Mat Lock Appointed to Oversee Global Integrity and Professionalism in HYROX Elite Competition
HYROX, the World Series of Fitness Racing, today announced the appointment of Mat Lock as the organization’s first-ever Technical Director for Elite Racing. The move marks a major milestone in HYROX’s ongoing commitment to delivering a world-class race experience while ensuring fairness, consistency, and integrity across its Elite 15 competitions.
The new role will sit within HYROX’s growing Global Sports team, under the leadership of Director of Sport Mintra Tilly, and will oversee the Elite 15 Individual, Doubles, and Relay Invitational divisions. Lock, who currently leads HYROX operations across Australia and New Zealand, will begin his new responsibilities at the upcoming World Championship event in Chicago and officially step into the role for the 2025/26 season.
“The evolution of HYROX into a fully professional sport has been a dynamic and ongoing journey,” said Mintra Tilly. “We remain committed to delivering a race environment and ecosystem that matches the professionalism, ambition, and discipline of our athlete community. Mat has been an integral part of this team over the course of this season, and I’m thrilled to have found someone to take on this hugely important role as the steward of responsibility for our elite athletes.”
Driving Global Standards in a Rapidly Growing Sport
Since launching in 2017, HYROX has seen explosive global growth. Athlete participation has doubled year over year, increasing from 250,000 competitors in the 2023/24 season to a projected 650,000 for 2024/25, with a long-term goal of reaching 1 million athletes worldwide by 2026.
Today, HYROX events take place in 30 countries and 85 cities, with major athlete bases in the United Kingdom (79,500 athletes), United States (45,600), Australia (27,700), as well as the DACH region (60,000), Spain (45,000), and APAC (22,000). Across all regions, the Elite 15 division continues to evolve in both competitiveness and visibility—making global consistency and technical oversight more important than ever.
“I’m incredibly excited to take on this role,” said Lock. “Since the launch of our ANZ race series, I’ve been fully committed to building a team to make HYROX the best racing sport on earth. Our vision is for the Elite 15 HYROX races to be managed and executed at a level comparable to any Tier 1 global sport—and that means ensuring a fair and equitable playing field for all athletes.”
Fairness, Integrity, and Athlete Support
With this appointment, HYROX Elite 15 athletes now have a dedicated point of contact for all matters related to rule enforcement, technical execution, and appeals, providing a clear and consistent framework for athletes worldwide.
This development builds on HYROX’s wider investment in race infrastructure, event operations, and athlete experience, aligning the elite tier of the sport with global standards of professionalism.
HYROX’s most popular formats—Doubles (accounting for over 50% of participants), followed by Singles and Relays—will all fall under Lock’s scope, ensuring consistent governance across all elite racing categories.
A Global Step Forward
Lock’s appointment represents a significant step toward professionalizing the elite level of HYROX, as the sport continues to lead the way in global functional fitness racing. With exponential growth, expanding markets, and an increasingly competitive athlete field, this new leadership role will help ensure the integrity and consistency of HYROX competition worldwide.
As HYROX enters its next chapter, the message is clear: professionalism, fairness, and athlete support are essential.
We’ll be sitting down with Mat Lock soon to discuss what these new regulations mean for athletes and the future of Elite racing very soon.
image sources
- HYROX world championships: HYROX
