This year, top finishers (the top male, female, and every member of the winning team) will also get a Glock pistol worth $500, Dave Castro, director of the CrossFit Games, said in a post on the official CrossFit Games Facebook page. (Glock is a partner of the Games.)
RELATED: Finally, Some Good News About Gun Control
In response, some CrossFit fans have launched a Change.org petition asking organizers to remove the gun from the prize winnings.
“This doesn’t represent our community in any way, shape or form,” the petition reads. “Irrespective of anyone’s right to bear arms in the U.S., branding the value of our community to be about awarding weapons as gifts and rewards is not what our community stands for.”
Sign up for Women’s Health’s new newsletter, So This Happened, to get the day’s trending stories and health studies.
“CrossFit Inc. would not form partnerships with fast food restaurants, alcohol companies, cigarette or pharmaceutical companies on the same basis,” the petition, which has nabbed more than 15,000 signatures in just a few days, continues. “But a gun manufacturer is deemed as a good partner… this is not us. CrossFit is for health, fitness and the well being of the all people in all communities. This is not CrossFit. This should never be CrossFit.”
Castro, who says he participates in pistol-shooting competitions, tells WomensHealthMag.com that he’s aware of the controversy but is “also aware of the very favorable reaction to it.” In fact, he points out, he’s met plenty of CrossFitters who also enjoy recreational shooting.
So, Castro says, there are no plans to ditch the Glock: “Unless the California and federal laws change in the next week, nothing is changing with regards to giving out the prize.”
The 2016 CrossFit Games kick off on July 19.