{"id":503748,"date":"2026-02-27T20:20:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T20:20:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/503748\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T20:20:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T20:20:10","slug":"a-new-fitness-competition-dubbed-the-decathlon-of-fitness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/503748\/","title":{"rendered":"A New Fitness Competition Dubbed “The Decathlon of Fitness”"},"content":{"rendered":"

The competitive CrossFit landscape is getting more crowded. Today, a new stadium-scale competition series called XENOM (pronounced \u201czee-nom\u201d) officially launched, bringing with it a $15 million seed investment, an official CrossFit\u00ae Partner Event Series license and a foundational partnership with Rogue Fitness.<\/p>\n

Dubbed the \u201cDecathlon of Fitness\u2122,\u201d XENOM is aiming to establish a repeatable, global benchmark for competitive fitness with a fixed, 10-event format.<\/p>\n

Here is everything you need to know about the newest fitness competition:<\/p>\n

What is XENOM?<\/p>\n

While CrossFit competitions have followed the constantly varied and unknown and unknowable aspect, XENOM is\u00a0attempting to do exactly the opposite: standardize the test.<\/p>\n

Across a two-day weekend, 2,000 athletes will compete in a fixed 10-event format that spans maximal strength, gymnastics, and aerobic capacity. Athletes will be scored on a cumulative Elite Performance Index (inspired by traditional decathlon scoring), allowing competitors to measure their year-over-year progression against a static global benchmark.<\/p>\n

The series was founded by Keith Barlow. Barlow has done CrossFit for the past decade and\u00a0 holds a CrossFit L2 certification. Barlow is also the co-owner of Fittest<\/a>, a PR agency that has worked with numerous brands including HYROX, Puma, Redbull, R.A.D and more.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe see an incredible opportunity to build a global competition which reenergizes and meets the huge unmet demand from people training in boxes, garages, and gyms around the world,\u201d said Barlow when speaking about the new venture.<\/p>\n

Massive Financial Backing and Key Partnerships<\/p>\n

XENOM has secured $15 million in seed financing led by WndrCo (pronounced Wonder Co). For context outside the fitness space, WndrCo is led by Jeffrey Katzenberg (co-founder of DreamWorks) and Sujay Jaswa (former CFO of Dropbox).<\/p>\n

Furthermore, Rogue Fitness has signed on as the Foundational Partner and long-term equipment supplier. On top of that, XENOM has confirmed that the full event reveal will include the global unveiling of a brand-new piece of competition-grade equipment from Rogue.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cRogue has always existed to serve athletes and the broader training community,\u201d said Caity Henniger, Chief Sales Officer of Rogue Fitness. \u201cBeing involved from the beginning excites us. Our equipment and operational experience will help XENOM deliver a professional competition experience that athletes can trust, down to every detail. We believe in creating products that last, built on uncompromising standards, quality and a respect for the community that supports them. XENOM\u2019s values align with how we approach the world, and we\u2019re proud to help lay the foundation from day one.\u201d<\/p>\n

XENOM has also entered into a license as an official CrossFit\u00ae Partner Event Series.<\/p>\n

Season 001: The Dallas Debut<\/p>\n

Year 1, or as XENOM is calling it, Season 001, will feature 11 competitions across the United States and Europe with the long-term goal of growing to over 60 competitions around the world every year.<\/p>\n

Event 001 will kick off on June 27\u201328, 2026, inside the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas\u2014the world headquarters and training facility of the Dallas Cowboys.<\/p>\n

The venue will be transformed into a purpose-built fitness arena featuring integrated athlete camps and recovery zones to deliver a true professional stadium experience.<\/p>\n

Event 002 will hit London, UK, on August 29\u201330, 2026, which is the same weekend the World Fitness Project Tour Stop 2 in Indianapolis, Indiana.<\/p>\n

Dates for the Miami and Paris competitions along with locations for future competitions will be announced at a later date.<\/p>\n

Competition Details<\/p>\n

Like mentioned earlier, XENOM is a two-day competition where athletes will take on 10 standardized events. Athletes can compete as an individual or on a same-sex pairs team. There will be three divisions within the individual and pairs: Elite, RX and Compete (the scaled version).<\/p>\n

The entry fee to participate comes in at $500 for the individual divisions (oh, and that\u2019s the early bird fee). The Pairs entry fee is $900, or $450 per person. It is unclear what the pricing will be once the early bird deal is over.<\/p>\n

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Each competition will have spots for 2,000 athletes. However, it is not known at this time how those spots will be split between individuals, pairs and each division.<\/p>\n

So far only three of the 10 events have been announced (see below). The remaining seven events and daily schedule will be shared at a later date.<\/p>\n

The Events<\/p>\n

Events 1, 5 and 7 have been released.<\/p>\n

Event 1 is a 1RM Snatch.<\/p>\n

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Event 5 is a 3,000-meter run directly into a 2,000-meter Ski.<\/p>\n

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Event 7 is a triplet featuring toes-to-bar, dual dumbbell hang snatch, bar and ring muscle-ups. The elite division workout is outlined below.<\/p>\n

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Registering for Dallas<\/p>\n

As part of the initial launch, XENOM is giving away 250 free entries. Those looking to grab a free ticket can enter to win from February 27 through March 13. On March 16, the 250 lucky participants will be notified and have 48 hours to accept their free entry into the Dallas competition.<\/p>\n

For the unlucky ones, early bird registration will open on Monday, March 16.<\/p>\n

The Investors<\/p>\n

Earlier it was mentioned that XENOM has received $15 million in funding from WndrCo<\/a>, an investment firm founded in 2016 by Sujay Jaswa (former Dropbox executive) and Jeffrey Katzenberg (DreamWorks co-founder and former Disney executive).<\/p>\n

Headquartered in Redwood City, California, WndrCo primarily invests in four core sectors including \u201cFuture of Work\u201d, consumer technology, cybersecurity and developer infrastructure. It appears that XENOM would be WndrCo\u2019s first venture into the sport\/fitness space.<\/p>\n

It does not appear that Jaswa or Katzenberg have ever registered for the CrossFit Open, nor have they publicly said they do CrossFit. Keith Barlow<\/a>, however, registered for the CrossFit Open from 2019 to 2022. He has not participated since.<\/p>\n

As for why WndrCo has invested in XENOM, Jaswa spoke to that. \u201cThere are very few global household name brands left to build,\u201d said Sujay Jaswa, Managing Partner at WndrCo. \u201cFitness has become a sport category with true mainstream reach, and we believe XENOM will be the benchmark for elite fitness. We are excited to bring our network and operating experience to scale the series to the world\u2019s best athletes in every geography.\u201d<\/p>\n

To learn more about XENOM, head over to their website<\/a> or Instagram account<\/a>.<\/p>\n