The FBI, under the leadership of Director Kash Patel, is officially launching a high-stakes competition to identify the bureau's fittest male and female agents. The federal law enforcement agency is set to crown the single fittest agents in the country, as first reported by Politico.
Competition Details
The grueling two-day showdown is scheduled for early July at the Quantico Training Academy in Virginia. An FBI spokesperson confirmed the event, stating that all 56 field offices across the nation are being actively encouraged to nominate their best candidates. Each office will put forward one male and one female agent to represent them on the national stage.
To qualify for the main event, hopefuls must first prove their worth at their local offices by surviving a punishing mix of physical and mental drills. The bureau frames the intense, multi-day competition as a unique way to foster camaraderie while keeping elite agents in peak physical condition.
'Personal fitness is key for FBI employees, and this initiative provides a new and creative team-building experience at the FBI's Training Academy,' an FBI spokesperson said in a statement.
Director Patel Under Scrutiny
Patel is currently navigating a wave of damaging headlines regarding his drinking habits, sparked by an April Atlantic expose that alleged 'excessive drinking and unexplained absences.' The report claimed that Patel's late-night partying frequently forced aides to reschedule morning meetings, and it even alleged that his security detail once had to request breaching equipment after failing to wake him from behind a locked door.
Compounding the controversy, a viral video from February captured Patel chugging a beer with the US men's Olympic hockey team in Milan. NBC News reported that President Trump was personally displeased with the locker-room antics. Patel has vehemently denied all allegations and has since filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit against The Atlantic.
Presidential Fitness Focus
President Trump has made fitness a cornerstone of his agenda in schools. At an Oval Office event earlier this month touting the new Presidential Fitness Test Award, which offers students a performance-based fitness prize, Trump remarked on his own exercise. 'I work out so much. Like, about one minute a day, max. If I'm lucky,' the President joked as some Cabinet members and students stood behind him.
The President signed an order to reestablish the President's Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition as well as the Presidential Fitness Test last year. The action paves the way for all US schools to begin awarding the new prize to students. The national fitness exam began in the late 1950s until 2013, when President Obama replaced the test with another exam. The test involves running or walking one mile, as many sit-ups as possible in 60 seconds, push-ups or pull-ups to failure, a shuttle run, and stretching.
