A former high-ranking employee of CrossFit Inc. has announced she will be returning to the fitness company, weeks after resigning due to the continuous backlash received over racism remarks.
Nicole Carroll, co-director of training and the longest-tenured employee of CrossFit, made the announcement in an Instagram post Monday.
Although her Instagram account is set on private, Morning Chalk Up reported on the same day that Carroll made an online petition asking to return to the fitness company now owned by incoming chief executive officer Eric Roza.
“Just over three weeks ago I resigned my position with CrossFit. Today (Monday), I could not be happier to make the announcement that I am returning,” Carrol said.
“Walking away from something I spent so many years helping build; my livelihood, the only career I’ve known and a team whom I love dearly, was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make; both personally & professionally.
“While it may have appeared that a single issue or instance prompted my leaving, this was not the totality of it.”
Caroll vowed to “focus in the present and hope for the future,” thanking Roza, a longtime affiliate owner and veteran CrossFit athlete, for the encouragement and optimism they have shared over recent conversations.
“There is hope and healing in the air for the community. There is an authentic commitment to creating a healthy & inclusive company culture, mending relationships, innovating forward, and restoring a sense of pride in the CrossFit name. I want to be part of this future,” Carroll added.
On June 24, former owner Greg Glassman sold CrossFit to Roza after stepping down from his post following the backlash over his George Floyd remarks, adding insult to the injury with his “FLOYD-19” tweet response.
Glassman forwarded the said tweet to the Health Metrics and Evaluation, which classified racism and discrimination as a public health issue.
Floyd, a black man, died in police custody last May 25 in Minneapolis, Minnesota amid the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
“A line has been drawn to where each of us will be held accountable for words that do not represent who we have been,” Carroll said in a letter sent to her seminar staff team. “Our loyalties will come into conflict with our values; individually and as a community. We will be subjected to defend ourselves against all manner of attacks.”
“The pain and lived reality of the black community has been mocked, and the sincere hurt, confusion, anxiety & hopelessness that I know many of you feel over current events has been disregarded,” she added.
In the “greatest of her conscience,” Carroll said she cannot stand to be put in an unconscionable position of having to choose between livelihood with something she does not believe in amid the “greatest economic and social instability” not only felt by the USA but all over the world.
With the recent development, Carroll, Roza and the rest of the team, hope to ignite a huge change in CrossFit’s culture and restore the confidence of the fitness company and its community.