ANTI-DOPING SERVICES TO FEATURE ONCE AGAIN AT USAFF NATIONALS THANKS TO SPONSORSHIP BY OPEX FITNESS
As part of our continued mission to help progress the sport of Functional Fitness, OPEX Fitness has partnered once again with the International Functional Fitness Federation (iF3) to sponsor the administration of Anti-Doping Services at the USAFF Nationals.
The USA Functional Fitness National Championships will include Anti-Doping Services provided by the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) thanks to a generous sponsorship agreement with OPEX Fitness.
USAFF Nationals will kick off on Thursday, 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 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” James FitzGerald, Founder of OPEX Fitness This year’s anti-doping efforts are being funded through sponsorship from OPEX Fitness. Due to OPEX’s belief in the importance of clean sport, they have entered into an agreement with USAFF to provide funding that will be specifically earmarked for use of Anti-Doping services.
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 service 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.
OPEX Fitness supports the mission of iF3 and is excited to announce that we will continue our support by donating $75 from every sale of Mixed Modal, FitzGerald’s latest course, directly to the IF3 Governing Body.
Mixed Modal is the most comprehensive course on competitive Functional Fitness to date. Through his 20+ years of personal experience as a coach and athlete, Mixed Modal introduces principles, logic, and order to the sport. Support IF3 and further your education by learning how to create podium-caliber athletes and with FitzGerald’s latest course Mixed Modal.
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