New Experience, Intermediate, Elite, Master, Team categories and new 1, 2 or 3-day competition format, with no qualification and no elimination
Since the first edition in 2016, the Italian Showdown has been a fitness competition different from all the others, with a format designed to allow any sport lover to experience the thrill of taking the field live, regardless of skill level and age, with a focus on audience and media engagement.
The competition for everyone, live
New competition methods have been introduced in each edition, always maintaining a fundamental distinctive element: live qualification with a unique Open category for all competitors. This allowed all participants to experience unforgettable moments, side by side with the strongest athletes in the world, on the same game floor to celebrate fitness and health.
In a very short time, the Italian Showdown has become one of the most attended sports fitness events in Europe, with thousands of competitors and tens of thousands of spectators from all over Italy and the rest of the world, which has earned the recognition by CrossFit since 2019 with the entry into the circuit of official competitions (first Sanctional, then Licensed Event).
New categories, 3 levels
Over the years, thanks to the effectiveness and inclusiveness of the CrossFit training method, the athletes’ performances have grown incredibly and, at the same time, the request for participation by the Community of enthusiasts has increased. This has caused the performance gap between the more experienced and novice competitors to grow exponentially.
Thus, to keep the competition as fair and inclusive as possible, with the eighth edition of the Italian Showdown the time has come to revolutionize the competition format, precisely to give everyone the opportunity to express their potential to the fullest. This means new categories and new workouts for different skill levels: Experience, Intermediate, Elite, Master and Team.
No qualification, no elimination
But one thing can’t change: no online qualifications! As always, the competition takes place in person, with direct access to the live stage. Just be quick to grab one of the places available for your category: for the 2023 Italian Showdown there are 672 slots for 15 categories of ability / gender / age, assigned according to the first-registered, first-admitted principle.
And no more elimination! Finally, there is no longer the risk of leaving the competition, perhaps for just one test that went wrong: all registered athletes remain in the competition from the first to the last workout, with no cuts. The final leaderboard is based on the scores of all workouts and the top three athletes ranked in each category will get on the podium to receive the Italian Showdown medal and prizes.
1, 2 or 3-day competitions
Furthermore, to ensure that the competitors have the most rewarding and at the same time comfortable experience possible, all workouts are programmed so that they can be performed during a single daily event for each category. No more endless waiting, each athlete will be busy only in the morning or only in the afternoon and will have the rest of the day free for relax.
Finally, the duration of the competition also changes. The 2023 Italian Showdown will no longer last 4 days, which for many competitors are too demanding, but from one to three days based on the category: 1 day for Team Experience, 2 days for Individual Experience, 3 days for Individual Intermediate / Elite and for Age Group.
New Team Experience division
For the first time at the Italian Showdown, there is a competition for teams made up of 3 members: 2 males and 1 female. Only the Experience category is foreseen for the 2023 edition for teams, so these are teams of beginner athletes, who do not yet have all the skills but who want to compete together with their training partners to have fun.
The team competition takes place entirely over the course of a single day and is based on the tag-team format: throughout the workouts, the team members must alternate by taking turns (precisely the “tag”), to complete 3 tests within the maximum time allowed. The game strategy and the harmony of the team members will be essential to win… Fun is guaranteed!