S’pore Gym Trainer Partners & Guides Visually Impaired Athletes At Hyrox 2026 For 2 Races

While this was Pei Pei’s first Hyrox race competing in the Women’s Doubles, BK returned for his second, levelling up to the more demanding Men’s Doubles Pro category.

“When I first suggested the November Hyrox to BK last year, he didn’t even know what it was. Now he says he’ll only do it if I’m his guide,” says Samuel.

As for Pei Pei, Samuel intentionally chose to partner her.

“I was looking for a female adaptive athlete for mixed doubles. It became more than a race, it was about showing what’s possible,” he says.

He trained with her for three weeks, focusing on key stations like the sandbag lunges and wall balls. No small feat given the weight involved.

Of course, no one was expecting a walk in the park and Samuel tells us that during race day, there were many concerns that most would take for granted.

“I was concerned about people cutting in front of them, as that happens a lot in these sorts of races. For us who can see perfectly, it is fine. But for them, they can’t react. So I had to be like 200 per cent focused in terms of spatial awareness, looking up, the front and the back for them as well,” he explains.

To help them navigate during the runs, Samuel used a resistance band so his partners could follow his movement.

Ironically, one of Samuel’s biggest concerns had nothing to do with his legs or fitness — he was worried about losing his voice as he had spent the day before his races cheering for his friends.

“I was quite scared as [having] no voice, means no eyes [for them],” he says sheepishly.

When 8days.sg mentioned how tense he looked during the wall ball station with Pei Pei, even pushing a falling ball away mid-race, Samuel didn’t deny it.

“I know that she can reach the target, but with the fatigue and the weight on [race] day, I was 100 per cent on the lookout to make sure that the ball doesn’t hit her face,” he explains.

Preparing visually impaired athletes goes far beyond reps and sets, and Samuel says it starts with imagination.

“For example, they needed to imagine the movements are first before using the machine. I had to let them touch, and get a feel, have a visualisation or what the machines are like, and how to handle them. With a visually impaired person, we need to be a lot more sensitive to their imagination, and to give them what they need to hear, and feel,” explained Samuel.

Since the Hyrox weekend, Samuel says interest has been encouraging, from the visually impaired community, as well as others who have shown interest in being a guide.

“Currently, we have more sighted partners than visually impaired athletes, but I’m confident that will grow. There’s clearly interest from the visually impaired community to step into training and eventually into racing. it’s just about continuing to build awareness and providing the right support structure,” he says.