Visually impaired masseurs turn their hands to Hyrox

For Beijing-based massage therapists Jiang Qi and Zhao Zhe, who are visually impaired, the world of athletics has always reached them through sound and touch. From their treatment table, they've listened to clients recount finishes at marathons, personal bests in triathlons and new benchmarks in Cross-Fit. Then one day, a new word entered their vocabulary — Hyrox.

The fitness competition Hyrox blends running with functional exercises, a one-kilometer run followed by a workout station, repeated eight times.

Since its inception in Germany in 2017, Hyrox has evolved into a global phenomenon. It wasn't until November 2024 that the event made its Chinese mainland debut at the National Agricultural Exhibition Center in Beijing.

Notably, the competition allows adaptive athletes with partial or complete loss of vision to participate with the assistance of guide runners.

Han Yue, a triathlon enthusiast from a local club named Longyuan, recalled that the club's members often chatted on Zhao and Jiang's massage tables after training.

"Zhao and Jiang would curiously ask what we trained that day and whether we were tired. You could tell it wasn't just professional habit — there was a sense of yearning in their voice."

That yearning was quietly noted and remembered by their attentive clients.

When they learned that Hyrox — which includes singles, doubles and relay divisions — would return to Beijing on Aug 23, Han thought perhaps the club could bring Jiang and Zhao into the mixed relay.

"All the time we hear clients talk about the excitement of crossing the finish line, the joy of breaking personal records and all the ups and downs of training. If I said I didn't envy them, that would be a lie," said Zhao.

"We also crave challenges and that feeling of working together toward a goal," added Jiang, who once played blind soccer.

"Since we work in sports rehabilitation, we want to better understand under what circumstances people are more prone to injuries. And we also wanted to try it ourselves," said Jiang.