feb. 26. The Pacific Regional in Wollongong, Australia, is May 22 to 24. The 2015 Reebok CrossFit Games will be held July 21 to 26 in Carson, California.