The first casualty of the 2024 CrossFit Games is the KT CrossFit Kolesnikov Team out of Russia. And it is what usually, unfortunately, happens to CrossFit athletes from Russia: Visa issues.
KT CrossFit Kolesnikov Team will not be going to the 2024 CrossFit Games after Andrei Fedotov, one of its members, had his visa denied to enter the United States – that is despite the team winning the Asia Semifinals this year and guaranteeing a spot in Texas this August.
Visa Issues Denies KT CrossFit Kolesnikov Team Going to the Games
A CrossFit team is comprised of four athletes who go through all the stages of the competition until they reach the CrossFit Games. And usually, a team has one or more alternates to take over in case of an emergency, such as an injury or visa issues – but KT CrossFit Kolesnikov Team did not have extra members on their roster, thus, nobody is eligible to take the spot from Andrei Fedotov, making the team unable to compete at the 2024 CrossFit Games.
On his Instagram, roughly translated, Fedotov said his CrossFit career includes “one qualification for the Games, 3 US Visa refusals, 1 ruptured meniscus.”
Speaking to The Barbell Spin, Fedotov said he gathered all the necessary documents for the Visa office, but “it was not enough.”
Brian Spin also talked to Kamila Takeyeva, one of Fedotov’s teammates. She explained the reasoning for not having an extra member on the team roster, only four athletes.
“Of course, we could have had alternates from the beginning of the season, but we decided that we would either get there with this team or not go at all,” she said.
Visa issues are a recurring problem for Russian athletes and teams trying to make it across the globe into the United States. The most notable one is Russian powerhouse and current 3rd Fittest Man on Earth Roman Khrennikov.
The Russian CrossFit athlete has a long history of qualifying for the CrossFit Games, only to fail to get clearance to travel to the United States due to his Visa being denied. It happened 3 times already: in 2018 he won Europe Regionals, in 2019 he finished 5th at the Dubai CrossFit Championship and in 2021 after finishing 1st at the Last-Chance Qualifier. All the instances above granted him a spot at the Games, but he was not able to travel to compete in the United States.
