The Redeemed and The Dominant: Fittest on Earth

I really like Crossfit and I watch these games (the whole thing) every year. In this documentary, as in previous versions, there was a lot of great action: dominating performances, close finishes, the works. Also, I love a good competitive tussle, and the drama between the two top women (I won't give it away) was fantastic.Nevertheless, I was disappointed in this installment of the series for a couple of reasons. BEWARE: THE FOLLOWING COMMENTS CONTAIN SPOILERS.First, the cruelty with which the producers went out of their way to shame Ricky Garard was repellent. Granted, what he did was wrong. He cheated. The consequences were deserved: his reputation in the sport was ruined when the facts were disclosed and he was stripped of his third place finish; his ability to compete in the sport was effectively ruined when he was banned from competition for four years (perhaps half his prime competitive years, perhaps more than half). These punishments were deserved, though I believe the suspension was over-long.What I find unacceptable is the way the filmmakers and Crossfit spokespeople went out of their way to humiliate Garard. They made sure to include his responses to their "do you use steroids" questions, repeatedly. Then, after it was announced that he had used PED's, they repeated his negative responses and included more. Why? There could have been no other motivation than to rub his face in it. They also included negative statements about the practice by stars of the sport (Fraser, Davidsdottir, et. al.). That is simply humiliation, and it is mean-spirited and base. It was also a waste of camera time.I was appalled that the film showed Garard's family rooting for him. Why drag them into it? Was Garard's humiliation not enough for Castro and company?It would have been better to simply point out at some point that his performance was enhanced and spend as little time as possible showing him as victor in the events he won. More time ought to have been spent on showcasing Vellner's performances. Why have the bio of Garrard and no bio of Vellner? More about Vellner, in my opinion, is always a good thing and it would have made for a much more positive, uplifting film.Castro implied in his comments that it is possible to cycle off PED's in such a way as to "beat" the tests, with the result that some "clean" athletes may nevertheless have benefitted from PED's. Fraser pointed out that drugs are certainly part of the sport. So, Garard's real crime may simply have been poor timing.A related point. Much was made about the cheating in the assault-bike/sledge-hammer event (I forget its actual name). Evidently, some competitors figured out that they could hook and pull the weight and move faster. As the technique was being shown, we were treated to voice-overs intoning how terrible it was that these people cheated. Brett Fikowski complained that he hadn't done it and lost points thereby; Mat Fraser applied the memorable epithet "dinklenuts" to the wrongdoers. The horror! The problem is, no-one called them on it. Were there no referees? Had Castro, in spite of all his testing, failed to anticipate that this might be a likely strategy? People watching must have seen it: the fact that no-one at the time disqualified the "draggers" means that no-one but the athletes thought it was cheating at the time. It seems petty and vindictive to call them "cheaters" after the fact.One last point: Athletes of the caliber of Fraser, Davidsdottir and, yes, Garard, are enormously competitive. They want to win. A particular temptation to which many of these athletes must be subject is the use of any technique or substance to gain an edge on the competition. Fraser and Davidsdottir have not allowed themselves to succumb to the temptation, or perhaps they don't experience it to the same degree as other athletes. Whatever the reason, they deserve our admiration. On the other hand, the fact that Garard did so well and nearly got away with it seems to have triggered a reaction bordering on scapegoating. As for Castro and the other Crossfit spokespeople, they are understandably anxious that nothing taint the brand. I get that, but they seem to have seized on Garard's misfortune as a way to say to the world that the brand is pure. It is a natural human response, but not a pretty one.I love watching the games and I have enjoyed past documentaries based on them, but the PED and cheating drama detracted from the quality of this edition. There is plenty of mean-spiritedness and not enough forgiveness in the world; this edition of "The Fittest" contributes to the problem.

I love CrossFit so I’ll watch anything CrossFit. If your into CrossFit I recommend it

Enjoyed it!! Very informative, entertaining and worth the watch!!!

Such impressive human beings, captured in their true essence by such impressive filmmakers.

It’s a Buttery Bros documentary 💪what’s not to like

Really enjoyed this CrossFit film, every aspect showed an interesting and unique angle to some incredible storylines within a 2-hour time span. The film covers the story of the higher level competitors, the first time a podium athlete tested positive for PEDs, and the approach of the competition as the Games week unfolded. In specific, the film follows Tia-Clair Toomey, Mat Fraser, Kara Webb, and Sara Sigmundsdottir, and features interviews from a handful of others. CrossFit did a great job of keeping the spotlight on those who were and are moving the needle in popularity recently. It's not a "catch-all" round robin of interviews for all well-known athletes. It was awesome to see the interviews and the mentality of the athletes over the course of the Games week; ups and downs, emotional intensity and physicality pushed to its limit, it's an incredible grind we got a front row seat to. Highly recommend if you're interested in seeing several of these top-level athletes in their element.

Enjoyed it for the most part, but the whining from Fraser and Fikowski over the assault banger was painful. It didn't seem like Castro thought that event through and the judging staff obviously was not well versed in what to be looking for. Calling Sanchez and Olson cheaters was petty AF. If your judge isn't no repping you, then how do you know you're doing it wrong? I blame HQ for that debacle. Wish they would include the other 70 athletes, I'm curious to see what their lives are like as well.

I liked the glimpse into the lives of these athletes. There's no denying the hard work they have to put in to perform at the level they are on. The documentary theme circles back on drugs in Crossfit a few times more than I cared for, and all I learned from this was that no one is going to admit it because its against the rules, and if/when an athlete gets caught they immortalize your cheating on their website for eternity.