Adidas “Goes Full Hybrid” in Stockholm with Elite Roster, Exclusive Perks, and Fan Experiences
Over the past year, Adidas has made major investments in the competitive fitness world, nowhere more evident than in hybrid training and racing.
- While the brand’s CrossFit roster has held steady, its list of hybrid athletes keeps growing, fast.
At the ninth annual HYROX World Championships in Stockholm, Sweden, Adidas showed up in full force across the elite divisions.
The squad included 2025 champion Tim Wenisch, Cole Learn, Danél Louw, Melanie Maurer, Katherin Fahsbender, Elli Stenfours, Jana Lebenstedt, Lena Putters, Pelayo Menendez Fernandez, and the brand’s newest signee, 2026 World Champion Alyssa McElheny.
In the Mixed Relay division, seven national teams had at least one athlete racing in the three stripes.
And in the Pro divisions, several CrossFit/HYROX crossover athletes competed as Doubles, including Chandler and Jessi Smith, Ty Jenkins and Jorge Fernandez, and Laura and Kristof Horvath.
Full Hybrid
Close to 200 athletes were housed together in downtown Stockholm, many of them recent additions to the Adidas family through Project 111, the brand’s latest initiative, which offered 111 hybrid athletes contracts through the end of the year.
Step into the lobbies of the side-by-side At Six and Hobo hotels in the city center, and the brand’s presence was impossible to miss. The Hobo’s reception had been transformed into a full-blown showroom, showcasing Adidas’s recent design innovations, including its hybrid crown jewel, the Adizero Dropset Elite, and the newest addition to the line, the Adizero Dropset Pro, released over the weekend.
A customization station was open to everyone, allowing athletes to add flags, logos, names, or initials to their shoes and gear – an extra personal touch on a weekend full of mementos.
- Activations ran daily for athletes, hotel guests, and fans alike: shake-out morning runs with Chris Hinshaw, Elena Roucu Chaz, Danél Rouw, Laura Horvath, and Cole Learn; workouts led by Graham Halliday, Jana Lebenstedt, and Lauren Stockley; and lectures from industry leaders throughout the weekend.
An exclusive rooftop gym provided guests with free access to training while they tested the new Dropset Pro, with recovery products from Flowlife. Runners, C2 Bikes, rowers, and SkiErgs lined the rooftop’s edge, allowing athletes to train with a skyline view.
Across town near the venue, Adidas set up a large-scale display at the Mall of Scandinavia, giving shoppers the chance to test and customize products and to meet Adidas athletes in person.
Athletes on the Adidas roster had access to five physiotherapists throughout the weekend, staying race-ready from competition through recovery.
A Weekend to Remember
From Thursday through Sunday, Adidas ran its nightly “House of Nations,” a bar where every division winner was celebrated with champagne and toasts.
- The concept borrows from the country houses at the Olympic Games and offered attendees yet another core memory to take away from the weekend.
For Adidas, Stockholm wasn’t solely about unveiling new products. It was about showing up for the athletes who wear the brand into competition, giving them care, connection, and a weekend built around them.
That focus on experience, paired with exposure, is by design. Adidas has made clear that athlete well-being and community integration are core to how it operates, not an afterthought to marketing. Bringing together nearly 200 athletes for a weekend of shared training, recovery, and celebration is as much an investment in loyalty and culture as in performance gear.
As hybrid racing continues its rapid ascent, Adidas’s bet is that the brand people remember isn’t just the one on the podium; it’s the one that made the moments around it unforgettable.
