CrossFit hands Dani Camacho two-year ban over judging violation

Dani Camacho’s decision to judge a 2026 Age-Group Online Semifinals workout without the required credential cost him two full CrossFit seasons, and it wiped Nerea Arregi’s scores off the board in one of the year’s most severe rule-enforcement cases.

CrossFit sanctioned Camacho, the head judge and Arregi after determining that Camacho served as the floor judge for a Masters athlete even though he did not have an active CrossFit Level 1 or CrossFit Online Level 1 credential, plus the required Advanced Judges Course certificate. That violation hit at the heart of the online qualification system, where CrossFit requires both the Head Judge and Floor Judge to meet those credential standards before a score can stand.

The punishment was sweeping. Camacho, the head judge and Arregi were all barred from participating in any CrossFit Games season event, as an athlete or judge, from May 7, 2026, to May 7, 2028. For Camacho, that means the ban reached beyond one disputed score and removed him from the competitive picture for the entire season cycle, including the events that lead through the Open, Quarterfinals, Semifinals, CrossFit Games, Masters CrossFit Games and Teenage CrossFit Games.

The consequences for Arregi were immediate and measurable. CrossFit removed her Online Semifinals scores, took down her leaderboard videos and dropped her to 145th overall in the 2026 Semifinals standings. She is listed by CrossFit as a Women 55-59 athlete, and the sanction turned what should have been a season-defining checkpoint into a voided result.

The timing underscored how tightly online qualification is policed. The 2026 Age-Group Online Semifinals began on May 7, 2026, and athletes had until May 11, 2026, at 12 p.m. PT to complete all five workouts and submit scores. CrossFit also requires Age-Group Semifinals athletes to post publicly viewable YouTube videos, and the company says all Semifinals scores are subject to review, with discrepancies potentially leading to penalties or rejection.

Camacho later said he was judging an athlete he works with and that his L1 certification appears to have expired. He had also planned to compete at the MAD Fitness Festival before the sanction stopped him from doing so. For CrossFit, the case showed why judging credentials are more than paperwork: when an online result is challenged, the fallout can stretch from one rep count to an athlete’s entire season.