“I’ve always had a competitive edge about me,” says Declan Fissenden. When injuries ended his rugby career, that edge needed somewhere to go. He found it in Hyrox, and it has taken him to two World Championships.
Fissenden grew up playing rugby, and by 13 he had been picked up by the Gloucester academy, where he stayed until he was 18. From 16 to 21 he also studied strength and conditioning at Hartpury. The gym work that began as a way to improve his rugby soon became a passion of its own, and he moved from basic strength training into functional fitness.
Injuries eventually pulled him away from the game. Hyrox, he says, was “something mainly to replace rugby”. Without a goal to aim at, he admits, training can feel aimless.
A former teammate introduced him to the sport, and the pair entered a doubles race at London Olympia in 2024. They finished in around an hour and 24 seconds, a result Fissenden says was “mint” for a first attempt.
What began as casual dabbling quickly turned serious. A fourth-place finish in Stockholm in 2025 became a World Championships place when the podium spots above them rolled down. Competing in June 2026 alongside full-time athletes and influencers was, in his words, “class”.
He is realistic about what comes next. “The standard is so high now,” he says. His most recent race, in Birmingham, was against a tough field, but he values it as a way to see where he stands against the best.
As for the stations, he loves the lunges and will often take a long stint to leave his legs fresh for the final run. Burpees are his least favourite. Wall balls are a close second, but they at least come at the end of the race, whereas after burpees he is only halfway.
Fissenden credits his rugby background for his discipline. After years of double training days, a heavy schedule feels normal. He warns newcomers against copying it too quickly. “There’s no point trying to go straight into five or six days’ training a week,” he says. “Start steady and work your way up.”
He believes Hyrox’s growth comes from its inclusiveness. Anyone can train for it, events are close to almost everyone, and it has opened up full-time athletic careers to people who didn’t quite make it in other sports.
Having recently started coaching at Fortitude, a functional fitness gym in Lydney, Fissenden enjoys sessions where every level trains together and finishes with high-fives. He sees himself in the Hyrox space for the next five to ten years, both competing and coaching.
