Recently Dave Castro has suggested that the biggest setback for CrossFit as an organisation was the firing of their media team and the cancelation of social media channels. Correct words, but that doesn’t follow through with his actions.
Castro has taken a step forward in highlighting individuals going to the Games. In a series of interviews, he has talked with every athlete going to Texas to compete for the title of Fittest on Earth. Hats off to the man.
He is also leading the programming of individual events for the 2024 CrossFit Games. Meaning he is basically in charge of everything athletes will go through during the weekend that unveils the winners of the Games.
So, when talking with those athletes, at the end of each interview, they get to ask Dave Castro questions. And this is where things get interesting, but with recent events it also has filled us with a sense of “all talk and no work” feeling.
Let us explain.
When talking with Norwegian athlete Jacqueline Dahlstrom, she asked if Dave Castro would have done anything different with CrossFit knowing what he knows now – and he mentioned the firing of their media team back in 2018.
“Knowing where we are now, there was a point when we shut down our social media handles and we got rid of our media team. That, I believe, set us back and then set us on a path of… Literally, if you look at that moment in 18, 19 [2018, 2019] when we shut down our media, our social media, started getting rid of our media teams, it kind of set us back. And it feels like we’ve been rebuilding and recovering from that.”
According to Dave Castro, the Open numbers and athletes participating was climbing up and it went down right after the media team got fired. “I mean like big picture, content creation media, all of that, more than just our social media accounts.”
Back then, a team of about 100 people were let go between 2018 and 2019.
“I understand that I have a big following int his community and I don’t take my Instagram number and think I’m some sort of big celebrity or star.”
It is interesting he says all that. He knows he has a big following on Instagram (757 thousand at the time of writing), he is designing the individual workouts for athletes at the 2024 CrossFit Games and that getting rid of the media team was a mistake in the past.
All that sounds reasonable, but his wisdom is thrown out of the window as soon as something like releasing official information for the CrossFit Games, typically a breaking news story, gets published on his Instagram account before anywhere else.
The Dave Castro Hypocrisy with the Media
Dave Castro probably doesn’t understand the damage and hypocrisy it is to say it was sad to see the media team getting fired, but then breaking news on his personal Instagram account.
Why is BOXROX bringing this subject now. Because we are part of the media that has been having to deal with this problem for years now.
Dave Castro famously blocks those who criticize him online from seeing his posts and if he shares breaking news about the CrossFit Games, it is only fair to demand that information to be made public.
Yes, we at BOXROX are one of the many, MANY, people who have been blocked from seeing Dave Castro’s Instagram account. And just this past weekend, Castro revealed individual event 8 for athletes for the 2024 CrossFit Games. Where else is that information? NOWHERE. Not on CrossFit’s official platform or even the CrossFit Games Instagram handle. I mean, come on, it is information pertaining the CrossFit Games and the handle doesn’t say anything? Probably they shared it on their stories, but if you are not online, you simply wouldn’t know it at all.
And let’s not talk about the lack of professionalism when the individual event 8 was revealed. Dave Castro writing on a notepad.
First you get rid of the media team, the social media handles and say it was a mistake. But what has been done to mitigate that problem? Dave Castro releasing exclusive brand new information to a select few (those he hasn’t blocked).
You can’t say the media team has been restructuring and you are trying to build back that when you are actively undermining them. It should be the job of your media team, and ONLY your media staff, to release information that is crucial to other media outlets.
It seems like Castro enjoys being on the spotlight, despite what he said about knowing he is not a celebrity in the community.
This entire article from BOXROX is simply to ask Dave Castro to step aside from releasing official information about the CrossFit Games – or any of the events of the official season such as Open, Quarterfinals and Semifinals – and let the team do that through the official handles and official website.
For example, the first event released was Chad 1000x. And it was released on CrossFit’s official website and their Instagram handle – the way it is supposed to be.
Castro, you can still do your interviews with athletes and have some hints about workouts, but don’t pick up a notepad and start writing what an event will be and post it online. It doesn’t look professional and you are not helping the Sport.
image sources
- Dave Castro: Courtesy of CrossFit Inc.
