Former CrossFit Games medical volunteer says he was banned in 2015 for speaking out about safety concerns | barband

When Kara Saunders (then Webb) collapsed after crossing the finish line of Event 3, “The Murph,” at the 2015 CrossFit Games on Friday, July 24, it was clear she needed immediate medical attention. need to

• It’s a moment in gaming history that many remember And one that will be remembered after Lazar Dukić’s death at the 2024 CrossFit Games, nearly 10 years later.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aa-6lAe4emY

Adam Schulte was a sports medicine volunteer on the EMS/medical team in 2015 (as well as at regionals and games in 2013 and 2014) and raised the alarm about health and safety concerns, both of his The year before and after the Murph results. .

• But most likely don’t know his name Because after he published an opinion piece critical of CrossFit on the T-Nation website in late July 2015, Schulte was never invited to work at a CrossFit HQ-sanctioned event.

The death of 28-year-old Dukich has prompted many in the CrossFit community to speak out and recall past instances that may have raised bigger red flags than they thought.

“An outcome we were not prepared for”

Schulte, known as the Drop-in Doc, is still part of the CrossFit community. His clinic, a full-service, affiliate-based primary care center, is located inside Resolution Crossfit in Yorba Linda, CA.

But years before that, he was a proud volunteer at the CrossFit Games.

• Love and interest in sports It brings him back to the games every year to help people in the community.

It wasn’t until 2015 that Schulte’s concerns as a medical professional reached a breaking point.

• “When I saw this happen to Murph… [it was an] Results we weren’t prepared for,” Schulte told Morning Chalk Up in an interview.

Schulte recalls seeing Icelandic athlete and two-time Games champion Annie Thorisdottir during Murph’s second mile. As he walks with her, he notices that her skin has a white, gray appearance and he says that she looks out of place.

Torresdottir eventually withdrew due to the heat at the end of the next day of competition.

Sanders’ fall is well-documented, but another competitor that year, 18-year-old Maddie Myers, also relapsed hours after Murph and was hospitalized with rhabdomyolysis, a condition that your Muscles break down without long-term exercise. Rest, often aggravated by exposure to heat.

However, according to Schulte, medical professionals did not have the authority to exclude an athlete from competition.

• “We didn’t have the freedom to do it. It was basically, ‘Hey, if a player is still running, you ask them if they want to continue,’ and you just let them continue,” Schulte says.

Emily Abbott, a contestant on The Games in 2015, also shared her thoughts on Murph with Emily Beers, currently a senior writer on Morning Chalk Up.

At the time they spoke in 2015, Beers was writing for the sports nutrition company, Bluenex.

“Abbott told me that she felt it was a terrible event and the worst thing she had ever done in her entire life,” Beers recalled in her 2015 interview.

• Abbott also told the Bears in 2015 that, “My fingers literally blistered and blistered on the bar because it was so hot. I had to get four stitches after this incident.

Bluenex published the interview on July 24, but the next day, Abbott contacted Bears, scared and upset because, she said, CrossFit Games president Dave Castro had chastised him at an athlete briefing that morning (Saturday). , July 25) against all other competitors.

• In a Facebook message to the Bears, Abbott said Castro “took a piece out of me.” And requested that the interview be removed from the Bluenex website as soon as possible.

“damaged goods”

Although Schulte had expressed his concerns to CrossFit after his experience at the previous games and regionals, Murph’s results were enough to prompt him to write his T-Nation op-ed and post-2015 season of athletes. expressed serious concern for

In the article, Schulte painted a negative picture of CrossFit HQ and what he perceived as a lack of interest in giving medical professionals a seat at the table or creating a medical oversight department.

In an op-ed, Schulte noted heat hand injuries among athletes during Murph’s run:

• “The staff of the CrossFit Games did not provide any protective covering However, it is a known mechanism of injury for many masters athletes in the 2014 Games.

These are the same “wounds” that Abbott referred to in her 2015 interview with Bear.

The article received considerable attention at the time. In an email from T-Nation, obtained by Morning Chalk Up, the article, which was published in late July, received more than 200,000 views in 24 hours. According to the last email, the article had 407,000 unique views as of September 24, 2015.

Even before writing the T-Nation op-ed and before the 2015 GamesSchulte contacted the head physician at headquarters — Dr. Mike Ray, co-founder of CrossFit Flagstaff and medical director of the CrossFit Games — who oversees the medical teams at the event.

In a May 13, 2015 email to Dr. Ray, Schulte requested further clarification on the Emergency Preparedness Plan (EAP) and expressed concern “that non-medical personnel may … Prevent or limit the delivery of indicated medical care within their area of ​​expertise.

Given these differences, Schulte also felt “concerned about liability issues as a volunteer physician.”

• “Many efforts to reach members Inquiries from headquarters about this have been met with resistance,” Schulte said in an email.

Schulte received a lengthy response from Dr. Ray on May 14, 2015, in which Dr. Ray denied any responsibility for involvement in the EAP or regional competition. [a stage of the Games season at the time].

• He acknowledged Shulat’s concerns And he added: “The culture at CrossFit HQ, starting at the top, reacts very hard and very negatively to feeling threatened, harassed, directed, manipulated and/or manipulated.”

Later in the email, Dr. Ray said: “You’re facing resistance because you’re being too strong, using language that suggests they’re doing it wrong, including veiled threats about liability, and that you all They know you will correct them and you face resistance because they question your motives.

He went on to insist that Schulte would no longer be welcome in any regional or sporting preparations “under any circumstances whatsoever”. And Dr. Ray said that while Schulte’s concerns may have been valid, his approach was all wrong.

• “At this point I believe you are damaged goods. Dr. Roy wrote. However, it is unclear who at CrossFit would have made the decision to exclude Schulte specifically. Although Schulte still worked the 2015 Games, it would be his last.

In early 2016, Schulte tried to volunteer on the medical team for the CrossFit season, but Dr. Ray confirmed in an email that he would not be selected.

• “You may have a valid message before last year’s games, but it was lost in the way you presented it,” Dr. Ray wrote in an email dated February 5, 2016.

After that email exchange, Schulte added an update to his T-Nation op-ed. Written:

“I recently received word that CrossFit will not allow me to participate in a volunteer capacity this season. It is universal. This means that staff members have been told that I will not be participating in any regionals. Incidents are not part of the medical team service.

“If it’s wrong, it’s always wrong”

While Schulte’s relationship with headquarters may have been strained, he went on to make one of the most impactful changes at the CrossFit affiliate level through the Drop-in Doc.

However, Schulte told the Morning Chalkup that he felt guilty about not being able to communicate his concerns effectively with headquarters in 2015.

• “If only I could find the right wordsthe right way. Again, I don’t think any of us, whether we are athletes or volunteers, would have noticed them and gotten them to make complete changes,” says Schulte. “But it should be the death of the athlete. Don’t get to the point where now their hair is on fire and they feel like everything needs to change.”

As the dust settles on the 2024 Games and the tragic death of Lazar Dukić, athletes have had time to reflect, with many coming out and speaking out against the headquarters and the unsafe actions they have taken in the past.

• A voice is by Brent Fikowski, President of the Association of Professional Fitness Athletes, sports veteran and vocal advocate for athlete safety.

Schulte tells us he’s glad athletes are starting to talk and align with the same concerns he raised about ten years ago, but at what cost?

• “It makes me sick to my stomach to say this. But I hate that it takes such catastrophic events to motivate them [athletes]but I think it’s encouraged now because it makes them so mad and upset that they don’t care about the consequences anymore,” Schulte says.

Athletes have a moment of clarity and “crunch the numbers and say, ‘If it’s wrong, it’s always been wrong.'”

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Featured Image: Scott Fremond