Hyrox

Last updated
HYROX
Current season, competition or edition:
Sports current event.svg 2023-2024 Elite 15
SportHYROX
FoundedNovember 2017
First season2019
Owner(s)Upsolut Sports
DirectorMintra Tilly
Competitors15 men, 15 women
Venue(s) Palais des Congrès Acropolis, Nice, France
Most recent
champion(s)

(2023-2024)
Most titles
QualificationHYROX Pro Event time, HYROX Major, HYROX Elite 15
Sponsor(s) Red Bull (2020–current)
Puma (2019–current)
Official website HYROX

HYROX is a fitness competition that combines 8km of running and eight functional workout stations. [1] It is an indoor hybrid fitness racing event that alternates running with functional exercises. It bills itself as "The World Series of Fitness Racing" and "A sport for Everybody". [2] [3]

Contents

A HYROX competition is made up of a one kilometer run followed by a functional exercise station that is repeated eight times for the eight different workout stations. [4] [5]

HYROX was launched by Christian Toetzke and Moritz Furste. [4] [5]  The first HYROX event was held in Hamburg, Germany in April 2018. [5]

History

HYROX was founded by Olympic hockey champion Moritz Fürste and Christian Toetzke, and first introduced in Hamburg, Germany in 2017. The first HYROX event had 650 participants. [6] According to Fürste, the original brief was “to create an event that is a 200,000-euro (about $214,000) production that looks like a 2,000,000-euro ($2,144,000) production”. [7]

The competition has since expanded worldwide, with 24,000 people taking part in HYROX events in London alone in 2023. [8] [6] In total, 65 races were held around the world in 2023, with 175,000 competitors taking part. [9]

HYROX affiliates

A network of Hyrox-affiliated gyms has been established, [10] and gyms pay a yearly affiliation fee to become a "HYROX training center". [11] There are around 2,500 HYROX-affiliated gyms in 2024. [12]

Sponsorship and prize money

2021 HYROX World Championships start line in Leipzig, Germany. Entire field at 2021 World Championships.png
2021 HYROX World Championships start line in Leipzig, Germany.

By Season 3 of HYROX (2020–2021) it had already attracted investments from Infront Sports & Media Group and sponsorships with global brands, Red Bull and Puma. [13] Prize money for the elite event has grown year over year. Other Major events have received prize payouts in addition to the World Championships. For the 202324 HYROX World Championship, the total prize purse was $150,000 split between the Male and female elite fields, with the winner receiving $25,000, [14] [15]

In 2024, HYROX announced a Relay event with representatives from 20 different countries as captains, with the freedom to pick their teams from any athlete of that country. At the World Championships in Nice, France the relay will take place as the final event with the winning team taking home $20,000 in prize money ($5,000 per athlete).[ citation needed ]

Format

HYROX combines running with functional exercise stations, where participants run 1 kilometer, followed by 1 functional exercise station, repeated eight times. Each race is hosted indoors in exhibition halls or convention centers. [16] Occasional events have been hosted outdoors, including Miami 2023.

This race format remains consistent across the globe, enabling global leaderboards & a cumulative World Championships at the end of each race season. [16] [17]

The functional exercise stations are consistent at every event where participants will complete the following: [16]

All participants complete the running and stations. Station weights and repetitions can differ based on the division. [16]

HYROX competitions

Many HYROX competitions are held around the world every year, and no qualification is required for athletes to these competitions. [19] Competitors may compete as a single, or in doubles as a two-person team, or in team relay. There are 4 divisions: women, women pro, men, men pro. For doubles, there are doubles women, doubles men and doubles mixed. [20]

Some of the larger weekend events are extended to two or three day affairs. The largest single day event took place in Birmingham, UK with 5,032 total finishers. The only event with more participants was the two day event in London in 2022 that had 6,270 participants. [21]

A number of important championships are held every year, including the European Championships and the North America Championships, but the most important one is the HYROX World Championships. [22]

World Championships

Elite Qualification System

3x World Champion, Lauren Weeks, at the wall balls station at HYROX EU Championships 2023 Lauren at EU Championships 2023 Wall Balls.png
3x World Champion, Lauren Weeks, at the wall balls station at HYROX EU Championships 2023

Competitors can qualify for the World Championships by becoming one of the Elite 15 in Individual Pro races. Those with the best time in the Pro division in a global leaderboard receive an invitation to the Elite race series such as the European Championships and the North America Championships. The podium finishers in these competitions qualify for the elite races in the World Championship. [22]

The first HYROX World Championships was held in Oberhausen, Germany, in 2019, with over 600 participants. [23] For the 2019, season 1, the World Championships Elite race was determined solely by the fastest times of the season up to that point.

The season 2 races in 2020 were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The official World Championships for that season had a condensed field that included the top 5 times of each gender plus one wild card invite of each gender. The wild card invites were from sport adjacent athletes and included Samantha Briggs (2013 CrossFit Games Champion) and Adam Klink (first male to squat 500-lbs and run a sub-5 minute mile in the same day).

For seasons 3, 4, and 5 (2021–2023), athletes qualified by placing top 3 at either the US Championships or the European Championships. The remaining slots were filled in by the top times of the season.

In season 6 (2023–2024), in order to qualify for the world championships, athletes needed to place top 3 in one of four "Major Championships" where roll down slots would happen for athletes already qualified but never past 5th place. All remaining spots are filled in by two "Last Chance Qualifier" events, where the first one chronologically will have less available spots than the later one. Qualification for the four major events is based on automatic qualifiers from previous seasons (US Champion, European Champion, Top 3 at World Championships) and the remaining spots are filled in based on time from Pro Division events. [24] [25]

Average finishing times for the elite women's field range from 58 minutes to 65 minutes, while the elite men's field times range from 53 minutes to 59 minutes. The general populace finish the race in the Pro division between 60 minutes to 120 minutes.[ citation needed ]

Champions by year

The World Champions of each season are listed here: [26] [27]

WORLD CHAMPIONS
SeasonYearLocationFemale ChampionFemale Winning Time (h:mm:ss)Male ChampionMale Winning time (h:mm:ss)
12018-2019Oberhausen, Germany Flag of Germany.svg Imke Salander1:08:08 (WR) Flag of Germany.svg Lukas Storath0:59:07
22019-2020*Hamburg, Germany Flag of the United States.svg Lauren Weeks1:09:47 Flag of the United States.svg Hunter McIntyre1:00:04
32021Leipzig, Germany Flag of the United States.svg Lauren Weeks (x2)1:03:43 (WR) Flag of Germany.svg Tobias Lautwein1:00:00
42021-2022Las Vegas, USA Flag of the United States.svg Kris Rugloski1:07:21 Flag of the United States.svg Hunter McIntyre (x2)0:58:05
52022-2023Manchester, UK Flag of the United States.svg Lauren Weeks (x3)0:59:51 Flag of the United States.svg Hunter McIntyre (x3)0:56:40
62023-2024Nice, France Flag of the United States.svg Megan Jacoby0:59:59 Flag of Austria.svg Alexander Roncevic0:56:21
Elite 12 - Hyrox World Championships 2020 Podium. Athletes left to right: Viola Oberlander, Lukas Storath, Lauren Weeks, Hunter McIntyre, Tobias Lautwein, Elisabeth Sarah Kholti, Tim Schroder, Samantha Briggs, Adam Klink, Marcus Frison Elite 12 Podium picture.png
Elite 12 - Hyrox World Championships 2020 Podium. Athletes left to right: Viola Oberlander, Lukas Storath, Lauren Weeks, Hunter McIntyre, Tobias Lautwein, Elisabeth Sarah Kholti, Tim Schroder, Samantha Briggs, Adam Klink, Marcus Frison
U.S. and North American Championships
SeasonYearLocationFemale ChampionFemale Winning Time (h:mm:ss)Male ChampionMale Winning Time (h:mm:ss)
32021Chicago, IL, USA Flag of the United States.svg Lauren Weeks1:05:18 (WR) Flag of the United States.svg Hunter McIntyre1:01:01
42022Chicago, IL, USA Flag of the United States.svg Lauren Weeks1:07:03 Flag of the United States.svg Ryan Kent0:57:45
52023Chicago, IL, USA Flag of Sweden.svg Mikaela Norman1:02:04 Flag of the United States.svg David Magida0:59:11
62024Washington DC, USA Flag of the United States.svg Lauren Weeks1:01:20 Flag of the United States.svg Dylan Scott0:56:37

The US and North American Championships did not officially start until Season 3. The Male winner of the US/North American Championships has never gone on to win the World Championships title in the same year.

European Championships
SeasonYearLocationFemale ChampionFemale Winning Time (h:mm:ss)Male ChampionMale Winning Time (h:mm:ss)
32021Hamburg, Germany Flag of Germany.svg Viola Oberlander1:07:58 Flag of Germany.svg Tobias Lautwein0:59:29
42022Maastricht, Netherlands Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Mirjam Von Rohr1:04:20 Flag of Germany.svg Tobias Lautwein0:56:52
52023Maastricht, Netherlands Flag of the United States.svg Lauren Weeks1:01:12 Flag of Austria.svg Alexander Roncevic0:57:26
62024Vienna, Austria Flag of the United States.svg Lauren Weeks0:58:03 (WR) Flag of Austria.svg Alexander Roncevic0:54:28

The European Championships did not officially start until Season 3.

World Records

Prior to the start of the 2022/2023 season, the sled weights were adjusted to include the weight of the sled in an attempt to more readily standardize the courses throughout the world. This change effectively reduced the men's and women's push and pull sleds by about 10kg each, which is reflected in the slew of record breaking times during that season.

Female World Records [28]
FEMALE WORLD RECORDS (PRO/ELITE DIVISION)
SeasonYearFemale WR holderWR timeEvent LocationDateDays Record Stood (Total for athlete)
12019 Flag of Germany.svg Imke Salander1:08:08Oberhausen, GermanyMay 2019200 days (200 days)
22019 Flag of Germany.svg Elisabeth Sarah Kholti1:05:33Essen, GermanyNovember 16, 2019587 days (587 days)
32021 Flag of the United States.svg Lauren Weeks1:05:18Chicago, USAJune 26, 202176 days (76 days)
32021 Flag of the United States.svg Lauren Weeks1:03:43Leipzig, GermanySeptember 10, 2021365 days (443 days)
52022 Flag of Germany.svg Linda Meier1:03:29Basel, GermanySeptember 11, 202241 days (41 days)
52022 Flag of Germany.svg Linda Meier1:02:23Amsterdam, NetherlandsOctober 22, 202214 days (54 days)
52022 Flag of the United States.svg Megan Jacoby1:01:56Chicago, USANovember 5, 202221 days (21 days)
52022 Flag of Sweden.svg Mikaela Norman1:00:45Hamburg, GermanyNovember 26, 2022147 days (147 days)
52023 Flag of the United States.svg Megan Jacoby0:58:58Anaheim, USAApril 22, 2023229 days (250 days)
62023 Flag of the United States.svg Megan Jacoby0:58:52Stockholm, SwedenDecember 7, 202364 days (314 days)
62024 Flag of the United States.svg Lauren Weeks0:58:03Vienna, AustriaFebruary 9, 2024Current WR
Male World Records [29]
MALE WORLD RECORDS (PRO/ELITE DIVISON)
SeasonYearMale WR holderWR timeEvent LocationDateDays Record Stood (Total for athlete)
12018 Flag of Germany.svg Lukas Storath59:07Stuttgart, GermanyNovember 2018451 days (451 days)
22020 Flag of the United States.svg Hunter McIntyre57:34Chicago, USAJanuary 25, 2020816 days (816 days)
42022 Flag of Germany.svg Tobias Lautwein56:52Maastricht, NetherlandsMarch 26, 202214 days (14 days)
42022 Flag of the United States.svg Hunter McIntyre55:09Dallas, USAApril 9, 2022343 days (1,159 days)
52023 Flag of the United States.svg Hunter McIntyre54:07Barcelona, SpainMarch 18, 2023264 days (1,423 days)
62023 Flag of the United States.svg Hunter McIntyre53:22Stockholm, SwedenDecember 7, 2023Current WR

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