State of the Community: The Athlete Panel

A tent city and a swarm of CrossFitters guarantees some fun and engaging discussion. Join elite CrossFitters and elite coaches as they come together at the CrossFit Endurance Sports and Fitness Expo in Costa Mesa, Calif.

In Part 1, the Athlete Panel has assembled, including Coach Mike Burgener, Kelly Starrett, Josh Everett, Greg Amundson, Rebecca Voigt and Kristan Clever.

The panelists first discuss the beginning of their CrossFit careers. For Starrett, who was a physio student at the time, finding CrossFit “was like discovering the unified field theory of the universe.”

To Coach Burgener, CrossFit is a family and that holds the key to its growth.

“I see this thing even growing more because CrossFitters stay together. It’s that family atmosphere that keeps us wanting to come back for more to better ourselves,” Burgener says.

In Part 2, the panelists continue discussing the future of CrossFit and field questions from the audience.

Panel members agree that the best is yet to come for CrossFit. According to Everett, “I believe we really are just scratching the surface in terms of awareness out there, public awareness, scratching the surface in terms of the competitive aspect of CrossFit and what the athletes will be like.”

Amundson adds, “I think that’s one of the greatest contributions CrossFit will continue to make is to inspire people to view themselves not just as human beings but as human athletes.”

Clever and Voigt agree. “I think the more important part of CrossFit is not the professional side of it. It’s not. The more important part of this is reaching people who have never thought of themselves as physical,” Clever says.

“It’s actually for everybody. We can scale to anyone in this crowd, and that’s the beauty of it. It’s only going to go up,” Voigt says.

Part 1
12min 3sec

Part 2
7min 7sec

Video by Again Faster and CrossFit Films by Jordan Gravatt.

Additional reading: Mile-High Hybrid by Mike Warkentin, published Oct. 1, 2010.