[The Public=Reporter Yoo Sujin] HYROX, the world’s fastest-growing indoor fitness competition, announced on the 20th that the AirAsia HYROX Incheon race wrapped up at Songdo Convensia in Incheon after three days starting on the 15th, drawing more than 15,000 racers and about 10,000 spectators.
Pierre Algre (France) won the men’s pro division in 58:22, while Georgia Shtadelman (Australia) captured the women’s pro title in 1:04:45. HYROX ambassador and Physical:100 Season 2 runner-up Hong Beom-seok entered three events—the Men’s Open Double, Men’s Pro Double and Men’s Relay—and, with three teammates, helped secure first place in the men’s relay in 49:52.
Amotti (Kim Jae-hong), the Physical:100 Season 2 champion, teamed with Yoshio Itoi—who competed in Physical: Asia—and finished the Men’s Double in 59:24. SHINee’s Minho and MMA star Kim Dong-hyun, known as “Stun Gun,” won their age group and placed eighth overall in the men’s relay with a time of 53:55.
The event’s youngest competitor was 16 and its oldest 71; both completed the course. International participation continued to rise after the Seoul event, making up 27% of the field in Incheon. Ten para-athletes competed in the adaptive division, a 43% increase from the Seoul meet.
“I was honored to compete in three events and especially to face off against my Physical:100 teammates,” HYROX Korea ambassador Hong Beom-seok said. “Winning the men’s open relay in front of such an enthusiastic crowd made it even more rewarding.”
Richard Cowley, HYROX’s head of APAC operations, called AirAsia HYROX Incheon a milestone for the brand in Korea. “With a record 15,000 participants and the country’s first three-day HYROX event, athletes, spectators and partners came together and delivered tremendous energy,” he said. “The event’s scale, the intensity on course and the diversity of participants show HYROX’s continued growth across the Asia-Pacific. We’re proud of the strong response and will keep building the HYROX community in Korea.”
Sports-marketing and fitness professionals view HYROX’s success as evidence that fitness competitions are evolving into large-scale “sportainment” (sports + entertainment) events.
Analysts say the race broadened mainstream appeal through participation by celebrities and TV personalities, turning the “healthy pleasure” trend—enjoying fitness—into a massive, 15,000-person offline community festival. With 27% of entrants from abroad, experts also see HYROX as a valuable sports-tourism asset that helps stimulate the local economy.
Since the first HYROX Incheon in 2024, organizers have staged five HYROX events in Korea, culminating with this AirAsia HYROX Incheon race. The next domestic event, AirAsia HYROX Seoul, is scheduled for Nov. 14–15 at KINTEX in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province.
HYROX began in Germany in 2017 with 650 participants and rapidly grew into a major global fitness competition. Organizers plan to hold more than 100 races worldwide in the 2025/26 season and expect total participation to exceed one million racers.
Registration for the next race, the AirAsia HYROX Seoul event, opens on the 28th of this month.
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