Last summer, Australian CrossFitter Ricky Garard took home an Individual podium finish at the 2022 CrossFit Games. This year, the veteran CrossFitter will have to take some time away to recuperate before he can enjoy that kind of performance again.
On Apr. 6, 2023, Garard revealed in a YouTube video that his 2023 CrossFit season is over after suffering a recent shoulder injury. At the time of this article’s publication, the precise severity of Garard’s ailment is unclear. However, he received surgery to repair a torn acromioclavicular joint (or AC joint) from falling off a mountain bike. In turn, his ensuing recovery of four to six months will knock him out of the rest of the 2023 CrossFit season.
Garard didn’t mince words describing how the nature of this injury hit his sensibilities. After spending four years away from CrossFit competitions following a suspension related to performance-enhancing drugs, the athlete was undoubtedly hoping to build on his 2022 podium result.
“Pretty disappointing,” Garard said. “I’m still trying to take it all in and realize what’s actually happened … I came off my mountain bike, landed on my shoulder, and ruptured my AC joint. So, a fair bit of damage resulted in me getting surgery just two days ago now. It’s looking like I’m out for four to six months recovery … 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.”
While Garard’s injury will force him out of the 2023 CrossFit Games on Aug. 3-6 in Madison, WI, the Australian didn’t rule out a return to later-year competitions outside of the CrossFit season paradigm. For example, the 2023 Rogue Invitational, which does not have a concrete date at the time of this writing, could be in play depending on how Garard’s recovery unfolds.
Given that the contest has taken place in October for the past two years, that could be when the CrossFit world sees Garard compete again.
“I will work for coming back at the end of the year, possibly Rogue [Invitational], Dubai [CrossFit Championship], Down Under [Championship], Miami [the 2024 Wodapalooza],” Garard clarified. “There are still plenty of competitions.”
Garard has made two CrossFit Games appearances in his career, in 2017 and 2022. He was subsequently disqualified from the 2017 iteration for performance-enhancing drug issues but earned his best-ever podium result in last year’s edition. Garard finished in seventh place worldwide during this year’s CrossFit Open and placed first in the Oceania region and Australia.
Garard likely had ambitious plans to build on his third-place performance in the 2022 CrossFit Games. He’ll have to wait until the year 2024 to come back strong and in an ideal top form.
Featured image: @rickygarard on Instagram
