PUMA has unveiled a first-of-its-kind athlete programme set to recognise, reward and accelerate the world’s best HYROX athletes, becoming the largest ever sub-elite athlete programme in the sport.
Project Podium will offer every Men’s, Women’s and Adaptive solo athlete who finishes on the podium at the 2026 HYROX World Championships Stockholm the opportunity to become a PUMA athlete for the forthcoming HYROX season.
These top performers will:
- Receive industry-leading performance support through access to PUMA’s Elite HYROX athletes and training resources,
- Be equipped with PUMA’s best-in-class training footwear and apparel
- Gain direct access to PUMA’s innovation experts engineering the next generation of HYROX performance products.
This is all designed to help athletes unlock new personal bests, push the boundaries of performance throughout the 2026-2027 season, and pursue qualification for the 2027 HYROX World Championships.
The reveal of Project Podium continues PUMA‘s unrivalled support of sub-elite athletes, having seen significant success in its PROJECT3 running innitiative, which launched in January 2025 and has engaged more than 600 runners globally. Now, the HYROX community has a similar opportunity to join the PUMA family, becoming brand ambassadors alongside iconic names like Usain Bolt, A$AP Rocky, Julien Alfred, Mondo Duplantis, Breanna Stewart, and Joanna Wietrzyk.
Marwin Hoffman, VP of Training at PUMA said “Not only is PUMA investing in product and innovation to drive the sport forward, we’re also investing in the athletes who make HYROX the fastest growing sport community in the world. Project Podium markst he beginning of a new journey for us in HYROX- one that we believe will cement our legacy as the leading brand in the sport.”
In addition to launching Project Podium, PUMA has also revealed a series of events and activations in Stockholm, including its highly-anticipated NITRO™ Lab.
Following it’s debut at the London Marathon, The NITRO™ Lab will transform into a dedicated HYROX performance hub, allowing the community to test their running performance against 1km benchmark times set by PUMA’s fastest Elite 15 athletes Jake Williamson and Joanna Wietrzyk. Participants who beat the elite athlete times will win a pair of Deviate NITRO™ Elite HYROX.
PUMA will also host a Midsommar Shakeout Run on Friday 19 June, guiding runners through central Stockholm before finishing at the iconic Gröna Lund theme park, which will be exclusively open to PUMA runners. The first 100 runners to arrive at the meet point will be eligible to exchange their shoes for a pair of Deviate NITRO™ Elite HYROX. The event is ticketed capacity is limited. Sign-ups are available HERE.
