CrossFit athlete Zeke Grove was expected to perform well at the Australian CrossFit Championships and qualify for a spot on the world stage. Unfortunately, he announced on Instagram yesterday that he would no longer be competing.
Zeke Grove shared an update with fans on Instagram yesterday that confirmed he would not be competing in Australia’s CrossFit Championships this year. You can read the post in full below.
“Unfortunately there will be no @auscrossfitchamp for me this year! I’m gutted to miss out on another shot at getting back to the @crossfitgamesbut the body is not playing the game at the moment. Fortunately with the new format there will be more opportunities to punch that ticket in the coming months with @downundercrossfitchampionship not too far away, I will be busting my ass to get back to where I need to be. Goodluck to all the Aussie men and women this weekend let’s keep that ticket at home ;),” was his official statement, made public via Instagram caption.
Without divulging if this course correction was due to an injury or illness, Grove mentioned “the body is not playing the game at the moment.” However, he also mentions returning to the sport as soon as possible, so it’s probably safe to assume it’s nothing too permanent or serious holding him back from his A-game.
Grove has consistently placed in the top 10 CrossFit athletes in the Australia division for the past five years. This year, he placed 9th, a drop from his 3rd place ranking in 2019. He has competed in the CrossFit Games four times, in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019; his highest place finish was in 2019, when he placed 11th as part of the group X-Terminators. It’s disappointing to see such a late withdrawal from Grove, since with less than 24 hours before the upcoming competition its unlikely they’ll be able to replace him with someone of equal skill and ability. However, it doesn’t completely diminish the competition, since so many great athletes are slated to compete tomorrow.
The good news is, this doesn’t mean Grove is off the world stage for certain. Thanks to recent restructuring to CrossFit’s event format, there are still plenty of open-level events in Australia for Grove to participate in and hopefully he will qualify for Worlds through that avenue. We wish him a speedy recovery and hope to see him back on the field soon!
*All images and media courtesy of Instagram.
