Rulebook - Athens Throwdown

ATHENS THROWDOWN 2024 RULEBOOK

To participate in any stage of Athens Throwdown, every athlete must agree to any and all Rules and Policies, including, without limitation, the Assumption of Risk, Publicity Release, Waiver & Consent form, all of which are incorporated herein by reference and to the decisions of the Athens Throwdown which are final and binding in all respects.

Changes in policies, regulations, requirements, and standards may be made at any time without advance notice. Therefore, the ultimate responsibility for knowing Athens Throwdown requirements and regulations rests on competing athletes. Please refer to the Athens Throwdown rulebook for the latest, up-to-date information.

Registration

Registration for the Individual and Team Event will open on 01/12/2023, 12:00 o’clock (local Greek time) and remain open until 14/01/2024, 23:59 (local Greek time). Athens Throwdown reserves the right to extend the registration deadline if it deems it necessary.
Individual athletes will be able to register for the Online Qualifiers.
Team athletes will be able to register directly for the Finals.
All personal information must be entered for each athlete separately during registration. Please ensure the correct contact email address is entered for each athlete, as this will be our main form of communication! Please double-check that it's accurate if you're entering on behalf of someone else!
Once the qualifier workouts have been released, athletes will not be able to change from one division to another. Team athletes can’t change division at any stage.
Registration fees are non-refundable for no reason. Registrations are non-transferable for no reason.

Competition Categories

Individual athletes will compete in the following categories:

Male & Female Elite - Open for all ages.
Male & Female Scaled - Open for all ages
Male & Female 35+ (must be 35 years + on or before the 12th of May 2024)
Male & Female 40+ (must be 40 years + on or before the 12th of May 2024)
Male & Female 45+ (must be 45 years + on or before the 12th of May 2024)
Male & Female 50+ (must be 50 years + on or before the 12th of May 2024)
Male & Female 55+ (must be 55 years + on or before the 12th of May 2024)
Teenage Boys & Girls 18- (must be under 18 years till the 10th of May 2024)

Team athletes will compete in the following categories:

Team Elite Men – Teams consisting of 2 Male athletes
Team Scaled Men – Teams consisting of 2 Male athletes
Team Scaled Mixed – Teams consisting of 1 Male and 1 Female athlete

If a division has insufficient registrations, Athens Throwdown reserves the right to cancel that category. In such a case, all registered athletes will be refunded.
Athens Throwdown reserves the right to merge two divisions of the same sex in case of insufficient participants. For example, Female 45+ and Female 50+. In such a case, registered athletes will not be refunded.
Athens Throwdown also reserves the right to cancel a Team category and transfer its participants to the corresponding individual category. For example, Team Elite athletes can be transferred to the Individual Elite category. In such a case, registered athletes will not be refunded.
At the end of the Individual online qualifiers, a total of 608 individual athletes will be advanced to the finals.
There will be no qualifiers in the Team event: the first 128 Scaled Men Teams, 112 Scaled Mixed Teams, and 80 Elite Teams to register will be invited to Athens, Greece, for the finals.
All teenage boys and teenage girls must have a written statement from their parents or coaches during the finals check-in, allowing them to participate in the Athens Throwdown finals!
Important notice: Athletes ranked for two consecutive years among the top 5 scaled men, and the top 3 scaled women are obligatorily promoted to the elite division!

Dates

Registrations for all divisions will open on Friday, 1st of December 2023, at 12:00 (Greek local time) and will remain open until Saturday, 14th of January 2024, 23:59 (Greek local time). Athens Throwdown reserves the right to extend the registration deadline if it deems it necessary.
In the Individual event, there will be two qualification workouts announced on 15/01/2024, 09:00 (Greek local time). All athletes must submit their scores by 31/01/2024, 23:59 (Greek local time). Athletes can complete the workouts as many times as they wish.
Once the deadline for the workouts is over, an athlete will not be able to adjust, submit or re-submit any score for these workouts.
The 608 best Individual athletes will be invited to Athens, Greece, for the finals on 10-11-12/05/2024.
There will be no qualifiers in the Team event! The first 128 Scaled Men Teams, 112 Scaled Mixed Teams, and 80 Elite Teams to register will be invited to Athens, Greece, for the finals on 10-11-12/05/2024.
All athletes in both individual and team events will compete on all three days of the finals!

Qualifiers

The Individual Online Qualifiers for the Athens Throwdown will comprise a series of workouts, released on the official Athens Throwdown website (www.athensthrowdown.com).
Athletes must perform their online qualifiers at a location of their choice and submit their videos online. The Athens Throwdown Judging Team will review all videos.
Videos must be uploaded to YouTube under public privacy settings. Athletes then submit the public link of each video on https://pieceofgame.com, along with their respective scores.
Athletes must adhere to all the guidelines provided by the Athens Throwdown Team for each Qualifier Video, including the required filming angle. Repetitions, exercises, or workouts that don't meet the standards or are unclear may be judged as NO REP.
Athletes are solely responsible for ensuring their workouts are submitted successfully and on time. Incomplete or non-functioning submissions will not be accepted, and late scores are disallowed.
If an athlete encounters technical issues when submitting a score, they must email judges@athensthrowdown.com before the deadline, providing their name, score, and the video link. Emails received after the deadline will not be considered.
Athletes may complete and submit workouts as many times as they wish until the deadline!
Once the deadline has passed, athletes will not be permitted to adjust, submit, or re-submit any scores for these workouts.
The Athens Throwdown Judging Team reserves the right to approve or reject any video submitted by any athlete without warning.
The Athens Throwdown Judging Team will perform the final validation of all scores.
Athletes have one day after the leaderboard is published to file an appeal. After the deadline, no appeal will be accepted.
Registration fees are non-refundable, and registrations are non-transferable without exceptions.

Scoring

The Athens Throwdown website will host the only official Leaderboard for Online Qualifiers and Finals.
In the finals of 10-11-12/05/2024, all athletes begin the event with zero (0) penalty points.

Advancement

Following the conclusion of the Individual online qualifiers, a total of 608 athletes will be invited to advance to the finals.
Qualified athletes will receive an email announcing the limited time frame they have to accept their place and purchase their athlete ticket to compete in the finals. If an athlete does not accept and purchase within the designated time, their place in the finals will be offered to the next athlete in the ranking.
If a qualified athlete fails to accept their place in the finals within the specified time, they may request to be included in a subsequent round of invitations, if places are still available. For example, athletes from the first round of invitations can re-enter in the third round, athletes from the second round can re-enter in the fourth round, and so forth.
Wild cards may be awarded under exceptional circumstances (health issues, injuries, etc.).

Finals

Athens Throwdown finals will run on 10-11-12/05/2024. All individual athletes and all teams will compete on all three days.
If an individual athlete or a team cancels its participation in the finals, Athens Throwdown has the right to offer the spot to another athlete/team.
Each team reserves the right to replace up to one athlete before their check-in at the finals. This change will incur a corresponding fee.
All individual athletes are required to check-in at the venue on Thursday, 09/05/2024, between 19:30-20:30 local Greek time. Should an athlete miss the initial check-in, a final opportunity will be available on Friday, 10/05/2024, between 07:00-07:30.
All team athletes are required to check-in at the venue on Thursday, 09/05/2024, from 18:00 to 19:00 local Greek time. If a team misses this initial check-in, a final opportunity will be available on Friday, 10/05/2024, from 07:00 to 07:30.
Athletes are allowed to authorize a third party to check them in. This representative must present the athlete's original ID/passport to complete the process.
If any registered athletes or teams fail to check-in at the designated times, their spots may be offered to Lucky Athletes. Lucky Athletes are required to be present at the stadium on Friday morning, 10/05/2024, between 07:30-07:45, and declare their interest to compete. Any available spots will be offered to individual athletes based on their ranking in the qualifiers, and to teams based on a first-come, first-served basis, depending on when they declare their interest.
Before entering the arena for each workout, athletes will receive a separate briefing on the respective workout from the Athletes' Managers.
Registration fees are non-refundable for no reason. Registrations are non-transferable for no reason.
It is the sole responsibility of the athletes to attend the arena(s) and/or their lane in time to compete. If they don't, for any reason, then they can't compete in a different Heat and/or time. Athens Throwdown reserves the right to change the heat/competition time of an athlete if deemed necessary.
At the end of each day of the finals, the heats will change based on the individual athletes’ and teams' performance, and they will be published at https://pieceofgame.com.
The Athens Throwdown Judges Team has final authority on all Athlete Event Protest rulings.
Attendees (spectators, athletes, coaches, etc.) are not allowed to use drones during the finals for any reason.
Nothing in these rules, including Event Protests, Scoring Discrepancies and Event Movement Standards, Range of Motion Judging applications, should be read as a limitation on Athens Throwdown's right to run or operate any Athens Throwdown supported, sanctioned, licensed, or sponsored event as it sees fit in its sole and absolute discretion and the Athens Throwdown Judges Team and the Athens Throwdown say is final. This includes the right to remove or disqualify any Athlete at the Athens Throwdown sole and absolute discretion, and they will not be allowed to ask for a refund or compensation.
All athletes agree to compete in a sportsmanlike manner. Unsportsmanlike behavior, such as arguing with an official or representative of Athens Throwdown, taunting, heckling, fighting, or any conduct which would bring disrepute upon Athens Throwdown, the competition, other athletes, or spectators or event sponsors, as determined by Athens Throwdown, in the eyes of the viewing public or the community, may be grounds for a penalty, suspension, disqualification, removal from the event, disqualification from future events or legal action.
Any action that prevents another Athlete from having a fair opportunity to compete (e.g., abuse or alteration of equipment, refusal to follow instructions) or that interferes with Athlete and Event Judge Communication (e.g., external noise devices, bull horns, air horns, etc.) impedes on their ability to enjoy their experience, or is generally disruptive to the event, is not allowed.
Athens Throwdown is not responsible if the Greek State or the local or international authorities request that the event must be postponed or must be canceled as a result of a Force Majeure event (including, but not limited to, natural disasters, epidemics, national or European elections, etc.). If the Greek State or the competent authorities request that the event must not take place for any reason, a new date will be set by Athens Throwdown at the same or another location. Athletes' participation and spectator tickets will be automatically transferred to the new date, and both athletes and spectators will not have to pay any extra fees. Athens Throwdown is not responsible for any charges that may be incurred to athletes and/or spectators for costs to third parties (including, but not limited to, hotels, airline tickets, archaeological access tickets, cruises, etc.).

Appeals

Only athletes have the right to submit an Appeal during the finals, within two hours of completing their workout, and only after paying an Appeal Fee of 50 euros in cash. The necessary condition for the examination of the Appeal is completing the form in Annex 1.
If the Appeal’s result is in favor of the athlete/team, they will be refunded. The Head Judge Manager reserves the right to reject an Inquiry, and all their decisions are final without further dispute.
Athens Throwdown will accept no Inquiry after two hours from the end of the workout.
Videos, photos, cell phone media, or any other media will NOT constitute grounds for changing or modifying an Event Judge's decision, score, or entry. The Athens Throwdown Judge Team may ask for any related media, but its availability may not guarantee use or admissibility in the overall decision process.

The following are examples of events or actions an athlete can appeal:

Issues related to counting, data errors, or equipment failures. The following are examples but do not represent an exhaustive list:
- Scorecard or leaderboard data inconsistency or error
- Counting inconsistencies or error (e.g., the total number of repetitions
- completed was incorrect)
- Loading inconsistency or error
- Course markings or directional travel inconsistencies or error
- Equipment or monitor failure that was not the responsibility of athlete
- Event movement or order miscommunication or action by judge
- Action of another athlete or person which impeded the athlete’s progress

The following are examples of events or actions an athlete cannot appeal:

Live judgment calls and “no reps” by the judge. The following are examples but do not represent an exhaustive list:
- Most range of motion faults (end ranges of repetitions)
- Depth of a squat
- Extension of hips, knees, or arms
- Stabilization of lift or equipment overhead

Notes:

Certain critical reps may also qualify for review; for example, a legless-rope-climb touch or handstand-walk segment. Due to the prolonged time needed to complete these movements compared to other, faster movements (e.g., repetitions of a push press), appeals involving a disputed “no-rep” may need to be considered in these cases.
Typically, athletes cannot raise an appeal against another competing athlete. However, egregious errors brought to the attention of the competition team might be investigated in the interest of fairness.

Tiebreaking policy

In case of a tie between two or more athletes during the event, the following tiebreaking policy applies:

Step 1: Athens Throwdown first considers which athlete won most of the workouts. The one with the most workouts won is the winner of the tie. If there is still a tie between the athletes, we proceed to Step 2.
Step 2: Athens Throwdown examines which athlete ranked at 1st place more often. The one with the most 1st place rankings is the tie winner. If there is still a tie, we proceed to Step 3.
Step 3: Athens Throwdown examines how many times each athlete ranked 2nd to break the tie. The one with the most 2nd place rankings is the tie winner. If there is still a tie, we proceed to 3rd position, 4th, etc.

Drug policy

Athletes disqualified from CrossFit Games for performance-enhancing drug usage are not allowed to participate in Athens Throwdown as long as their ban applies.

In addition, Athens Throwdown has the right to cooperate with international anti-doping organizations if requested. If requested, athletes taking part in the event will have to collaborate on their behalf and participate in drug-testing programs. If an athlete evades, refuses, or fails to submit to a drug test, then Athens Throwdown has the right to ban him/her from the event, and he/she will not be allowed to ask for a refund or compensation.

Prizes

A minimum total cash prize of 55.350 euros will be awarded to the winners of Athens Throwdown 2024! In addition to this, more than 3.500 euros will be given in sponsors' gifts. Specifically:

Individual event

Elite Men

1st place: 8.000 2nd place: 3.000 3rd place: 1500 4th place: Medal & T-Shirt 5th place: Medal & T-Shirt

Elite Women

1st place: 8.000 2nd place: 3.000 3rd place: 1500 4th place: Medal & T-Shirt 5th place: Medal & T-Shirt

Scaled Men

1st place: 500 2nd place: Medal & T-Shirt 3rd place: Medal & T-Shirt 4th place: Medal & T-Shirt 5th place: Medal & T-Shirt

Scaled Women

1st place: 500 2nd place: Medal & T-Shirt 3rd place: Medal & T-Shirt 4th place: Medal & T-Shirt 5th place: Medal & T-Shirt

Masters Men 35+