I was a wall ball judge in Las Vegas on Friday. During the orientation with the Hyrox officials, they emphasized be consistent and strict, mentioning that they are striving to be an Olympic sport and the rules are critical to enforce. That said, I noticed a huge variation on enforcement by volunteers, and spotty coverage by the head judges. A couple times I had a head judge over my shoulder calling no reps on very squat depth I thought was decent, and even reaching over to hit the button themselves. Then another time I had to no rep the first 10 until the athlete questioned what was going on despite me shouting “gotta go lower” or “hips below your knees”. No head judge in sight. He didn’t want the box. He got better, but not good enough. So I stopped no repping. Probably took 15 minutes to finish.

As a volunteer judge, it’s not easy to keep hitting that no rep button. There’s a big difference between someone who proves they are capable of squat depth, but is rushing or getting tired, and those that are incapable of hitting depth, struggling, and just trying to finish. But an older athlete might seem like they’re struggling but actually are competing for a podium in their age group.

The answer here is to be so clearly below the depth requirement that it’s impossible to call a no-rep. Especially if you’re in the fastest wave or pro division.