Winnipeg gyms split from CrossFit brand after founder’s tweet

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This article was published 09/06/2020 (2110 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A NUMBER of Winnipeg gyms are cutting ties with physical fitness giant CrossFit Inc., over comments made by the company’s founder on Twitter over the weekend.

On Saturday, Greg Glassman, chief executive officer of the branded fitness regimen, tweeted “It’s FLOYD-19,” in response to a post by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation stating racism is a public health issue.

Glassman has since apologized for the tweet, which appeared to make light of both the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police and the novel coronavirus pandemic, but the damage was already done.

Gyms — or “boxes” as they’re known in the CrossFit community — around the globe have dropped their affiliation with the brand and apparel company Reebok has pulled its corporate sponsorship, according to reports from the Washington Post.

Jeff MacGregor, owner and head coach of CrossFit 431 on Wall Street, found out about the controversy Monday morning, when he checked social media for the first time after a weekend at the cabin.

“When I woke up this morning I was so disappointed… and there’s anger, too,” he said. “CrossFit, to me, isn’t one person; it’s a fitness community that brings people together, it doesn’t tear people apart.”

MacGregor has been a CrossFit affiliate for 14 years, but now plans to rebrand his gym and cut ties with the company before his affiliation licence renews in October. According to the California-based company’s website, affiliation costs US$3,000 annually.

“I think for me, there’s not much that CrossFit can do right now to revitalize my opinion on what happened,” he said. “We don’t need the CrossFit brand in order to have a strong community and run a successful program.

“I don’t think the affiliation is something we’ll be continuing on with.”

Darren Champagne, who co-owns TopNotch CrossFit with his wife, Valerie, has also decided to rebrand in light of the controversy. The Maples-area gym will be known as TopNotch Community Fitness going forward.

“We built our community based on being inclusive, opening our doors to everyone. To have our CEO of CrossFit to come out and make those statements, it was disheartening,” Champagne told the Free Press. “It’s one of those things that we don’t support, and we had to make a tough decision to (disaffiliate).”

The gym has received overwhelming support from its members, he said, which Champagne takes as an indication “we are making the right decision.”

Transcona CrossFit appeared to lead the charge locally, when it announced Sunday it was dropping its affiliation and adopting the name Transcona Fitness.

“We have to stand united with our human race, and we have to be brave enough to stand up against those who have blinders on to what the world looks like today,” owner and head coach Lynne Nelson said in a video posted on Facebook.

North Star Fitness, which up until last year was known as CrossFit Winnipeg, said in a Facebook post Monday it plans to continue distancing its gym “from any brand that discriminates against or mistreats human beings.”

Mandy Wickham, part-owner of Prairie CrossFit, is trying to figure out what her next moves will be. While she was shocked by Glassman’s comments, Wickham said her small local business is far removed from CrossFit headquarters.

“We pretty much run our businesses as we see fit, and we pay so we can advertise that we do CrossFit,” she said. “One man’s opinion shouldn’t affect your entire community you have built up.”

Shane Hancock, founder of CrossFit Corydon, shared a similar sentiment.

“For now, we are just going to kind of see what the fallout is like. I think a lot of the more smaller businesses are waiting to see if the CEO steps down, and if CrossFit has to take a different route,” Hancock said, adding he thought Glassman’s comments were insensitive and unprofessional.

“I don’t even think 99.9 per cent of our members know who Greg Glassman is or care about what he has to say.”

eva.wasney@freepress.mb.ca

gabrielle.piche@freepress.mb.ca