Garrard will be sidelined until at least the next CrossFit competitive circuit.
Last summer, Australian Crossfitter Ricky Garrard took home an individual podium finish at the 2022 CrossFit Games. This year, the seasoned CrossFitter will have to take some time off to recover before enjoying that kind of performance again.
On April 6, 2023, Garrard revealed it in a YouTube video His 2023 CrossFit season is over after a recent shoulder injury. At the time of publication of this article, the exact severity of Garrard disease is unclear. However, the athlete maintained that he needed surgical intervention after tearing his acromioclavicular joint (or AC joint) in a fall from a mountain bike. in turn, His recovery after four to six months 2023 will rule him out for the rest of the CrossFit season.
Garrard did not mince words to describe how the nature of this injury struck his sensibilities. After spending four years away from CrossFit competitions following a suspension related to performance-enhancing drugs, the athlete was no doubt hoping to build on his 2022 podium result.
“Very disappointing,” Garrard said. “I’m still trying to take it all in and realize what actually happened. … I came off my mountain bike, landed on my shoulder and ruptured my AC joint. So, I had surgery just two days ago as a result of some minor damage. It looks like I’m out for four to six months of recovery. … That means my season is gone in 2023. So, yeah, it’s devastating. I honestly can’t believe it’s happened.”
While Garrard’s injury will rule him out of the 2023 CrossFit Games on August 3-6 in Wolverhampton, WI, Australian CrossFit has not ruled out a return to later-year competitions outside of the season. For example, the 2023 Rogue Invitational, which does not have a specific date at the time of this writing, could be in play depending on how Garrard’s recovery unfolds.
With the competition held in October for the past two years, that could be when the CrossFit world sees Garrard compete again.
“I’ll work on getting back at the end of the year, maybe Rogue [Invitational]Dubai [CrossFit Championship]below [Championship]Miami [the 2024 Wodapalooza]” Gard clarified. “There’s still a lot of competition.”
Garrard has appeared in two CrossFit Games in his career, in 2017 and 2022. He was later disqualified from the 2017 repeat for performance-enhancing drug issues, but scored his best podium result at last year’s edition. Garrard finished seventh worldwide at this year’s CrossFit Open and first in the Oceania region and Australia.
Garrard had ambitious plans to build on his third-place showing at the 2022 CrossFit Games. He will have to wait till 2024 to come back stronger and in ideal top form.
Featured Image: @rickygarard on Instagram
