At this HYROX Chengdu event, among the four elite divisions (men's individual, women's individual, men's doubles and women's doubles), a surprisingly large number of athletes chose road racing shoes — of the 18 pairs on show, as many as 13 were road racing models.
The adidas ADIZERO ADIOS PRO 4 alone accounted for half of that, making six appearances.
The elite men's doubles champions both wore adidas ADIZERO ADIOS PRO 4 and posted 53:28. The Swedish athlete who finished second in the elite men's individual also wore the same model.
Remarkably, these top pros' field use seems to confirm that the PRO 4 is no longer as prone to carbon-plate breakage.
Nike's Alphafly 3 and Streakfly 2 each made two appearances — they featured in the elite men's doubles second- and third-place finishes, respectively.
The Alphafly 3 delivers long-lasting propulsion in its energy return; the Streakfly 2, with its thin sole, offers outstanding responsiveness and grip, making it more agile and lightweight across events with a more immediate push-off feel.
Zhu Fang and Liao Lujiao, who set a new national women's doubles record and took the title, also opted for common road racing shoes.
The Zoomfly 6 and 160X 7.0 offer impressive energy return and stability; with a low barrier to entry and a high performance ceiling, they tend to be particularly athlete-friendly for women.
The other five pairs on show were models specifically designed for mixed-discipline competition.
For example, both the elite men's and women's individual champions chose the adidas ADIZERO DROPSET ELITE; the elite women's doubles runners-up even both wore PUMA Deviate NITRO Elite 4.
These shoes provide strong stability and grip during strength training; models like the former, with a 12mm heel-to-toe drop, make the force feel in the medicine-ball event more direct, while in running segments they bring top-tier foam that is lightweight and offers good energy return. The trend toward "stable and solid" running shoes is fundamentally why athletes trust these models.
Overall, athletes' current footwear strategies for HYROX can be divided into two camps.
One is the "speed" camp, choosing traditional thick-stack road racing shoes. Relying on the plate's high stiffness and the athlete's own leg strength, they can hold rhythm in the strength stations without losing time and leverage the racing shoes' advantages on the runs to gradually open gaps on competitors.
The other is the industry's "new pathway" — mixed-discipline shoes designed specifically for hybrid events. These models not only provide the stability and lateral support needed for functional training, but also improve running economy through lighter weight and refined geometry.
Because HYROX is structured as "8 runs, 8 workouts," the running and training portions are relatively balanced.
For elites, choosing a racing shoe can better open gaps or hold position during the runs, but it may incur a stability deficit in strength events; the more all-around "HYROX-specific" models require athletes to be well balanced, since a reliable mixed-training shoe is what will raise overall performance.
If it were you, which type of shoe would you prefer?