Constantly reminded the Brent is the best possible ambassador for the sport. To give such a considerate interview after a whirlwind of the games and seemingly no time to recharge is incredible. Everyone is rooting for him and the athletes
Truly one of the best videos I’ve seen regarding the games this year. It paid tribute to Lazar in such a wonderful way while showing the struggles the athletes were faced with emotionally on how best to honour lazar’s memory and yet still grieve his loss. Thank you 🙏🏻
RIP Lazar. Great to just sit and listen to this interview. I remember when Brent saved Mat Fraser during a swim event some time ago. Respect to Brent for being willing to discuss his thoughts on possible changes. Without change there can be no improvement.
I’ve always been a fan of Brent since I started watching CF. He is such a great leader and drives for change. His actions speak more to me and any persons “words” ❤ Thanks TEF for posting these. RIP Lazar
in a few weeks/years I won’t remember who won this year games but i’ll forever remember how brent fikowski pat vellner and chandler smith acted in this though situation. this is not about them and this won’t ever bring lazar back, but it’ll be remembered. class acts!
Brent you are a stand up guy with raw emotion passion and remembrance. I love you keeping Lazar real, human, funny, good spirited. Say his name, Lazar.
Brent is possibly the most important athlete in CrossFit’s existence. His dedication to trying to improve the sport’s safety is remarkable, and to have any of his reasonable requests fall on deaf ears is scary. I started working with CrossFit is 2007 when it was in its infancy and I stepped away in around 2012/13 citing concerns around the skyrocketing injury rates, basically the sport was evolving but in my opinion not always for the better. Because of the random nature of the programming coupled with the short time to become accredited it was hard to monitor quality. Brent is doing what needed to be done at all levels of CrossFit years ago. I still love CrossFit but believe it’s a type of training that deserves great respect and responsibility.
I can make the argument you are fitter than James Sprague. He had benefit of competing against friends of Lazar. He barely knew him which made it easier to disconnect and get better sleep and focus on working out. Lazars friends were no where near their peak. Spragues win comes with a huge asterisk.
“Right number of people in the water” I’ve heard these comments and similar, and they may be valid concerns, but irrelevant in this tragedy. Lazar wasn’t in a section of water that had nobody. He was right next to paddleboarders. The lack of dive team or EMT is also a moot point. They didn’t fail to save him, they failed to notice he needed saved. I don’t want to add to any guilt or anguish, but with this specific incident, how long are we going to skirt around asking quest about the paddleboarders. Did the fail? Or did CF fail to adequately brief them. I understand reluctance to ask those specific questions. It’s very raw. But why instead do we talk about other safety concerns than weren’t actually relevant to this incident?
Inertia is the principle tool used by people and organizations that don't want change. Make it really hard by forcing those who want to improve things do all this extra work.
"not have them going to an employe's personal youtube account to try and find what the hell is going on" The fact that Dave and some other people don't understand how this is an issue is beyond me. Brent is trying so hard to create a profissionalize medium of communication and workflow. He must be so frustrated. I hope he understands how important he is for the growth of the sport. What a good dude!
All they needed was competent life guards who weren't just volunteering, I'm really sorry to be so blunt but damn it was such a basic mistake of safety not being performed.
Safety should NOT be a concern for athletes. It's 100% the organizer's responsibility and CFHQ simply didn't honor it. Let's just hope accountability is enforced and people are brought to justice.
Remove CF CEO Don Faul and replace with Mike Burgener. Remove Dave Castro, and replace with Henry Rojas. Program more skill, quit chasing these boring a marathon workouts and lame rucks
Constantly reminded the Brent is the best possible ambassador for the sport. To give such a considerate interview after a whirlwind of the games and seemingly no time to recharge is incredible. Everyone is rooting for him and the athletes
💯 Brent and Pat can lead the change. They are great all around humans. Rooting for them!
Man, Brent is a good dude. Thanks for sharing.
What a standup guy. The CrossFit community is very lucky to have Brent.
Everyone needs to watch this. This was a good interview about some really tough things. Appreciate Brent for speaking out ❤️
Brent is an incredible ambassador for the sport, for the athletes and the PFAA. This was an outstanding interview. ❤️
Some leaders are appointed, some lead naturally. Brent's a natural leader, one CF needs
Truly one of the best videos I’ve seen regarding the games this year. It paid tribute to Lazar in such a wonderful way while showing the struggles the athletes were faced with emotionally on how best to honour lazar’s memory and yet still grieve his loss. Thank you 🙏🏻
This interviews are precious. Thanks Talking Elite Fitness.
RIP Lazar. Great to just sit and listen to this interview. I remember when Brent saved Mat Fraser during a swim event some time ago. Respect to Brent for being willing to discuss his thoughts on possible changes. Without change there can be no improvement.
Brent.. keeping it real! Very honest and thoughtful!
I’ve always been a fan of Brent since I started watching CF. He is such a great leader and drives for change. His actions speak more to me and any persons “words” ❤
Thanks TEF for posting these. RIP Lazar
Thanks!
You're a good man, Brent. Lazar was lucky to have you as a friend.
Congratulations 🎊🎉 Brent Fikowski on winning 🥉 3rd place at the CrossFit games I’m proud of you dude 😎💪🏾
in a few weeks/years I won’t remember who won this year games but i’ll forever remember how brent fikowski pat vellner and chandler smith acted in this though situation. this is not about them and this won’t ever bring lazar back, but it’ll be remembered. class acts!
Thank you!
Brent you are a stand up guy with raw emotion passion and remembrance. I love you keeping Lazar real, human, funny, good spirited. Say his name, Lazar.
Thank you Brent.😢❤
Everyone who is raising a boy should listen to the difference between Brent and Sevan after the tragedy. The goal is to make men like Brent.
Yes.
So many good points made
Brent is possibly the most important athlete in CrossFit’s existence. His dedication to trying to improve the sport’s safety is remarkable, and to have any of his reasonable requests fall on deaf ears is scary. I started working with CrossFit is 2007 when it was in its infancy and I stepped away in around 2012/13 citing concerns around the skyrocketing injury rates, basically the sport was evolving but in my opinion not always for the better. Because of the random nature of the programming coupled with the short time to become accredited it was hard to monitor quality. Brent is doing what needed to be done at all levels of CrossFit years ago. I still love CrossFit but believe it’s a type of training that deserves great respect and responsibility.
I can make the argument you are fitter than James Sprague. He had benefit of competing against friends of Lazar. He barely knew him which made it easier to disconnect and get better sleep and focus on working out. Lazars friends were no where near their peak. Spragues win comes with a huge asterisk.
“Right number of people in the water” I’ve heard these comments and similar, and they may be valid concerns, but irrelevant in this tragedy. Lazar wasn’t in a section of water that had nobody. He was right next to paddleboarders. The lack of dive team or EMT is also a moot point. They didn’t fail to save him, they failed to notice he needed saved.
I don’t want to add to any guilt or anguish, but with this specific incident, how long are we going to skirt around asking quest about the paddleboarders. Did the fail? Or did CF fail to adequately brief them.
I understand reluctance to ask those specific questions. It’s very raw.
But why instead do we talk about other safety concerns than weren’t actually relevant to this incident?
Inertia is the principle tool used by people and organizations that don't want change. Make it really hard by forcing those who want to improve things do all this extra work.
"not have them going to an employe's personal youtube account to try and find what the hell is going on" The fact that Dave and some other people don't understand how this is an issue is beyond me. Brent is trying so hard to create a profissionalize medium of communication and workflow. He must be so frustrated. I hope he understands how important he is for the growth of the sport. What a good dude!
All they needed was competent life guards who weren't just volunteering, I'm really sorry to be so blunt but damn it was such a basic mistake of safety not being performed.
Safety should NOT be a concern for athletes. It's 100% the organizer's responsibility and CFHQ simply didn't honor it. Let's just hope accountability is enforced and people are brought to justice.
🤍
Remove CF CEO Don Faul and replace with Mike Burgener.
Remove Dave Castro, and replace with Henry Rojas.
Program more skill, quit chasing these boring a marathon workouts and lame rucks
🪽