With the Open and Quarterfinals stages of the 2023 CrossFit Season completed, the list of athletes who qualified for the next stage, the Semifinals, has narrowed down significantly. However, even some of those athletes who qualified have been forced to reject the invitation for the Semifinals. The newest and arguably the most shocking statement of withdrawal came from Ricky Garard. Ricky revealed that he will miss out on the remainder of the 2023 CrossFit Season due to a shoulder injury.
Having won a bronze medal at the last year’s CrossFit Games, Ricky garard was one of the main contenders for this year as well. However, as per his YouTube video, Ricky was involved in a mountain bike incident. After falling off his bike and assessing the injury, it was specified that he ruptured his Acromioclavicular joint, thus requiring surgical treatment. One portion of Ricky’s recent video also displayed him in the hospital bed saying how he cannot believe what has happened.
“Pretty, pretty disappointing. Still trying to take it all in and what’s actually happened… I come off my mountain bike, landed on my shoulder, and ruptured my AC joint. So, a fair bit of damage resulted in me getting surgery.”
Shoulder injuries are always very complex, and Ricky Garard’s is no exception. This injury will require 4-6 months of recovery, which is long after this season concludes.
“That means my season is gone for 2023. So, yeah, it is devastating. I can’t really believe that it’s happened to be honest.
Watch Ricky Garard’s video here:
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Ricky Garard plans on returning at the end of the year, hoping for a potential appearance at the 2023 Rogue Invitational. So, it seems that his year might not be completely destroyed.
“I will work for coming back at the end of the year, possibly Rogue, Dubai, Down Under, Miami. There is still plenty of compentitions.”
Ricky Garard also addressed how this injury is even more difficult for him mentally, especially since he could not compete from 2017-2021 due to a doping test fail. He only came back to competing last year, and still managed to secure a third place finish at the 2022 CrossFit Games.
It’s a shame that Ricky Garard’s season is ending early, since he already managed to win the 2023 TYR Wodapalooza. However, he will hopefully deal with it well and return fully prepared for his comeback competition.
Ricky Garard’s career has not had many highlights, despite the fact that he is one of the fittest men on earth. He managed to claim bronze in the 2017 CrossFit Games, but the medal was taken away from him after the failed doping test. Since then, Ricky was not seen to much on the highest stage, but 2022 was definitely his breakthrough year.
Related: Ricky Garard Takes First 2 Events of 2021 Dubai CrossFit Championship
One positive takeaway from this situation is that Ricky Garard’s surgeon managed to complete the operation with minimum invasion possible. So, that chopped of some recovery time for Ricky, enableing him to make plans for the end of the year.
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