CrossFit CEO Greg Glassman sparked criticism over the weekend with his responses to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation’s statement about racism being a public health issue. Many companies and individuals saw him dub the issue “Floyd-19” and distanced themselves. This list includes Jason Khalipa, a CrossFit Games champion and the head of the NCFIT Collective, who revealed that his company would no longer be affiliated with CrossFit HQ.
Khalipa released the statement on Instagram through the NCFIT Collective account, which represents 20 gyms around the world. The statement explained that NCFIT has always been about love and acceptance. With this in mind, the company will release efforts on how to best support the black community and all people of color. NCFIT said that it would not “stand by” in the face of racism, injustice and hate.
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“It’s time for a change. We will no longer be a CrossFit affiliate. We are NCFIT,” the company said in a statement on Instagram. … “In light of recent events and on-going concerns about the direction of CrossFit, NCFIT will no longer maintain our affiliation with the brand. We have been an affiliate for more than 10-years, but we can no longer continue along this path. We owe it to our team, members, and the greater community to stand for something better than what we are witnessing.”
Khalipa is one of CrossFit’s earliest stars. He won the second-ever Games in 2008 and competed seven total times as an individual, adding a second- and a third-place finish to his resume. During this time, Khalipa founded NorCal CrossFit. This affiliate gym became a go-to destination for top athletes, paving the way for five locations in the Bay Area. NorCal ultimately became NCFIT.
Glassman has since apologized for his comments with a multi-tweet statement. He said that CrossFit HQ and the community do not stand for racism and that he made a mistake with his choice of words. Glassman noted that CrossFit hopes that Floyd’s murder in Minneapolis “catalyzes real change resulting in a level playing field” for the black community.
“Floyd is a hero in the black community and not just a victim. I should have been sensitive to that and wasn’t. I apologize for that. I was trying to stick it to the @IHME_UW for their invalidated models resulting in needless, economy-wrecking, life-wrecking lockdown,” Glassman said on Twitter, “and when I saw they were announcing modeling a solution to our racial crisis, I was incredulous, angry, and overly emotional. Involving George Floyd‘s name in that effort was wrong.”
