Speaking on the Jake Dearden Podcast, the three-time HYROX world champion reflected on how dramatically the sport has changed – and admitted he is still deciding whether to continue competing at the highest level.
Hunter McIntyre has been around HYROX long enough to remember when getting athletes to turn up was one of the sport’s biggest challenges.
Now, according to the three-time HYROX world champion, competing at the very top requires something very different.
Speaking to Jake Dearden on the latest episode of The Jake Dearden Podcast, McIntyre reflected on HYROX’s rapid growth and the increasing demands being placed on its elite athletes.
“You can’t just be a part-time pro athlete now,” McIntyre said. “You have to sell your soul.”
It is quite the change from the early years of the competition.
McIntyre recalled attending races with only around 400 people and actively trying to convince athletes from CrossFit and the wider hybrid scene to come and compete against him.
“We were trying everything,” he said, recalling small prize purses and different competition concepts designed to generate interest.
“Nobody gave a s*** about this sport for like the first five years.”
McIntyre described HYROX’s eventual breakthrough as a “scratch-off ticket story”, comparing its rise to someone suddenly winning $10 million after years of getting nowhere.
The situation facing elite athletes today could hardly be more different.
With the Elite 15 attracting increasingly strong fields and the professional calendar expanding, McIntyre believes athletes can no longer expect to compete at the highest level without making HYROX a major focus.
“It’s an honour to be at this level,” he said. “But it’s also like, if you want to show up, there’s other dogs that are going to eat you out of your spot if you don’t show up and show up hard.”
That increased commitment also raises an interesting question for McIntyre himself.
Now 37, he remains one of the most recognisable athletes in HYROX and was back among the leading contenders last season.
McIntyre told Dearden that continuing to improve is one of the reasons he remains interested in competing.
“I’m 37 years old. I’ve won enough world titles. If I was not getting better, I would stop.”
But when Dearden asked directly whether he intends to continue racing HYROX at the top level, McIntyre stopped short of committing to another campaign. Having led for much of the race at the HYROX World Championships, though, his performance surely showed there is still plenty more McIntyre can offer the sport in 26/27 season and countdown to the World Championships in Hong Kong 2027.
“I still have to sit with myself a bit longer,” he said.
McIntyre explained that he wants to see his athletic mission through, while also beginning to “land this plane” and move towards the next stage of his career, potentially focusing more heavily on mentoring and media.
For an athlete who has built much of his career around complete commitment, there appears to be little interest in simply hanging around.
“I never will do anything at even 99%,” McIntyre said. “I need to do it 100%.”
“I haven’t decided if I’m going to attack it again just yet because unless I can say that with absolution, I’m not going to get started.”
Whether that means another full assault on the HYROX world title remains to be seen. For the sake of the sport, let’s hope it does. HYROX is better with Hunter McIntyre in it.
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