Safety in CrossFit
Safety isn’t a department. It’s the first variable in every workout we write, every standard we teach, and every decision we make about competition.
CrossFit measures a program’s success against three tenets, in this order: safety, efficacy, and efficiency. Not safety as a caveat, but safety as the test a program has to pass before anything else counts.
This page exists because that commitment needs to be visible, not just assumed. It’s a single home for the research, standards, people, and protocols that define and protect safety across CrossFit the workout and CrossFit the sport, whether you’re coaching a class, training for the Games, walking into your first on-ramp, or reporting on what we do.
Below You’ll Find:
Safety in CrossFit Competition
- The CrossFit Safety Advisory Board, an independent body that reviews and shapes our safety protocols.
- Articles on safety during the CrossFit Games season.
- The CrossFit Games Medical Leadership, the physicians and clinicians who support athlete health and wellbeing at the Games.
Safety in the CrossFit Affiliate
- Our published thinking on safety for athletes, coaches, and affiliate owners.
- Independent and third-party resources, including journal research, position statements, and press coverage.
The CrossFit Safety Advisory Board
The CrossFit Safety Advisory Board is an independent group of medical professionals and safety experts to expand and improve the protocols core to how we run our competitions and support our athletes. The board meets regularly before and during events to assess risk, review safety protocols, and serve as an independent escalation path for any athlete with a safety concern. Members are present on-site throughout the CrossFit Games and are identifiable by distinctive orange badges
Allison Brager, Ph.D.
United States Army
CF-L1 | Orchard Valley CrossFit
Dr. Allison Brager is an active-duty military medical services officer. She is a former CrossFit Games team athlete and individual Regionals athlete. Brager has completed advanced training in austere medicine to include maritime search and rescue and high-angle ropes and rescue, holding certifications in advanced SCUBA, lifeguarding, and advanced wilderness life support. She is presently an applicant for the NASA Astronaut Program, having reached the semifinal round of selection in 2020.
Manny Cruz
Patrol Agent in Charge, U.S. Border Patrol
CF-L2 | CrossFit Honor First
Manny Cruz is the patrol agent in charge of the Marfa, Texas, Border Patrol Station. He has nearly 20 years of border security experience and has led human performance efforts across the agency. Cruz has led physical ability validation studies of the workforce and written policy to support agency fitness efforts. He has served as a tactical and strategic advisor to nations across South America and Europe. The majority of his career was spent with the U.S. Border Patrol Search Trauma and Rescue Team (BORSTAR), specializing in rope and water rescue.
Michael S. Emery, M.D., M.S., FACC
Director of Global Medical Strategy for Cardiomyopathy, Bristol Myers Squibb
CrossFit Nassau
Michael S. Emery, M.D., M.S., FACC, is a cardiologist and physician‑leader with deep expertise in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, sports cardiology, and cardiovascular imaging. With over 17 years of experience as a practicing academic cardiologist, most notably at the Cleveland Clinic, his work has included cardiovascular leadership and advisory roles with elite athletic organizations, including the National Football League Scouting Combine and the National Basketball Association, supporting evidence‑based cardiovascular screening, risk assessment, and athlete care. He is board-certified in cardiovascular medicine, a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology, and holds advanced training in exercise physiology.
Caity Matter Henniger
Chief Sales Officer, Rogue Fitness
CrossFit Columbus
Caity Matter Henniger is the Chief Sales Officer (CSO) at Rogue Fitness and a founding member who helped build the brand since 2007. She oversees a team of 700, growing the Rogue Fitness brand and maintaining its reputation as the leading fitness equipment manufacturer. A world-class athlete, Henniger played basketball for the Ohio State University, spent two years in the WNBA, and won the 2008 CrossFit Games. She has also served as a CrossFit broadcaster for ESPN3.com and is the Director of the Rogue Invitational. Henniger resides in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband and Rogue Fitness founder Bill.
Brian McGuire, M.S., ATC
Colonel, U.S. Marine Corps (Ret.)
Lead Athletic Trainer and Injury Spotter, NFL Player Health and Safety Program
Brian McGuire, M.S., ATC, brings deep expertise in elite sports medicine to the Safety Advisory Board. Since 2008, he has served as Lead Athletic Trainer for the NFL Scouting Combine and has been an NFL Injury Spotter since 2017. He served as the Chief Athletic Trainer for Olympic rowing events during the 1996 Games and retired as a Colonel from the Marine Corps Reserve after 33 years of service. In September 2025, he retired as a federal employee, culminating 42 years in government. He last served as Director, USMC Human Performance Branch and oversaw the development and implementation of physical fitness standards.
Robert C. Oh, M.D., MPH, CAQSM
Chief Wellbeing Officer, VA Palo Alto Health Care System
CF-L2 | NCFIT
Dr. Robert C. Oh is a family physician, sports medicine specialist, and clinical associate professor (affiliated) at Stanford University. A 22-year U.S. Army veteran, he previously served as the Physician Lead for the Army’s Performance Triad health initiative. His expertise has helped develop clinical guidelines for exertional heat illness and exertional rhabdomyolysis. He earned his M.D. from Boston University and completed his residency in Virginia and sports medicine fellowship in Maryland. Currently, he practices sports medicine at VA Palo Alto, where he treats veterans and active-duty members while serving as a strategic leader in clinician wellbeing.
Mark Ritchie, Ph.D.
Owner/Senior Coach, CrossFit Chiang Mai / CFCNX
CF-L2 | CrossFit Chiang Mai
Mark Ritchie, Ph.D., is the Executive Director of the International Sustainable Development Studies Institute (ISDSI) and owner of CrossFit Chiang Mai, Thailand’s first CrossFit affiliate, founded in 2010, and host to Thailand’s longest-running CrossFit competition, the Thailand Throwdown. ISDSI runs expedition-based programs for American university and college students throughout Thailand’s diverse ecosystems, including backpacking, sea kayaking, skin diving, and more. Ritchie is an expert on complex risk management in international and expedition settings, frequently teaching, consulting, and leading workshops, and presenting at professional conferences on applying best practices in risk management to new and innovative contexts.
Tia-Clair Toomey
Eight-time CrossFit Games Champion
CrossFit PRVN
Tia-Clair Toomey is the owner of PRVN Fitness and the eight-time Fittest Woman on Earth, holding more championship titles than any other athlete in the Sport of Fitness. In 2016, she became Australia’s top-ranked female weightlifter, qualifying for the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where she finished in 14th place in the 58-kg category. She is the only CrossFit athlete to have competed in the CrossFit Games and the Olympics in the same year. Toomey also qualified Australia for a spot in the two-man bobsleigh for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China.
Competition Safety
An overview of safety improvements for the 2026 CrossFit Games, including an update from the Safety Advisory Board, preparticipation medical evaluation requirements, the expansion of the Medical Team, new water safety guidelines, and more.
Beginning in 2026, every CrossFit Games athlete is required to complete a preparticipation medical exam before competing, bringing the Games in line with practices already standard in college and professional sports. Two members of the Safety Advisory Board explain why this matters and what the exam covers.
A comprehensive overview of safety improvements for the 2026 CrossFit Games season, including the appointment of Dr. Mark James Sakr as Games Medical Director, the introduction of a mandatory preparticipation medical evaluation requirement for all Individual and Team division athletes, and the expansion of medical and security team expertise.
An update on CrossFit's safety initiatives ahead of the 2025 CrossFit Games in Albany, detailing the appointment of Wendy Guthrie as Head of Safety, the activation of the CrossFit Games Safety Advisory Board and its focused working groups, enhanced emergency action planning in partnership with compliance experts, expanded medical coverage and mental health support, and the establishment of the CrossFit Athlete Council.
Wendy Guthrie will lead the development and execution of comprehensive safety protocols across CrossFit Sport, with a special focus on the CrossFit Games.
In the immediate aftermath of the 2024 CrossFit Games in August, CrossFit engaged a third-party investigation team to investigate the facts surrounding Lazar’s death on Aug. 8, 2024, during Individual Event 1 (run/swim), and to provide recommendations to CrossFit to enhance athlete safety at future CrossFit events.
Games Medical Leadership & Key Staff
Mark Sakr, DO
CrossFit Games Medical Director
Dr. Mark Sakr is a dual board-certified physician in family medicine and sports medicine and serves as director of athletic medicine and head team physician at the University of Arizona, as well as medical director for USA Rugby. Throughout his career, he has held leadership positions in collegiate and professional sports medicine, including appointments with Duke University, the University of Pittsburgh, the Carolina Hurricanes, Georgia State University, and Robert Morris University. As the Games medical director, Sakr leads the multidisciplinary medical team responsible for athlete care and medical operations throughout the CrossFit Games.
Joe Ellis
Water Safety Lead
CF-L2 | CrossFit Del Campo
Joe Ellis is a lifelong safety advocate, bringing nearly three decades of water safety experience to his role. Having paddled whitewater across three continents, eight countries, and 100+ sections of rivers, Ellis’s expertise was forged in the world’s most demanding environments.
A cardiac arrest survivor and a CrossFit affiliate owner, Ellis understands that preparation saves lives. Today, Ellis works with AED Team to advance public-access AED advocacy. He co-created AED Team’s Mobile Package and the CrossFit AED Package, designed specifically to help CrossFit affiliates and fitness facilities improve emergency preparedness.
Jeremy Johnson, EMT
Competition Floor Lead
CF-L2
Jeremy “Slab” Johnson is a fire lieutenant and EMT with more than 20 years of experience in emergency response. A member of the CrossFit Games Medical Team since 2017, he began as a volunteer before advancing into leadership roles, overseeing competition floor medical operations. In addition to his work at the Games, Johnson leads medical teams at major CrossFit competitions around the world. His expertise in emergency management and event medicine helps ensure rapid, coordinated care for athletes during competition.
David Linzey, NP
Clinic Lead
David Linzey has a master of science in nursing with a family nurse practitioner specialty. He has been a practicing emergency and trauma nurse since 2010. In 2022, Linzey became a nurse practitioner, and in 2024, became the director of Emergency Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants for TeamHealth in Thousand Oaks, California. He has been a part of the CrossFit Games Medical Team since 2017.
Jeremey Malloch, RN
Medical Logistics and Weather Team Lead
Three Kings CrossFit
Jeremey Malloch has been a member of the CrossFit Games Medical Team since 2016, progressing from volunteer to a leadership role. A registered nurse and retired paramedic, his clinical background includes emergency medicine, intensive care, critical care transport, and flight nursing. He currently serves as a director of nursing in central Indiana, leading multiple clinical departments and hundreds of caregivers. At the Games, Malloch oversees medical logistics and weather monitoring to help ensure safe and effective event operations.
K. Ellis F. Mair, ATC
Athletic Training Team Lead
Ellis Mair, EdM, ATC, is co-founder of Go4, the nation’s largest athletic trainer staffing network. She earned degrees in athletic training from Penn State and health education from Boston University, and previously served as a head athletic trainer and director of participant health and safety for a national youth sports organization. A recognized expert in emergency action planning and sports medicine operations, Mair has contributed to research on emergency preparedness in athletics. At the CrossFit Games, she will play a critical role in overall preparedness and athlete care throughout competition.
Marcy Faustin, MD
Team Physician
Dr. Marcy Faustin is a dual board-certified family medicine and sports medicine physician and associate clinical professor at the University of California, Davis, with appointments in physical medicine and rehabilitation and family and community medicine. She serves as co-head team physician for UC Davis athletics and team physician for Sacramento Republic FC, and previously served as co-head team physician for the USA Gymnastics Women’s National Team at both the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympic Games. A former Division I track and field athlete, Faustin is committed to providing comprehensive, athlete-centered care at every level of competition.
Sean Rockett, MD
Team Physician
CF-L2 | CrossFit Launchpad
Dr. Sean Rockett is an orthopedic surgeon in Boston and president of Orthopedics New England. A graduate of Harvard University and Tufts University School of Medicine, he serves as an Assistant Clinical Professor at Tufts and has been a leader in sports medicine for more than two decades. Active in the CrossFit community since 2007, Rockett has served as the orthopedic physician for the CrossFit Games since 2012. He is a CrossFit Level 2 Trainer, co-owner of CrossFit Launchpad, and has dedicated his career to helping athletes prevent and recover from injury.
Katina Thornton, MD
Team Physician
CF-L4 | CrossFit Avenger Owner
Dr. Katina Thornton is double board-certified in anesthesiology and pain management, and obesity medicine. She currently provides anesthesia care in the electrophysiology laboratory at Baylor Heart and Vascular Hospital in Dallas, Texas. A member of the CrossFit community since 2011 and a CrossFit Level 3 Trainer, Thornton has served on the medical teams for the CrossFit Games, Rogue Invitational, and CrossFit regional events since 2016. At the Games, she will lead the medical operations of the Warm-up and Recovery Area, where her clinical expertise, combined with her deep roots in the CrossFit community, plays an integral role in delivering exceptional care to athletes.
Safety in the CrossFit Affiliate
- Affiliate Owner or Coach
Coaching standards, spotting technique, and pre-class risk assessment. - CrossFit Affiliate Member
Hand care, injury prevention, and training safely through every decade. - Journalist or Researcher
Board member backgrounds, policy history, research citations, and press resources.
Coaching and Affiliate Standards
The safety of a class begins before the class starts. This piece walks coaches through assessing athletes' injury history and experience level and evaluating the movement and equipment demands of a workout before a single rep is performed.
Spotting isn't intuitive, and assuming athletes already know how to do it safely is a mistake. This article breaks down the communication, technique, and judgment required to spot the back squat and bench press, as well as the lifts where spotting can do more harm than good.
"CrossFit is too intense to be safe" is a claim we often hear but don't accept. This article makes the case that mechanics, consistency, and intensity, in that order, are what make long-term intensity possible at all, and outlines what that looks like in practice for coaches and athletes alike.
Athlete Health and Longevity
The biggest risk facing an aging athlete isn't training. It's not training at all. Two physical therapists who specialize in geriatric care explain how the CrossFit methodology changes by degree, not by kind, as athletes age, and why deadlifts, squats, carries, and overhead work belong on the non-negotiable list at every decade of life.
Hand tears are common, painful, and almost entirely preventable. This article covers callus care, chalk and grip use, and rep management strategies to prevent tears, as well as first aid and return-to-training guidance for when they happen anyway.
Additional Resources
Policy and Press
- Safety Enhancements for the 2026 CrossFit Games Season
- Preparticipation Exams for the 2026 CrossFit Games
- CrossFit Welcomes Wendy Guthrie as Head of Safety
- CrossFit Medical Society
- Delivering on Safety Commitments for the 2025 CrossFit Games
- BarBend: “CrossFit HQ Delivers Safety Updates Ahead of 2025 CrossFit Games”
- Safety and Procedural Changes After the 2024 CrossFit Games
- The Barbell Spin: “CrossFit to Implement Safety & Procedural Changes Following Results of 3rd-Party Investigation”
- The Barbell Spin: “Rich Froning, Caity Matter Henninger Headline New CrossFit Games Safety and Advisory Board”
- The Barbell Spin: “Dr. Mark Sakr Named as New CrossFit Games Medical Director”
Research and Position Statements
We don’t ask anyone to take our word for it. The following resources fall outside our own content and address the research, oversight, and reporting that shape safety in CrossFit and sport more broadly.
- Hainline B, Drezner JA, Baggish A, et al. Interassociation consensus statement on cardiovascular care of college student-athletes. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2016;67:2981-2995.
- Petek BJ, Churchill TW, Moulson N, et al. Sudden cardiac death in National Collegiate Athletic Association athletes: a 20-year study. Circulation. 2024;149:80-90.
- Drezner JA, O’Connor FG, Harmon KG, et al. AMSSM position statement on cardiovascular preparticipation screening in athletes: current evidence, knowledge gaps, recommendations, and future directions. Br J Sports Med. 2017;51:153-167.
- American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology 14-point cardiovascular screening recommendations and the Preparticipation Physical Evaluation Monograph, Fifth Edition (PPE-5).