Crossfit Games 2021: Gold Coast’s Urban Health & Fitness gym owners stranded in US with young families

The parents of four children stuck overseas with no path home to the Gold Coast made a critical error, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said. WHAT THEY SAID >>>

Gold Coast athletes (from left) Johann and Katelin Van Zyl with Adam and Jaylee Mansy. They have been left stranded in the US after competing at the 2021 Crossfit Games. Picture: Supplied.

The Department of Foreign Affairs say the families of Gold Coast crossfit athletes stranded in the United States should have been aware of the risks before booking their flights.

Gold Coast’s Urban Health and Fitness gym owners Adam and Jaylee Mansy, and Johann and Katelin Van Zyl, were caught out when their transit home via New Zealand was cancelled in the wake of the Delta variant outbreak.

The couples, who brought their four kids and a babysitter for an 18-day holiday while they competed at the international CrossFit Games in Wisconsin in late July, have now been in the US for one month.

A Government official with knowledge of the situation said with Australians at greater risk in other parts of the world, including India and Turkey, Australians stranded in safety in the US were low priorities for a rescue flight.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said a global ‘Do not travel’ warning had been in place for 16 months before the Crossfitters flew out.

“The Australian Government continues to work hard to assist Australians return by helping them access scheduled commercial flights within passenger caps and through organising facilitated commercial flights, above the existing passenger caps,” a statement read.

“Commercial flights continue to operate from the United States. Under the National Cabinet agreement of July 2, the passenger caps were halved, which affects the number of seats available. The Australian Government continues to help Australians access available seats on scheduled commercial flights.”

A Government official said financial assistance would become available if the Gold Coast families became desperate.

Adam Mansy, 35, said his group passed that point a week ago.

“Everything is coming out of our own pockets and our families pockets. Accommodation is costing us $500 a day as we need 3 rooms for everyone,” he said.

“Everything is coming out of our own pockets and our family’s pockets,” Mansy said

“As adults we can manage and get by but our children are suffering the most…

“The stress on us builds everyday not knowing when we can return. Our money is low and unsure of our next move.”

The families relocated to Florida to wait for an available flight home.

The state recorded 21,669 new cases of Covid-19 on August 17, around one-fifth of the nation’s total.

The Mansy’s and Van Zyl’s were vaccinated before leaving Australia.

‘Kids homesick, scared’ while stranded overseas

TWO Gold Coast families who travelled to the US to represent Australia in the global Crossfit Games have been met with silence from the government after becoming stranded by international border closures.

Adam and Jaylee Mansy, and Johann and Katelin Van Zyl, raised more than $50,000 to fund a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to compete at the Games, finishing seventh from more than 1300 competitors.

When New Zealand suspended the trans-Tasman border bubble their tickets home via Auckland on August 7 were cancelled, forcing the group of nine to fork out more than $500 per day in accommodation for an indefinite wait for the next available flight home.

With money “low” and stress building, the two families, with four children under the age of 11 and support staffer Chloe Monks, reached out to the Government for aid.

“All they say is we can’t help you,” said Adam Mansy, co-owner of two Urban Health & Fitness Crossfit gyms in Burleigh and Southport.

“Our flights were booked home so we had no worries that we wouldn’t be able to return (when leaving).

“We had to apply for all 9 exemptions, get everyone Vaccinated, get children passports, find staff to run our 2 gyms and raise over $50,000 for the trip.

“(There was) no doubt in anyone’s mind that our country wouldn’t let us back in after representing our country at the highest level in Crossfit, with only a few people that ever get this opportunity.

“This achievement is up there with competing in the Olympics but we are being treated like rubbish.

“We would have never left our country if we knew this.”

The group, which includes the Mansy’s children Rio (11) and Moki (10) and the Van Zyl’s Hunter (3) and Knox (7 months), have relocated to a Florida hotel to wait for the backlog of flights home to clear.

Capacity on flights home is capped at 12, creating major delays as all scheduled flights home are already full.

With no end in sight the group’s accommodation and Covid testing bills are bleeding them dry.

The group has spent more than $2,000 on Covid tests to produce negative results that are now invalid.

“As adults we can manage and get by but our children are suffering the most.

“Homesick, scared and missing their schooling for the year.

“The stress on us builds every day not knowing when we can return.

“Our money is low and we are unsure of our next move.”

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade have been contacted for comment.