PUMA has unveiled a first–of–its–kind athlete initiative that is designed to recognise, reward, and accelerate the world’s best HYROX competitors. Named Project Podium, it is set to become the largest ever sub–elite athlete programme in the history of the sport.

The initiative 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 join the PUMA athlete roster for the forthcoming season. The world championship event is scheduled to take place from June 18–21, 2026, in Stockholm, Sweden.

Top performers who secure a podium spot will receive performance support through access to PUMA’s elite HYROX athletes and training resources. Successful athletes will be equipped with training footwear and apparel, whilst gaining direct access to product innovation experts engineering the brand’s next generation of technical sportswear.

According to the company, the programme is designed to help athletes unlock new personal bests, push performance boundaries throughout the 2026–2027 season, and pursue qualification for the 2027 HYROX World Championships.

The launch of Project Podium builds upon the sportswear manufacturer’s existing support models for sub–elite competitors. It follows the brand’s PROJECT3 running initiative, which launched in January 2025 and has engaged more than 600 runners on an international scale.

PUMA notes that, Through this new venture, the fitness community has an opportunity to join the brand ecosystem as ambassadors alongside prominent sporting and cultural figures such as 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 marks the beginning of a new journey for us in HYROX – one that we believe will cement our legacy as the leading brand in the sport.“

Alongside the athlete program, the sports brand has revealed a schedule of public activations in Sweden for competitors and spectators attending the world championship weekend.

The brand will debut its NITRO Lab concept within the sport of racing, transforming the space into a dedicated fitness hub following its initial appearance at the London Marathon. The lab will allow attendees to test their running performance against 1km benchmark times established by elite athletes Jake Williamson and Joanna Wietrzyk on a specialist treadmill. Participants who successfully outpace the elite benchmarks will receive a pair of Deviate NITRO Elite HYROX shoes.

The brand will also host a Midsommar Shakeout Run on Friday, June 19, 2026. This 5km run will guide participants through central Stockholm before concluding at the city’s Gröna Lund theme park.

Midsommar Shakeout Run participants will be granted two hours of exclusive access to the theme park before it opens to the general public. Additionally, the first 100 runners to arrive at a designated meeting point can exchange their current running footwear for a pair of PUMA’s specialised HYROX race shoes. Due to limited capacity, the promotional shakeout run requires advance ticket registration.

As an official partner of the fitness racing series, PUMA notes that it continues to position its technical product range at the centre of mass–participation fitness competitions.

www.puma.com

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