On February 22, 2024, the Fitness Racing Podcast on Instagram broke the news that an anti-doping policy was added to the HYROX rulebook.
We don’t know exactly when it was added, but we suspect sometime in Jan/Feb of 2024. Currently, it can only be found in the singles & doubles rulebooks. As of March 5th, the team relay rulebook makes no mention of any anti-doping policy or drug testing.
Let’s take a look at the official policy, how it might have come about, and what it means for the future of the sport.
Site supported by:
Best Minimalist Training Shoes
Wide toe box. Extremely lightweight & flexible. Super grippy. Comfortable. The best barefoot cross training shoes ever made. Check em out →
Official HYROX Anti-Doping Policy
The “Anti-Doping Policy” was added to the HYROX rulebook sometime around January/February of 2024. In Section 10, it states:
HYROX is committed to promote fair play, integrity, and the spirit of
competition within all events. HYROX firmly believes in the principles of
clean sport and is dedicated to create an environment where athletes can
compete on a level playing field. As such, HYROX enforces an anti-doping
policy to ensure the health and safety of all participants and to uphold the
values of honesty, respect, and equality in sports.HYROX adheres to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Code and its
international standards. All events are dedicated to conduct the highest
ethical standards with no tolerance to the use of prohibited substances or
methods that may compromise the integrity of the race.All athletes participating in HYROX events are expected to comply with
the anti-doping regulations outlined by WADA. This includes submitting
to testing for banned substances, both in and out of the race. HYROX
reserves the right to conduct random testing at any time to maintain a fair
and clean race environment.
Our Takeaways
- HYROX believes in clean sport, and doesn’t want its athletes using banned substances
- HYROX is adopting the widely accepted WADA standards, also used by CrossFit, DEKA, and many other international sports and competitions
- There is no mention of elites vs. age groupers, pro vs. open waves, etc.
- HYROX can test you at an event, as well as outside of an event, at any time
This is a pretty vague policy, in my opinion, but it’s a step in a good direction.
Let’s take that last bullet point, for example. They can test any athlete participating in a HYROX event, in and out of the race. Are they really going to randomly test an athlete who got 6th in their age group in the Open division? I highly doubt it. At this point, it’s even pretty crazy to think they’d randomly test someone who got 2nd in their age group in the pro division at a non-major race.
Realistic HYROX Drug Testing
In reality, if HYROX ends up drug testing anyone at all, it would be the top 3-5 athletes in the Elite 15, and likely only at one of the 4 majors and the World Championships. And it would occur at the event itself, not randomly at their home 8 weeks prior to the event.
Drug testing is expensive and a logistical nightmare to conduct randomly outside of an event. I doubt we’ll see much actual testing over the next few years.
The only thing that might accelerate testing is if we see massive improvements in finishing times in a short span. That would be cause for suspicion, which could force HYROX’s hand.
Site supported by:
How We Got Here
Doping & drug testing has been a hot topic in just about every sport at some point or another. As HYROX grows in popularity, naturally, more people are talking about it.
Rylan Schadegg, who finished 2nd at HYROX Chicago back in November 2023, made an Instagram post stating how HYROX didn’t have any official stance on performance enhancing drugs.
His post got 1,200 likes and hundreds of comments, most of which were overwhelming positive in support of his stance.
The lack of a doping policy was concerning to him for 2 reasons:
- It’s incredibly easy to add a statement in the rulebook
- What kind of message are we sending to young athletes getting into the sport?
Rylan used to be a competitive cyclist, where drugs played a huge role in the sport for several decades.
Site supported by:
He actually said he raced in Chicago to bring attention to the lack of an anti-doping policy. At the end of his post, he even issued somewhat of an ultimatum to HYROX:
I may compete in some future races this season, but if there is no rule put in place by the end of the season, I definitely will not continue with any sort of focus. —Rylan Schadegg
I’m not saying that Rylan forced HYROX’s hand, or that HYROX created their drug policy to keep Rylan in the sport. But I do believe his post played an important role, and may have been a catalyst for HYROX finally taking an official stance.
Doping Division + Clean Division
Some have talked about having two divisions, one for clean athletes and another that openly allows doping of all kinds. I’m not a fan.
I think this would encourage many athletes to use, and many will use heavily if it’s explicitly permitted. While I realized not all banned substances are created equal, this could be detrimental to the health of many athletes.
Having two separate divisions would make it even more imperative that HYROX tests all or nearly all of the “clean division” athletes. This would be extremely difficult & incredibly expensive. We’d probably have to see entry fees go up and prize money to go down.
If you only have one division, and it’s clean, you can threaten athletes with drug testing without having to test them all, which is far easier and cheaper to implement.
DEKA’s Drug Testing Policy
DEKA has a drug testing & anti-doping policy in their rulebook, but there’s is worded much differently.
- Testing will only be administered at a DEKA event
- The first offense results in a two-year ban. The second offense results in a lifetime ban.
- They provide a contact for Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUE)
It’s interesting that HYROX doesn’t actually mention the consequences of a failed drug test. I would assume, at the very least, they would strip an elite athlete of their prize money and podium placing. But would they be banned? For how long? What happens to age group racers?
CrossFit’s Drug Policy
CrossFit has more of a proven track record with drug testing than HYROX or DEKA. They have been testing athletes inside and out of competition for years. Both individuals and team athletes have been tested, some multiple times per year.
They have a documented appeals process for athletes to try and remove or reduce their ban.
CrossFit also publishes all their test results, whether positive or negative, on their website.
Most first-time failed drug tests result in a 4-year ban from competition. Some appeals have reduced this down to 2 years. I believe a second failed test results in a lifetime ban from CrossFit competition.
No athlete that we’re aware of has been tested by HYROX. If you yourself have been tested, or know someone, please let us know. We’d love to provide an update.
See WADA’s list of banned substances →
Site supported by:
