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Aiken’s Games appearance this year came to an abrupt end.
Shannon Aiken, the reigning Men’s 60-64 Champion from the 2022 CrossFit Games, has withdrawn from the 2023 iteration. Aiken’s news comes per an ongoing withdrawal tracker from CrossFit HQ. Aiken withdrew during the Gymnastics “Chipper” workout due to undisclosed reasons. As a result, there will officially be a new champion crowned in the Men’s 60-64 class toward the weekend in Madison, WI. At the time of this article’s publication, it is unclear why Aiken withdrew from the contest.
According to his resume on CrossFit’s website, Aiken began competing as a professional CrossFit athlete in 2014 in the Men’s 50-54 category. He would seemingly only continually improve from there.
In 2015, he qualified for the Age Group Quarterfinal for the first time. By 2017, he started nothing consistent top 10 finishes in said Quarterfinal. That was also the same year he won his first CrossFit Games title in the Men’s 55-59 category. Aiken fell just short of a repeat performance in 2018, taking home the runner-up to Brig Edwards. After a short Games hiatus, Aiken then regrouped with a title in the Men’s 60-64 class in 2022. His withdrawal once again ends a shot at a hopeful repeat for one of the better Age Group athletes at the Games over the last approximately half-decade.
For what it’s worth, Aiken wasn’t the only athlete to withdraw on Wednesday; it all happened during the same workout. Lars Kristensen (Men 35-39), Chelsea Nichols (Women 35-39), and Veronika Voříšková (Girls 16-17) also pulled out around the same time.
At the time of this writing, the Men’s 60-64 Age Group class appears to be a three-horse race between Eric Cohen (360 points), Stuart Swanson (360 points), and Tony Turski (350 points) with two events remaining until the contest’s end. Aiken leaves behind a sizable chasm that someone will have to fill at the 2023 Games, and it just might be one of these athletes.
Featured image: @shannonbaiken on Instagram