"As soon as you crush someone's spirit...you defeat the purpose of the sport," David Hippensteel 

I see there’s already some comments on here before the video airs, and I do want to encourage those being critical to watch the episode, in full. I think open communication and transparency is important, but above all, it’s important to remember we’re all human. Everyone is entitled to their thoughts and opinions, but lets be kind when doing so 😊 - Lauren

This is BS. He didn’t care if his reps were bad, so he just went through the workout knowing that. All ego. If Hiller never pointed it out, he would’ve continued his journey to the Games. The backlash is because HQ didn’t penalize him, knowing his reps were bad and Dave just decided to roll with it. Since he has been in the game this long, he should know the difference between a rep and no rep. If he’s injured and has issues with his mobility, don’t do the workout! This is telling the audience to push through a workout with an injury and not to hold yourself accountable for good and bad reps.

The lack of self awareness and accountability is astounding from Dave. He could simply say "I messed up and will do better". While he has been a great champion for older athletes he also needs to hold some type of standard. Absolutely ridiculous and I'm glad Hiller called him out.

We might as well stop calling “no rep” in competition because it might hurt someone’s feelings and destroy community. Can we get anymore woke. Does Dave need a safe space ?

I was really hoping he would take this opportunity to apologize, as he showed no respect to the sport of CrossFit and to all of the athletes participating in the Open trying to do workouts with integrity. But no, he just doubled down and showed with clarity what an epically arrogant man he is. It’s all about him. Gross.

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This whole interview was horrible. No hard questions from Lauren, no remorse from Hippensteel, and over the top lauding from Hinshaw. This epitomizes why MCU isn't taken seriously by many in the CrossFit community.

Everyone on the podcast lost credibility!! I could go on for paragraphs, but I see everyone has pretty much covered it.

I'd say that allowing horrible movement standards with little to no consequence qualify for the games is what us crushing the spirit of CrossFit athletes as a whole. It's on CrossFit to actually start enforcing this. There are lots of us that could make it to the games by moving like crap and just taking the "major penalty" (haha) We all have injuries and jobs and families. As a masters athlete always on the bubble, its very frustrating to see CrossFit let these movement standards in. Why even try to do them correctly if no one is upholding them? ::spirit crushed::

David was a monster in his past games appearances, and there is so much to celebrate and being a bit of awe in it. The reality, though is that he actually hurt the integrity of CrossFit and not the company, but the community by posting his scores and putting the burden on the CrossFit community to call him out for clearly poor reps that wouldn’t have qualified him. Sadly, the integrity should have been on the judge and David himself as the athlete for proper movement. Injuries are never an excuse for doing reps that are not up to standard. Rather, you simply, do what you can do and continue to work on rehabbing and coming back another time. If there is a point where he cannot do the movements properly, then he simply scales, and does not enter his scores in as RX. There’s nothing owed to any of us, and this isn’t about breaking a person spirit, rather, it’s about proper movement, integrity, and ultimately a healthy lifestyle, whatever that looks like now. It would have been better to have simply owned up that you made a huge mistake and that you’re working on getting back to proper movement standards if you can and leave it at that.

Dave got his feelings hurt and pulled out of the games pure and simple. I find his explanation a little sickening. I’m a masters athlete also and we all have age related issues but that doesn’t give you a pass. Plenty of other competitors were able to do the movements correctly and that’s what makes a winner. I lost a lot of respect for him.

35:19, regardless you were going to qualify. Pardon? Was he going to qualify because Crossfit wasn't going to penalize him for his lack of adhering to the standard? Or heaven forbid they might actually invalidate the workout score altogether? I think there's this elephant in the room that some people want to avoid in addressing. Clearly the most vocal of people, being Andrew Hiller. Is he crass? Perhaps. Could he go about it in a different fashion? Perhaps. But here's the thing, Dave said, he pulled out of the competition because his Spirit was crushed. DESPITE ACKNOWLEDGING that his reps weren't to standard. And there-in lies the issue. INTEGRITY. When you only pull out because "my spirit was crushed" and not because you didn't perform the workout as per the standards then you as a person and a representative of the sport have lost integrity. I think this is a blown opportunity for accountability in saying I messed up, I had to go back to my career which comes first (which is respectable and understandable) and so I did what was proper and pulled out. Next year I'll be back and my movements will be improved. You've stopped the negative and can now move forward, instead, your continuing this non-sense. That should happen so we can put this to rest.

Ugh! “I did the crappy reps I did because I wanted to show off I could do muscle ups.” That’s what I’m hearing. For my own pride I wanted to do the ring muscle ups, even though he hurt his back and “got through” the workout doing shitty reps. Lots of excuses and it’s a tear jerker…but essentially he’s talking in circles to justify putting in a crappy effort to just be able to show off a few muscle ups. The Ego! 🤦🏽‍♀️

Seems like a nice guy. I 'm just disappointed in his lack of accountability. Going back the difference between the community(methodology) and the sport. We are super supportive of any athlete, at any level, and at any age coming in and working and challenging themselves. As the sport of fitness, standards and integrity are paramount. Flexibility is just as important when testing athletes as any other of the 10 general physical skills. Also, there is NO way Rich would ever do that, or turn a video in to that standard!

Im sorry but Dave deserved the negativity he got and he knows it. The steps vs pistol is one thing but there were other issues with that submission. It should have never been submitted period.

I think the quote should be changed to: “ when you get caught cheating my spirit was crushed and I dropped out to save face and hide “.

Another point is that David's scores should have never been approved by his affiliate. There are three levels to this that broke down; the judge for allowing the clear no-reps, David for submitting his scores AND his affiliate owner for approving the scores. All three are complicit in this and if just one had done what they should have, the scores wouldn't have been submitted. This shouldn't be on CrossFit OR CrossFit the community to call-out, since it should never have gotten to that point. In 2013, Josh Golden, his judge and affiliate were removed from competition for this very reason. Did David knowingly submit scores that had man clear no-reps that weren't called? Did his judge knowingly allow the no-reps AND did his affiliate owner approve the scores knowing there were no-reps? If the answer is yes, then it's clear cheating and deserves sanctions or bans. It would have been a much better story and comeback story if David simply said he was hurt and no competing for the integrity of movement and sport. It seems harsh, but it's incumbent that athlete, judge and affiliate owner holds the integrity, even in the midst of unfortunate injuries or other circumstances. The only thing that CrossFit the company should do is enforce bans for knowingly submitting wrong scores.

Not you Lauren, you did a good job navigating, but the commentary by both guest were cringey to say the least. Not once was there a mention of taking ownership that standards were not met. Sorry, not sorry. He reached out to HQ to talk about his mobility? Excuse me? Comical.

I am not a fan of Andrew Hiller, but him calling out No Reps and athletes not meeting the standard is the right thing to do. All Dave has to do is take accountability for his actions and quit making excuses. He still hasn’t done that and blames it on his dental practices and mobility issues. Just say “I fucked up, I apologize and I WILL do better.”

This interview was awful and really needed a reality check. The community is upset with Hippensteel because he "asked" to be treated "special". There is ONE standard that we are all held to and it was obvious from his video of the Quarterfinal Workout #2 that he was unable to meet that standard. Hinshaw argues that Hippensteel was chasing a "different goal" in that workout. But that completely ignores the fact that his judge should have stopped him from moving to the next movement if he didn't meet the standard. No athlete gets to ignore the standards in a competition. Hinshaw argues that it didn't matter because Hippensteel would have made it to the Semi Final round anyway - but no one knew that at the time because this happened on workout #2 - not #6. Finally Hinshaw argues that the community should rally behind Hippensteel because of all he has done for the community - and he has done a lot for the sport and for CrossFit, but that isn't how it works. What makes the community great is that we are all held to the same standard, we suffer together to try and meet it. We all have mobility issues but CrossFit competitions don't say - do this "to the extent you are able". If you can't perform a certain movement so that it meets the standard - you're screwed. Ask Jacob Heppner how he felt about the hand stand pushup standard that his body couldn't meet, thus requiring him to withdraw from the Open - he didn't just "do the best he could". Or just perform the workout and "leave it up to CrossFit to decide what was a no-rep". If Hippensteel had just come on and said - I tweaked my back at the start of Workout #2 and that freaked me out. I decided in that moment to do the movements the best I could without injuring my back further through the rest of the workout. I really wanted to get to the ring muscle ups and so I stupidly rushed other parts of the workout and so looking back, I can see now that I compromised my form much more than I thought I had at the time. I didn't realize how badly I performed until I saw the video and heard Heller's comments about how badly I performed. That was super embarrassing because I have always held myself to a high standard. I decided to withdraw because I didn't perform up to the standards that I expect from myself and that I know CrossFit expects from their masters athletes. DONE - the community rally's behind him and thanks him for his contributions to the Sport. BUT THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN and Hinshaw's comments really didn't help.

Never once did he say that his reps were not to standard. He even went as far to say that he would have qualified because he is a decorated champion. That's what we came to hear. Lauren did not ask the hard questions. Yeah it was good to put his neck out here but he just deflected to all about the community and longevity. Not about the fact that he signed up for a competition and a competition has standards for movements to hit. Disappointed by both parties.

Came here looking for accountability and responsibility on his behalf. NOPE. instead puts himself as a victim smh.

Khalessi, by soft balling Hippensteel and not challenge him you effectively facilitate propaganda. A big failure of professional journalistic integrity.

Man I tried to watch this, but his ego was just too much for me

Dave Hippensteel went from CF icon to professional victim in a flash. And a man who’s never Ledford a weight Chris H is trying to lecture the world on what CF is about, why letting an old man cheat because his past accomplishments is good and how we are supposed to ignore cheating, bad movement and ignore the rules because we like a guy. Why didn’t you interview the person who did the movements right, it finished one place out of the games and see how he feels being cheated by Dave? How can Dave say his goal is to be the top in the world, yet simultaneously say his movement design allow him to meet the standards? Oh and of course cheating and doing pistols to save time and make the RMU. And also admitting he submitted crap reps and hoped his friends at CFHQ would give him a pass. GTFO If he truly wanted to be an ambassador for aging athletes he would have focused on staying fit and publicly admitted he can’t do the work required to be a games athlete, yet showed how to keep moving and be fit as we age. This victim mentality he’s espousing to is pathetic. And supporting cheating is a bad look for morning chalk up.

There is a vital distinction between the general CrossFit community and the competitive sport (Open, Quarterfinals, etc.) As an Affiliate owner, I would never “crush someone’s spirit” or discourage people who can’t quite do the movement properly yet, but I also wouldn’t let a competitor cut corners when it comes to standards. The standard is the standard.

Holy crap this is so cringe. And no Chris Hinshaw, he’s nothing like Froning or Fraser, he’s the exact opposite. They don’t cheat to get to the muscle ups. They have virtue and don’t cheat , act like a victim or take short cuts.

Our Community is separate from our Sport. Doing your best and falling short is always applauded and encouraged. So is staying within your capabilities so an athlete doesn’t get hurt. The Sport is a test to see what you can do to a standard. And applaud someone who attempts a test, but that’s why you’re judged. He knew better and did it anyway. That’s the issue.

Can’t wait for Dave’s victim arc. Dude, just say you’re busted up and ROM isn’t what it was but you’re working on it. We’re all there with you, bud! Still a beast, just do all the correct movements to standard and no one will “crush your spirit.”

I am so disappointed in this….There’s a point in time where these athletes compromised long-term health for short-term gain. To make excuses for the lack of mobility and injuries is no one’s fault, but Mr Hippensteels himself. When you can’t move to standards then you shouldn’t compete. It’s that simple. Morning Chalk-up and CF can do better than this.

His story has changed and that says it all. When Hiller called him out he had one story, now it’s a different story. You got caught end of story. I don’t see this being any different than those that popped for PEDs. I am a long time Crossfit masters athlete and I am setting the standards for the younger athletes and that is what he is missing. What about the people he screwed on the board an may have kept from Going to the games

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Chris is really a loyal friend to do this and take the hit, as there is really no excuses for Hipps videos or workouts.

I wanted to hear both sides of this story. Unfortunately it just seems like he is not taking responsibility at all for his choices. He talks about crushing spirits but what about the spirit of the competitor who comes in 11th place? Many people are dealing with injuries and limitations but do so with integrity and putting their ego aside. I do hope Dave is able to rehab his injuries and has a long and active lifestyle but it may be time to hang the shoes up if you continue to justify cheating.

Of course, he plays the victim because he got called out for his integrity ( he cheated and he knew it plain & simple) that's what should crush his spirit he was dishonest and tries to convince people & "himself he wasn't. If Hiller didn't finally expose his bad reps he would have never withdrawn. The big ?'s are were any of the other championships worthy. The guy is a beast and does set an example for being healthy and active for any age let alone for those of us in our later years. But if his spirits are crushed that's his choice to feel that way nobody else is responsible for the feelings he chooses. The only part of this I don't like is David saying as soon as YOU(the community) crush someone's spirit he shifts the accountability from himself and that it was David that chooses his feelings(spirit) no one else crushed his spirit. David best of success on your recovery(injuries) and hope you make it back to the games by doing it within all required standards! You are fun to watch regardless.

Fix the range of motion. No excuses, his range of motion is horrible especially for a “champion”. Regardless our age our ROM needs to be maintained. This man has taken no responsibility for his mobility. The thing that continues to be most evident is that his ego is one of the largest in the sport. Take the time swallow your pride and fix your range of motion.

This is extremely frustrating. My bottom line is, if you can't do the movements to standard, you shouldn't submit a video as RX.

Wow, it’s insane to me that someone can get caught blatantly screwing up the movement standards, not to mention the standards of a workout itself, and take absolutely zero accountability for it. He was sitting at home during the Games, which is exactly where he should have been.

Don't blame the community for your mistakes David 😵‍💫

Lauren, you gave a “Like” to the few supportive comments about Hippensteel. As an objective journalist, it appears you are taking sides. The CF Community has known this guy has been an obnoxious fraud for six months. His reputation was already damaged. However, Chris Hinshaw’s pandering and your lack of objectively has damaged, hopefully not permanently, your professional reputations. Don’t you see this?

If he’s always shooting for the best like Hipp says in his own words, how can he submit a video like he did. There was so much wrong with it and far from the best. All I heard was excuses after excuses after excuses. He didn’t do his best to hold himself to the standards in movements or filming it. No excuses, he didn’t do the workout RX’d so own it Dave. This interview makes him look worse.

This was a great interview. He seemed to handle it better than I thought he did. I only wish he addressed the mindset that led him to taking off his shoes mid workout, even though it would immediately invalidate the video. I'm not a Games athlete, or even a serious competitor. But I am unable to do double unders right now due to plantar fasciitis and Achilles tendinitis. I will sign up for the Open, but if that movement comes out of the hat, I will not be participating in that workout. This is all Dave had to do. He tried to cut corners just to meet his end goal, which was the Games. Sometimes you just have to know when to throw in the towel and take some ownership for your shortcomings rather than just blaming poor mobility when there were numerous other issues with his video submission.

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I lost all respect for this man, who I once looked to for motivation as I am close to the same age, after the terrible open video and his subsequent responses to hiller.

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someone got a free bleaching for that „pat on the back“ kinda interview, a good interview would have been asking the tough questions and not beating around the bush… and Hinshaw sucked up to that excuse bs from Dave too, really sad to see…

I lost all respect for him when he grabbed Hiller’s stick.

So does he think he deserved and qualified for the games and just decided to not go? I couldn’t really tell from his answers.

There was someone else, who knew they couldn’t meet movement standards (elbow lockout on thrusters) and withdrew due to that instead of making excuses or trying to sneak by. His name is Andrew Hiller

Imagine how Chris would have felt if they guy that beat him in Kona shorted the swim course to show off his bike abilities or any other combination? Get real dude.

So hard to climb, so easy to fall.

I thought crossfit is about quality movement. The quality of his movement is observably low. As a 62 yr old 'athlete' I understand mobility related challenges. The ethical options to respond to such problems include putting in the time to address the issues, or accepting the ability to perform certain movements are in the rear view mirror and retire from competition. It doesn't include talking to HQ to get a pass (unfair to other age group competitors) or obviously failing rep standards and hoping for a pass. At some point, the body can no longer do what it once did. We will all get to that place. There are no 66 year olds in the NFL.

Not asking about Hiller is bad. You didn’t ask any tough questions. WTH

All roads lead back to narcissism.

what a narcissist. admit your wrongs and move along.

Every box has the guys that go fast, move like 💩, and have super competitive personalities. They are annoying but harmless. We know when the open comes around they will be no repped into submission or claim an injury and not participate. Dave is harmless. CrossFit bares the burden of holding him to standard.

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IF YOU WANT SOME REALLY GREAT STORIES ABOUT THE MASTERS - GO TALK TO THEM. Ask Cal Cherrington how he fixed his bad knees. Ask how Will Powell almost drowned during the Games swim event in 2017 and how one of his competitors, Bob Caslan, stopped racing to save his life. Ask how many competitors have survived cancer, heart issues, lung issues and so much more. And they ALL have mobility issues - but they hit the standards. And almost all of them have full-time jobs that prevent them from working out all day. Being a top-level CrossFit athlete is hard. It's SUPPOSED to be hard. However, it should be fair. Judge all athletes the same. If that means that ALL the 65+ athletes don't have to hit depth or lockout, that would make sense - but it can't just be Dave. And quite frankly, most of these guys are hitting the standards at the top level. Last note - almost all of my clients are age 50-70 years old. I tell them that I don't care how heavy their Deadlift is if they can't stand up straight when they leave the building and I tell them to quit being a baby and take the time to LEARN TO DO IT CORRECTLY. That's what we do in CrossFIt.

This isn’t about crushing someone’s spirit, it’s about having enforceable standards. Who cares if he is a former champion or has a number of injuries. The standard is the standard. I’m a 61 YO powerlifting World Champion with over 18 orthopedic surgeries, 2 heart surgeries and 2 herniated disks. When I step on the platform, no one cares about any of that. I must meet the standard. If he doesn’t whine then he becomes inspirational. He has blown his credibility and that’s what he should be distraught about

This interview is as cringe-worthy as David's submitted videos. Just feel the humbling and move on. Being close to past parallel in your squats and close to full extension is never going to be a good rep. You agree that your movements weren't meeting the standard so doesn't that mean this conversation is really about your hurt feelings and ego. It seems if CF was "just a hobby" you wouldn't be doing all this talking.

Disappointing.

This is a farce and now this platform has lost Credibility! He is the exact person people fear of becoming with cf….all he does is list off injuries from competition, how it’s effected his life . He takes no actions to rehab he just pulled out after being called out. This guy is the biggest participation trophy winner in the sports history. The hosts pretending to be enamoured by him was so far from genuine…he should call it a day she has some hope Did he pay for this episode? I have seen more of him then the pros when they pull out

What a terrible interview!! How about actually addressing the fact that he did a large number of no reps and should not have actually qualified for the Games in the first place? The criticism he received was deserved 🤷🏻‍♀️ I appreciate he’s in great shape for his age but if you can’t do the movements to standard then you shouldn’t go to the Games. That’s the standard we expect of all athletes (including his competitors) so why is he any different? And yet the whole video is praising how great he is 🙄 #boreoff Also - how is he a showcase of what ppl can do if they look after themselves, when he lists his many injuries during the interview & again, CANT DO MOVEMENTS TO STANDARD.

Khalessi …🤦🏽‍♀️

I would hope he is transparent and mention he didn’t meet movement standards. Anything else would be disappointing.

Great interview Lauren! I love CH’s dedication to a friend. Longevity, health and community is why most of us CrossFit. We have to remember that in Dave’s case we’re talking about the sport of CrossFit. He knowingly put out videos of himself with less than stellar range of motion… etc and got upset when he was called out? How far do we let the movement standard in competition degrade? Should the movement standards be adjusted for masters athletes?

I mean .. I'm going off his dm's to Hiller but blaming injuries for not hitting standards where you have a religion being made out of absolutely flawless perfect reps... You're going to get some fire for it. But this was big for him to do. I doubt myself or anyone else would publicly talk about it.

Thank you guys so much for this! I'm 62 and have been doing CrossFit for about 7 years. My highest place was 360 in my age group in Open. Just over a year ago I had a pulmonary embolus and deep vein thrombosis in my leg. I am just starting to feel better trying to get to the gym at least 4-5 times per week. Dave, your story motivates me to keep trying and see what I can do in my 60s. I am a medical doctor with at least 3 more years to practice so I am also facing the challenges of balancing work and sport as I overcome my health challenges. I love your attitude regarding listening to your body and making good choices. Good luck in 2023!

Dave is just getting mauled by the 'spirit' of competition. There is no interest in longevity beyond the next competition. He needs to welcome the clear message to stop chasing competition and find that he can still rebuild his movement capacity. It's just not going to be constantly varied at high intensity.

The burden lies with CrossFit to set a standard and hold the standard. Then the athletes do their best to compete and let the cards fall where they may. Putting the burden on the athletes is what cause this negative cycle. Lastly, Chris Hinshaw is always great to hear from. Always so mindful and insightful.

Whilst as a master's athlete I do have some empathy with the way Hippensteel feels about not qualifying however this is because he is now aware that his range of movement isn't good enough anymore. It's no big deal as I am in the same position at 59 years old however I have never been as successful as him, he obviously identifies as a CrossFit champion his response to criticism actually demonstrates he is human first. Unfortunately, the CrossFit world can develop a toxicity that is complex to an outsider to understand, personally I have withdrawn from my local CrossFit gym because of this toxicity but continue to follow a CrossFit program at home and continue to stay fit and healthy which ultimately is the goal isn't it? Although I do think he was caught out not following the rules and he should admit it rather than a load of excuses and truthfully, I respect Hinshaw at a coach, what he is doing some enabling Hippensteel in this little story he has going on in his head.

The 🦇 Andrew Hiller shone a light on you and my respect to Hinshaw is far less now. BRUTAL how him playing victim and you both playing with him. I’m a masters athlete and this guy is suppose to hold a standard. Thinking he can get by on his excuses makes me ill.

But Crossfit is so healthy?! He talks lo longevity but fucked all joints up doing it. Other than that, we all have our flaws and shortcomings. Let‘s not bash one another. Hippensteel said his spirit was crushed, that’s not easy for a man to say. He made himself pretty vulnerable in this interview. So he surely suffered. It‘s enough now.

I would say he pulled out because he didn’t want any more kids?

Dave I am 54 and a crossfitter from Scotland I run 2 businesses and you are.an inspiration. Keep doing what your doing. Chris your totally correct he is carving the way out for us.

Hinshaw comparing Hip to Froning. Omg just that statement alone wiped out his credibility.

David, thank you 🙏 for sharing. I believe it comes down to the “Why?” and there’s a physical and mental price to pay by pushing our bodies over the years. Greg said it the best for me, my why? (not phrased): I would gather be kicking ass, as a 90 year old than living medically assisted to 125 years old. I look forward to learning more from you.

I’ve always respected Hippensteel. His story is so encouraging and it makes me want to keep up my fitness well into my fifties and sixties.

Yawn