This weekend kicks off the beginning of the final portion of the CrossFit season: The 2019 CrossFit Games, hosted in Madison, Wisconsin.

For over a decade, The CrossFit Games showcases an elite level of athletes from all over the world who have earned their way to prove their all-around fitness through a series of earlier stages: The CrossFit Open, or the Sanctional competitions hosted throughout the year.

This event is unlike other sports competitions that highlight one main event or game, but over the course of four days, August 1st through 4th, athletes compete in a variety of different tests of fitness, from outdoor courses and obstacles like trail runs or swims, to more traditional “CrossFit style throwdown workouts” in the Coliseum stadium, to ultimate wild cards thrown at athletes to demonstrate their all-around fitness. This year, athletes are coming from all over the globe to compete.

Here’s a preview to the CrossFit Games highlight reel of “A Gathering of Champions”. From those who have been athletes all their lives, to those who are competing while holding full-time jobs, there are athletes of all walks of life who come to demonstrate their character traits of hard work, determination and passion for the sport of CrossFit.

Here at CrossFit Des Plaines, we’ve had the honor of hosting a couple of CrossFit Games athletes including Samantha Briggs and Aleks Kostomaj stop in for a training session on their road up to the games. It’s such an inspiration to see how humbling and hard working some of these athletes are in person.

Be sure to take a peek at some of the Games events this weekend, if you are not traveling up to Madison for the live event! Click here to access open-source broadcasting of the CrossFit Games in different languages!