Ricky Garard

Australian athlete Ricky Garard is arguably the most controversial case in recent CrossFit history.

Garard tested positive in 2017 after a podium finish (3rd place) in the CrossFit Games.

"Any mistake you make in life is not final. You can always turn it around." - Ricky Garard

2024

ROGUE Invitational

Receives invitation to participate in the ROGUE Invitational 2024

Down Under Championship

Participates in pairs with the Spanish Aniol Ekai and win the competition.

1.- Aniol Ekai + Ricky Garard 695
2.- Jake Douglas + Jake Marconi 595
3.- Calum Clements + Pablo Cazalis 527

TYR Cup

Ricky declined to participate in the TYR Cup in order to recover from the ankle injury he suffered during the CrossFit Games 2024.

CrossFit Games 2024

He sprained his ankle coming down the pits in the CHAD event, but still finished 7th overall.

Following the passing of Lazar Djukic, Ricky dedicates a post on Instagram to him:

You will always be in my heart, Lazar. I still have a hard time accepting what has happened 💔. You were the first athlete to reach out to me during my first competition after my suspension, making me feel welcome again when I was full of doubt. That simple gesture showed the kind of person you were: kind, genuine and always concerned about others. I wish I could have told you how much it meant to me. From that day on, I always respected you and we became good friends, sharing scores during the Open and Quarterfinals, and remembering the good times we had competing against each other. I always looked forward to seeing you at the competitions: talking nonsense, having fun and facing each other. Even when one of us won, we always did it with respect, and we could laugh about it afterwards. You were a great partner and a great person - this is unfair! I'm going to miss you, Lazar. Every time I see a picture of you, I just can't believe it. I still feel pain for Anya, Luka and your family. Rest in peace, brother.

We saw him prepare the Gamess in Las Vegas together with Alex Gazan and Aniol Ekai.

Oceania Semifinals

Ricky was crowned champion of the Semifinal Torian Pro in the Oceania region, ending Jay Crouch's streak of two consecutive victories. In fact, the Australian had joked that he wanted to break Crouch's winning streak, just as he had done previously with Vellner in Wodapalooza.

Garard finished all events fourth or better, in addition to achieving 2 victories.

Quarterfinals

Winning the quarterfinals in its region for the third consecutive year

Open

He was second in his region.

Wodapalooza

Repeat individual victory in Miami and later he was 4th in a team of 3 together with Dallin Pepper and Jayson Hopper.

2023

Dubai Fitness Championship

Despite a difficult start to the competition, placing 25th in the steeplechase, his determination led him to make an impressive comeback that placed him in 4th place at the end of the second day.

On the final day, he reached his best performance: he finished second in the first race and achieved two victories in the following races, which allowed him to secure second place on the podium behind Roman Khrennikov.

ROGUE Invitational

He recovers in time to participate in the ROGUE Invitational and achieves a creditable fifth position. He had not participated in a live competition since his victory at Wodapalooza at the beginning of the year.

End of season 2023

Shortly after the Quarterfinals, and with just over a month to go before the on-site Semifinals, Ricky suffers a fall on his bike and undergoes shoulder surgery. Unfortunately, he misses the rest of the 2023 season.

Wodapalooza

He won the individual competition with 689 total points, followed by Roman Khrennikov The two played a duel throughout the competition that was finally won by the Australian.

The Australian took the $75,000 first prize.

2022

Dubai Fitness Championship

He decides not to participate in Dubai to be ready for Wodapalooza.

ROGUE Invitational

3 bad results made him finish in 10th place.

CrossFit Games 2022

Five years after his first participation, Garard returned to compete in the CrossFit Games.

Held the leader's jersey for 9 events and came close to winning the competition. He won event 1 of bike and The Capitol. In addition, he finished 6 events in the top 5. However, some mistakes dropped him to 3rd place on the podium.

He repeated the same place as in 2017 when he was penalized for failing doping controls.

Return to on-site competitions

After serving his 4-year punishment out of official CrossFit competitions, he participates for the first time in a live CrossFit event, the Torian Pro Oceania Semifinal.

In the first race, he went all out and we saw him fall exhausted as he crossed the finish line.

He had to be attended to by the medical team but was able to return to the competition 13 minutes before the start of Event 2.

He finished 2nd in the competition and received his pass to the CrossFit Games 2022.

His coach, Justin Cotler

Justin Cotler of UnderDogs athletics told the Coffee, pods & wods podcast that Ricky Garard was the athlete he would like to coach. From that point on, Justin and Ricky began conversations to see how they could work together.

Ricky confesses that Cotler has helped him regain the confidence to be among the best athletes in the world.

Negative anti-doping test

During the season, a number of athletes undergo a anti-doping testincluding Ricky Garard, and is negative.

2021

His penalty ended in October 2021 and he received a controversial invitation to participate directly without qualifiers in the Dubai Fitness Championship.

He finished in 3rd place, which gave him great confidence for his return to official competition.

4 years sanction

Shortly after receiving his suspension, he thought it was a sign to resume his professional rugby career. He moved to Yeppoon, Queensland to sign for a team and try to fulfill his dream of playing in the NRL, the national rugby league.

After 2 matches, the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority notified the club that Ricky would not be able to play until he served his CrossFit sanction.

With no sponsors and financial difficulties, he worked as a coach at F45 Training Yeppoon until he decided to return home to his parents.

He tried to stay motivated and committed to keep training, with the intention of coming back and being able to become the winner of the CrossFit Games. However, he also confesses that it was a very hard time and he even thought about quitting everything.

2017

3rd in CrossFit Games 217

At the age of 22, he participates for the first time in the CrossFit Games, after qualifying 2nd in the Oceania region.

He was awarded the Rookie of the Year award (given to the best-performing first-time athletes), and finished in 3rd place, making it onto the podium.

After returning to Australia, Ricky was informed that he had failed his anti-doping test during the Games. All his achievements were withdrawn and he was sentenced to 4 years without being able to participate in official competition.

Garard acknowledges that it was his fault and took full responsibility for what happened.

Nevertheless, he faced those years in the best possible way and assures that his potential could make him the Fittest on earth with or without taking those substances.

What did Ricky Garard take?

Ricky Garard tested positive for SARMSspecifically Testolone and Endurobol.

Testolone (RAD-140) promotes increased muscle mass and/or bone density.

Endurobol burns excess fat tissue, improves recovery and dramatically increases endurance.

Garard acknowledges that he had no idea that what he was taking could be grounds for a penalty. He claims that he was unaware that a supplement he bought at his local store would cause him to lose his third place in the Games.

I would visit the supplement store and ask the guy what he could take to improve his strength, recovery, and he would just take it.

However, the salesman contacted him and told him that he was not sure if he might have a problem and that it would be better to stop taking it 10 days before the competition.

Ricky thought everything would be fineI had, after all, bought something from a shelf in the store and was not injecting anything into his vein.

2016

2 points behind at Regionals prevented him from qualifying for the CrossFit Games.

Received a no-rep on a rope climb at the last wod which dropped him from 4th to 6th place, leaving him out of the race.

Brands

Positive for Ben Garard

Interestingly his brother tested positive a few years after Ricky's scandal. He was also banned for 4 years and has not returned to competition.

History before CrossFit

Ricky Garard is the youngest of 4 siblings. He lived on a farm with 2 hectares of land, cows, horses and lots of fields.

As a child, he liked to practice many activities and whenever he had the opportunity, he skipped classes to have fun playing sports.

His first modality was soccer at the age of 5, although he only practiced it for 1 year. From 5 to 7 he switched to field hockey.

When he turned 16, he joined a gym to improve his physical condition to compete in Rugby, a sport he had been playing since he was 8 years old.

At the age of 18 he got to know CrossFit and participated for the first time in the 2012 Open. From that moment on, he got hooked on this discipline after seeing that his strength, speed and power improved a lot when he transferred it to Rugby.

The time came when he began to enjoy CrossFit more than Rugby, also, his brother Ben Garard participated, in 2015, in the CrossFit Games. Ricky traveled to the United States to see Ben's participation and it was at that moment when he discovered that he wanted to participate in the biggest event of this sport.

One of his passions is riding a bicycle. He explains that he always went to school by bike and for this reason he is always good at events with this element.