%3Aformat(webp)&w=1920&q=75)
New York/London, February 27th 2026
XENOM, the Decathlon of Fitness™, today announces its launch with its debut competition taking place at Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, home of the Dallas Cowboys World Headquarters, on June 27th-28th.
XENOM is the Decathlon of Fitness™, a stadium-scale global competition over 2-days consisting of 10-events, that standardizes and scores total human performance on a points-based index, creating the first repeatable global benchmark for CrossFit® athletes.
Founded by Keith Barlow with ambitious plans to launch 11 competitions in Season 001, XENOM has secured $15 million in seed financing led by WndrCo, the investment firm led by Jeffrey Katzenberg and Sujay Jaswa with Rogue Fitness as the Foundational Partner and long-term equipment supplier. XENOM has also entered into a CrossFit® Partner Event Series licence agreement with CrossFit, LLC.
“We 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, for a complete standardized test including traditional endurance, gymnastics, weightlifting and combined metabolic conditioning,” said Keith Barlow, Founder and CEO of XENOM. “We will allow our competitors to compete on the world's biggest stages and demonstrate the incredible physical capacity they have built in the gyms for their friends, family and peers to see. XENOM will be the defining cultural platform for high performance and the pursuit of elite fitness”
WHAT IS XENOM
XENOM is built to establish the global sporting standard for testing human fitness and to bring a world-class elite-level competition experience, hosted in the world's best venues, to the global audience of CrossFit® athletes.
Across two days, 2,000 athletes compete in 10 fixed events designed to measure every facet of performance, from maximal strength to gymnastics proficiency and aerobic capacity.
Athletes can compete in two categories - Individual or Same Sex Pairs - across three divisions:
Elite - Advanced loading and technical standards designed for the best athletes in the sport
RX - Prescribed competition standards for experienced CrossFit® athletes
Compete - Scaled loading and complexity within the full test format, providing an accessible entry point
WHAT MAKES XENOM DIFFERENT
CrossFit® has transformed global training culture. Millions now train across strength, endurance, and high-skill disciplines. Yet competitive formats in the space often vary year on year, with changing workouts, race style structures, varying scoring systems, and limited access to elite level arenas and experiences.
XENOM was created to fix this gap and provide the first standardized, complete test of fitness for athletes, hosted in the world's best venues. XENOM’s fixed 10 event format provides a comparable, measurable, and repeatable global benchmark that athletes can train toward year after year.
By standardizing format, scoring, and environment, XENOM establishes a consistent global reference point for competitive fitness, something that has not previously existed at scale.
COMPETITION DETAILS & SEASON STRUCTURE
Season 001 will feature 11 competitions across the US and Europe, with an expansion roadmap to 60 global competitions.
Three of the ten events of the competition have been announced, with seven additional events to be revealed in the coming weeks, including the global unveiling of a brand new piece of competition-grade equipment from Rogue Fitness.
001 > Dallas, USA | Ford Center at The Star in Frisco - Saturday June 27th & Sunday June 28th, 2026
Taking place at Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas, the inaugural XENOM event will transform the world headquarters and training facilities of one of the most iconic sports franchises in the world, the Dallas Cowboys, into a purpose built fitness arena. Competition floors will be constructed to accommodate large scale heats, with integrated athlete camps, recovery zones and partner activations designed to deliver a professional, stadium level experience.
To mark the opening of Season 001, XENOM will release 250 free competition spots via a 14-day ballot.
Ballot Entry Opens on Friday, February 27th to Friday March 13th
250 spots available across the three divisions
Applications open for 14 days
Apply at: www.xenom.global
Successful applicants will be notified by Monday, March 16th, and will need to accept their spot within 48 hours.
From Monday March 16th, tickets go live:
$500 Individual Early Bird Pricing
$450 Per Person Pairs
$25 Spectator
002 > London, UK | Saturday August 29th & Sunday August 30th, 2026
Further information and ticket pricing will be announced soon
003 > Miami, USA | Dates to be announced soon
004 > Paris, France | Dates to be announced soon
FOUNDER
XENOM is founded by Keith Barlow, a long-standing member of the globall CrossFit® community. For over a decade, Barlow has trained, competed, earned his CrossFit® Level 2 certification, and worked closely with brands and athletes around the world. As co-owner of Fittest, an agency born from within the CrossFit® ecosystem, he has helped shape the narratives of leading brands within the industry, giving him a deep understanding of the culture and evolution of the sport. His experience within the competitive landscape directly informed the creation of XENOM, built from inside the community for the community.
INVESTORS
XENOM has secured investment from WndrCo, the investment firm led by media executive Jeffrey Katzenberg, co-founder of DreamWorks and former Chairman of Walt Disney Studios, and technology entrepreneur Sujay Jaswa, Business Founder and former CFO of Dropbox. WndrCo focuses on long-term brand building at the intersection of entertainment, media, technology, and consumer behaviour, and brings global scale expertise to the XENOM platform.
“There are very few global household name brands left to build,” said Sujay Jaswa, Managing Partner at WndrCo. “Fitness 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’s best athletes in every geography.”
FOUNDATIONAL PARTNER
As a foundational partner, Rogue Fitness will serve as XENOM’s official equipment supplier. Rogue has been a cornerstone of elite competition for over two decades, powering many of the world’s most recognised fitness events and training facilities. Rogue’s involvement reinforces XENOM’s commitment to providing a world-class, professional experience for athletes using equipment engineered to the highest standards.
“Rogue has always existed to serve athletes and the broader training community,” said Caity Henniger, Chief Sales Officer of Rogue Fitness. “Being 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’s values align with how we approach the world, and we’re proud to help lay the foundation from day one.”
-ENDS-
www.xenom.global | @xenomglobal
Notes to Editors:
About XENOM
XENOM is the Decathlon of Fitness™, a global competition built to standardize and score total human performance. Through a fixed 10 event structure and a universal points based Elite Performance Index, XENOM measures total capacity across strength, endurance and high-skill technical disciplines, enabling meaningful comparison and long term athletic progression.
Operating as a season-based global sporting framework, XENOM hosts events in iconic venues worldwide, providing athletes with a repeatable, measurable platform for progression year after year.
Founded by Keith Barlow and backed by WndrCo and Rogue Fitness, XENOM is building a new global standard for competitive fitness.
CrossFit® Partner Event Series License
XENOM holds a CrossFit® Event Partner Series License, a non-exclusive license agreement with CrossFit, LLC authorizing the use of the CrossFit® trademark in connection with XENOM™ competitions. Under this partnership, CrossFit® Affiliates in good standing will receive a suite of benefits, including priority access and preferential pricing on athlete and spectator tickets.
For more information, visit www.xenom.global
The Events: Three have been announced; the remaining will be revealed in the coming weeks.
The Elite Performance Index:
The Elite Performance Index is XENOM’s cumulative scoring system, inspired by the principles of the decathlon. Athletes earn points in each of the 10 events based on measurable performance, with scores aggregated to determine overall ranking.
Elite scores of 1,000 points for each event, division and category are set at the beginning of the sport, your score in a workout is measured against this ‘elite’ benchmark and you are awarded points comparative to that benchmark, you can score more than 1,000 if you exceed this benchmark.
The system is designed to reward well rounded performance without over-indexing on a single skill set. Consistency across all 10 events is critical; excelling in one event doesn’t completely compensate for weaknesses in others.
The Elite Performance Index creates a season long benchmark, allowing athletes to track progression and compare performance year after year.