Dancer is putting on his Individual belt once more.
After coming in first place within the Men’s 35-39 division on the 2023 CrossFit Games in Madison, WI, Sam Dancer will return to competing in Individual Men for next 12 months’s CrossFit season. The athlete announced he would retire from the Men’s 35-39 Age Group (which is taken into account the beginning of Masters competition in CrossFit) and have again in Individual Men during his post-victory interview on Thursday, August 3, 2023.
CrossFit General Manager of Sport Dave Castro would confirm the identical news in an Instagram post, congratulating Dancer for making a successful “comeback” after a biceps tear ended his 2022 season. Castro applauded Dancer for taking over one other comeback effort to return to Individual competition in 2024.
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Here is precisely what Castro needed to say about Dancer’s battle through injury adversity and plans to return to competing as an Individual.
“It [Dancer’s Men’s 35-39 win] was quite a bit closer than his 70-point margin of victory suggests,” Castro wrote. “Between reconstructive surgery to repair his bicep and the arrival of his daughter, he took lot of day without work. Possibly an excessive amount of, Sam thought. When the 2023 season began, he was scared he wouldn’t be the identical anymore. He was right. He’s not. He’s higher. Which is why you won’t see Sam Dancer within the 35-39 division next 12 months. If all goes in line with plan, he’ll be making one other big comeback on the 2024 CrossFit Games to Individual competition.”
A seasoned CrossFit competitor, Dancer has not competed as a person because the 2016 CrossFit Games, where he got here in thirty second place. Within the Team Division, Dancer was a member of CrossFit Invictus X, which finished because the runner-up on the 2018 edition of the Games and would miss the cut the next 12 months. After a three-year absence, Dancer attempted to return in 2022 before his biceps injury forced him to withdraw.
Now, the athlete’s journey has come full circle with the Men’s 35-39 win and an ambitious Individual return plan.
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Every so often, CrossFit serves up an exquisite story of redemption like Dancer. Given his future Individual plans, this story is removed from over.
Featured image: @samdancing on Instagram