People are just finding out what HYROX really stands for and the backstory is giving them the ick

Let’s be real here, it’s been a bad week to be HYROX. The brand has been overshadowed with scandal, as Australian athlete Joanna Wietrzyk won an event, despite soiling herself on the course. And now, this sudden introduction to HYROX for most, has had people asking what the name actually stands for. 

This weekend, Joanna Wietrzyk competed in the elite group as part of the 16-24 age category in Beijing. She had an unfortunate bowel movement during the event, and now pictures and videos of her completing the course with poop running down her legs are everywhere. 

The founder of HYROX apologised and said rules were going to change, and then athletes themselves started speaking out against Joanna having been allowed to continue. But for most, this may have been the first time HYROX has really been on your radar.

via Burak Basturk/MEI/SIPA/Shutterstock

So, what does HYROX actually stand for? 

HYROX is an endurance race, where competitors run an 8km race, split into different stations. Along the race, you have to complete things such as burpees, a rowing section and sled pulls. The aim is to do so, in the quickest time. 

This is where things get a bit icky, as the origin story of HYROX has taken a bit of a cringe turn. For the longest time, what HYROX stands for has become victim to a bit of an internet myth, apparently.

Most Read

Celebrities are calling out Ariana Grande’s team for ‘absolutely appalling’ petal music video

The internet never forgets: The biggest male celeb nude leaks ever, and how they responded

Love Island’s over, so here’s every 2026 couple’s relationship status and who’s already split

A PT named Ella Rose was one to fuel this, after last year she went viral for claiming the word HYROX was a combination of two words. “HYROX is short for Hybrid Rockstar,” she claimed, before saying she then “got the ick”. 

It’s not completely untrue, it’s just been ran away with a little. In February 2023, HYROX chief growth officer, Douglas Gremmen, explained: “Christian and Mo [the HYROX founders] wanted to do something with the name ‘rockstars’. They really felt that people who have come across the finish line are rockstars.”

However, the name needed to shortened as Red Bull is a sponsor for HYROX, and of course, Rockstar is an energy drink competitor. After that and a further trademark stumbling block, they are said to have settled on HYROX. 

However, the co-founder has since said this isn’t exactly what happened. He said they settled on “QUROX”, which was inspired by a Latin term related to healing and running. Speaking on the Jake Dearden Podcast, Mo Fürste said they got sued straight after picking that name, before they’d even run their first event. 

Needing to think of something else quick, before the first event, he said: “We took basically 12 of the letters and did a legal test of what works. HYROX was the one that came out with the highest percentage of not being able to be sued again.”

For more like this, like The Tab on Facebook. Featured image via JEROME FAVRE/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock.