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HYROX is an indoor fitness competition that alternates running with eight physical challenges: sled pushes and pulls, a ski-erg machine, a rowing machine, farmer’s carries, sandbag lunges, and a medicine ball throw.
Competitors run a kilometre between each one, working through all eight in sequence, with the total time across the whole course as their final result.
HYROX was founded in Germany in 20217 by Christian Toetzke, a business graduate, and Moritz Fürste, a former Olympic hockey champion and himself also a business graduate. It entered mainland China in 2024, and its growth there has been explosive ever since, with over 55,000 participants taking part there in 2025 and 2026.
Part of its appeal is how it’s become “social currency” (社交货币), or a status symbol, among China’s fitness-minded middle class. And this was at a time when the “fitness economy” (健美经济) was just taking off. In addition, its had a further boost through the viral appeal of celebrities and entrepreneurs taking part.
HYROX hasn’t been in China for long.
But riding the wave of the booming fitness economy and the “self-discipline” trend, it has swiftly built a three-pronged commercial flywheel powered by the organizer, gyms, and competitors.
HYROX进入中国时间不长，但已凭着“健美经济”和“自律概念”的东风，迅速构建起一条以赛事方、健身房、参赛者为三驾马车的商业闭环。
Until now HYROX has enjoyed favourable coverage in China. But this all changed on September 12, at the Beijing leg of the 2026 to 2027 HYROX season. When Australian athlete and world record holder, Joanna Wietrzyk, lost control of her bowels and experienced explosive diarrhoea partway through the women’s elite race.
Despite being covered in her own excrement, she continued the race leaving a trail of diarrhoea on the track and shared equipment behind her. Wietrzyk went on to win the race. And that evening she posted a photo of herself receiving treatment, captioned in English: “a win is a win.”
Despite the serious health and hygiene risk, and breach of HYROX rules, the race was not stopped by the organisers. And roughly a thousand other competitors went on to use the contaminated track and equipment after her.
HYROX, rather than apologising to other athletes for the incident, gave its response on social media channels, saying:
“Anyone found to have engaged in cyberbullying or making violent threats towards our athletes will face a permanent ban.”
“暴力威胁运动员”的人将被”永久禁赛”
That went down very badly in China. It was seen as a deliberate deflection, and punishing critics rather than responding to the actual complaint.
HYROX’s China account followed, saying:
We recognize the gaps in our rules and pledge to make improvements.
在规则设置上存在不足，并承诺整改。
Then, only on that evening, did co-founder Moritz Fürste post a personal apology on social media.
By then the damage was done, and the Chinese meme machine was already in full diarrhoea-like flow. HYROX was renamed with Chinese homophones that sound close to the English brand name, roughly translating as “high, then diarrhoea” (嗨落屎). Global sponsor, PUMA (彪马), became “Poo-ma” in English, and “poo horse” (便马) in Chinese.
Not only did it leave a bad taste in everyone’s mouth, but it also dragged its title sponsor PUMA down with it, earning the brand an unfortunate new nickname: “POOMA”.
不仅仅让自己的名声变得很有味道，也连累自己的主赞助商PUMA彪马有了新外号—— “便马” [3]
Related
PUMA has recently renewed its lucrative global sponsorship deal with HYROX, and Wietrzyk is also its global brand ambassador.
That contrast, between how HYROX treats minor rule breaches by amateur competitors, such as spitting or splashing water on their face while drinking, and how it let an elite sponsored athlete finish a race while contaminating the shared course, was described online as having “double standards” (双标).
Another PR disaster we’ve discussed before in this newsletter was evoked as having similarities. Which was when restaurant brand, Xibei (西贝) also responded arrogantly to complaints of high prices in 2025. The lesson drawn in both is the same. That a brand’s first response to a PR crisis exposes its true character.
And that is what made the HYROX Beijing incident, and the company’s dismissive response to it, land so badly in China over the last couple of weeks. Because it exposes how little ordinary paying competitors, who fork out at least 799 yuan per event, actually matter to the organisers. With one widely-circulated commenting summing up the mood:
“How on earth has HYROX, which is widely viewed as ‘paying to suffer’, managed to dominate the fitness world?”
在普通人眼中近乎”花钱找罪受”的HYROX，究竟凭什么跻身健身界顶流IP？
There are still two HYROX races to come in China this season, in Shanghai and Sanya. Some competitors have already said they plan to withdraw following the handling the the Beijing incident.
The damage to its reputation will now mean that every detail of HYROX’s future events will be watched closely. And that will shape, make or break, its prospects in the Chinese market in the next few months.
So that’s one to watch, and it’s what we’re exploring this week!
Favourite Five
1. 失禁 shī jìn
incontinence, loss of control over one’s bodily functions
大便失禁事件却并未受到任何处罚 - Yet the diarrhea episode resulted in no consequences whatsoever. [1]
Related:
腹泻失禁 fù xiè shī jìn – diarrhoea-related incontinence
窜稀 cuàn xī – to have sudden, explosive diarrhoea
2. 洗地 xǐ dì
to defend or justify something, to engage in damage control
一边把人送进ICU、一边猛赚2.2亿，HYROX最该干的不止道歉洗地 - Raking in 220 million while sending competitors straight to the ICU: HYROX needs to do a lot more than just issue hollow apologies and engage in damage control. [1]
Note: an internet slang phrase which here also carries the literal meaning.
3. 挽尊 wǎn zūn
to salvage one’s dignity, to save face
而迟来的道歉，更像是舆论发酵到再难挽尊后的补救 - The belated apology seemed more like an attempt at damage control once the public backlash spiraled out of hand. [2]
Note: internet slang phrase, the full expression is 挽救尊严
4. 不体面 bù tǐ miàn
undignified, lacking dignity
赢就是赢，不体面也确实是不体面 - A win is a win, but there’s no denying it was an ugly one. [1]
5. 花钱找罪受 huā qián zhǎo zuì shòu
to pay money to make oneself suffer, paying to suffer
在普通人眼中近乎“花钱找罪受”的HYROX，究竟凭什么跻身健身界顶流IP？ - How on earth has Hyrox, which is widely viewed as “paying to suffer”, managed to dominate the fitness world? [1]
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Useful words
6. 傲慢 ào màn
arrogant, haughty
参与过2次HYROX赛事的阿洛认为，HYROX的回应是相当傲慢的 - A-Luo, who has competed in two HYROX events, described the organizers’ response as downright arrogant. [1]
7. 祛魅 qù mèi
to be disillusioned, to see something in a less idealized light
入坑不到1年，我已经因为HYROX的傲慢对它彻底祛魅了 - I’ve been doing HYROX for less than a year, and now I feel completely disillusioned after finding out how arrogant the organiser is. [1]
8. 得罪 dé zuì
to offend, to antagonize
场内场外，Hyrox都把它最核心的健身圈人群得罪完了，还以最不体面的方式出圈 - At both the operational and brand level, HYROX has alienated its primary customer base, all while going viral for all the wrong reasons. [2]
9. 包庇 bāo bì
to shield, to cover up for
但Joanna的坚持和Hyrox的包庇，让它升级为公共卫生疾控事件 - Yet Joanna’s stubborn refusal to stop and HYROX’s shielding of her turned it into a full-blown public health crisis. [2]
10. 暗含 àn hán
to imply, to contain an implicit suggestion
面对可能夺冠的精英选手，却像是暗含另一套规则 - Yet when it came to elite athletes who had a chance of winning, it seemed that a different set of rules applied. [2]
11. 狼狈 láng bèi
embarrassing, awkward, in a sorry state
这样一项有些“狼狈”的运动，今年却突然火了 - An activity that looks so thoroughly unglamorous has somehow taken off this year. [2]
12. 罔顾 wǎng gù
to disregard, to ignore completely
HYROX罔顾其他选手的健康与比赛权益 - HYROX wilfully ignored the health and rights of the other participants. [3]
