News

For ten years the Italian Showdown has brought athletes and enthusiasts of all ages and levels onto the field and for 2025 it will introduce an even more inclusive format

Anyone can participate in the Italian Showdown, regardless of age and ability level, without having to go through online qualifications: just register and take to the field by putting into practice the skills developed during training sessions carried out in class with your coach or independently in your home gym.

This format has been enormously successful since the first edition, with a thousand athletes registered in just a few hours, registrations sold out every year and hundreds of thousands of social contacts. With the 2025 edition, the Italian Showdown enters its tenth year of activity, bringing great innovations to make the competition even more inclusive at all levels.

Over the course of these ten years, the number of CrossFit practitioners has grown across the entire population, bringing enthusiasts of all age groups closer to the race, even those who have not yet developed all the skills. At the same time, the capabilities of more experienced athletes have grown to levels that were unthinkable just a few years ago.

Consequently, the performance gap between experts and beginners has opened up to the point of making it necessary to review categories and divisions, to allow all participants to compare themselves with their peers, in terms of age and skill level, and to face competition-testing workouts that are always sustainable and fun.

Thus, from the 2025 edition, the skill requirements will be calibrated on the most common characteristics of those who attend the classes, rather than on an ideal "Regional Level" athlete. The target of this revolution is to satisfy the growing demand for participation from beginners and, at the same time, encourage the transition to the higher category for all those athletes who have already gained experience in local competitions.

Divisions for all fitness levels

To allow all participants to compare themselves with their peers, in terms of age and skill level, and to tackle challenging but always sustainable and fun workouts in competition, the divisions of the competing athletes will be based on the same skill levels adopted by CrossFit in the workouts of the day.

- Beginner – The first fitness level is for athletes who have little or no competition experience, who are not yet familiar with all the skills and perform scaled workouts in class. For them, the competition will be based on scaled versions of standard movements and the workouts will be aimed at measuring work capacity with reduced loads and volumes, but always at high intensity.

- Intermediate – The second fitness level corresponds to athletes who already have some competition experience, who are familiar with almost all the skills and often perform Rx workouts in class (or almost). For them, the competition will be based on standard movements and the workouts will be aimed at measuring work capacity and main skills, possibly with reduced loads.

- Rx – The third level identifies athletes who have competition experience, who are familiar with all the skills and always perform Rx workouts in class. For them the competition will be based on advanced movements and the workouts will be aimed at measuring work capacity, skills and strength in any domain.

Age Group up to 60 years and over

The other big innovation of the 2025 edition is the introduction of age groups in all individual divisions. This means that even Master athletes will finally be able to choose a division that reflects the fitness level best suited to their abilities. In practice, instead of the previous Master categories, there will be 7 Age Groups for each male and female division:

- From 18 to 34 years – Beginner, Intermediate, Rx

- From 35 to 39 years – Beginner, Intermediate, Rx

- From 40 to 44 years – Beginner, Intermediate, Rx

- From 45 to 49 years – Beginner, Intermediate, Rx

- From 50 to 54 years – Beginner, Intermediate, Rx

- From 55 to 59 years – Beginner, Intermediate, Rx

- From 60 years and over – Beginner, Intermediate, Rx

Thus, each athlete will be able to compare himself on the leaderboard with competitors in his own age range but also globally with all other athletes of the same ability level, according to the same principle as the CrossFit Open leaderboard. This way, in addition to competing for the division podium, the winners of each age range will be named “Age Group Champion".

The team competition will also be extended to three ability divisions, but without Age Group, so the Teams will be made up of two men and one woman with no age restrictions. The competition format will be that of the tag team, in which the athletes must alternate on the competition field during the workout, to complete the programmed work in the most effective way possible. Harmony and strategy will be essential to win the challenge!