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The organisers of Hyrox have set their sights on becoming an Olympic sport after joining forces with World Triathlon.
The popular hybrid racing event, which combines running with functional fitness exercises, has entered into a “strategic partnership” with triathlon’s governing body that “sets out a shared pathway toward Olympic and Paralympic recognition”.
The move recognises ‘hybrid racing’ as an official discipline under World Triathlon’s umbrella, with three formats of the sport introduced: ‘ultimate’, the existing Hyrox, as well as ‘fast’ and ‘ultra’.
Only sports governed by international bodies that are signed up to the Olympic Charter, such as World Triathlon, can be considered for inclusion at future Games.
“From the very beginning, our goal was to build a global sport that could earn a place on the world's biggest athletic stage,” Hyrox co-founder Christian Toetzke said.
"Partnering with World Triathlon is a monumental step toward that vision. Hybrid racing is no longer just a global fitness movement, it is officially on the road to the Olympics.”
Triathlon, which combines swimming, cycling and running, has been an Olympic sport since 2000, with men’s and women’s individual races, while a mixed team relay event was introduced in 2020.
The move was questioned by several high-profile names in the triathlon scene, however, with Great Britain’s Olympic champion Alex Yee posting a poll to his 227,000 followers Instagram followers which revealed the majority were against the partnership with Hyrox.
Max Stapley, another British triathlete, responded to World Triathlon’s announcement by posting “this is crap” while Olympian Roksana Slupek wrote “the two sports have absolutely nothing in common”.
World Triathlon president Antonio Arimany said: “This partnership will not only accelerate the growth of World Triathlon on the global stage, it will open genuine new opportunities for every one of our national federations to grow participation, engage new audiences, and strengthen our sport at every level.
"This is exactly the kind of forward-looking collaboration our members deserve.”