June 5, 2019: The USA Functional Fitness National Championships will include anti-doping education provided by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) thanks to a generous donation by OPEX Fitness.
USAFF Nationals will kick off on Friday June 14th with anti-doping education seminars presented by USADA. It is USAFF’s belief that the foundation of a good anti-doping program starts with educating athletes on the rules they are required to abide by. Therefore, USAFF will be hosting two educational seminars on that Friday; one targeting athletes who have not received any anti-doping education before and a more in-depth seminar for athletes who were at Nationals last year where they received the basic education.
Last year’s educational session, also presented by USADA, was not only informative to the athletes but also provided useful insights to USAFF about the state of supplement use and suspected PED use in the sport. In a follow up report provided by USADA to USAFF, 30.77% of 2018 Nationals participants answered yes to the survey statement “I know performance-enhancing drugs have been offered to others.” Additionally, 84.62% of respondents answered yes to using dietary supplements in the past. With dietary supplements being prevalent in functional fitness, USAFF wants to continue focusing efforts on educating athletes about the potential dangers of supplements to their body and their reputation as clean athletes.
“I want to play a part with increasing the education on what clean sport means” said James FitzGerald, Founder of OPEX Fitness. This year’s education is being funded through a donation from OPEX Fitness. Due to OPEX’s belief in the importance of clean sport, they have entered into an agreement with USAFF that donated funding that will be specifically earmarked for anti-doping education.
USAFF Director of Operations Kason Morris stated, “Our athletes deserve to know that when they step onto the competition floor there is a level playing field between the athletes. This all starts by developing the groundwork for a robust anti-doping program. Without the support of OPEX, we would not be able to offer this education to our athletes this year, and we are grateful for their support and commitment to clean sport.”
Competition at USA Functional Fitness Nationals will kick off on Saturday June 15th and run through Sunday the 16th at CrossFit Krypton in Chesapeake, Virginia. Top finishers in the Individual divisions will earn their spot to represent the USA at the International Functional Fitness Federation (iF3) World Championships in Malmo, Sweden on August 30-September 1st. Master’s athletes at the event will also be fighting for qualification spots to the iF3 Masters World Championships which will be in Australia in October.
