South African fitness coach Leroy Saunders died at 41 after collapsing during the BYD HYROX Bangkok 2026 competition on August 13. a CrossFit Level 3 coach and former WTKA World Championships Muay Thai competitor, he built a career helping athletes prepare for high-level competition. As the founder of Fight by Design, he worked with Muay Thai, MMA, and boxing athletes, while also competing in fitness events himself.

The incident happened at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center in Bangkok, where the four-day BYD HYROX Bangkok 2026 event was being held from August 13 to 16. Saunders was competing when he suddenly collapsed and lost consciousness. Event medical personnel and staff responded to the emergency and provided CPR and other resuscitation efforts before he was taken to hospital.

His death was confirmed on August 18 through a statement posted on his official Instagram account, @iamcoachleroy. The statement did not provide a medical cause of death, with his family saying, “Last Thursday we unfortunately lost Leroy due to reasons we are still trying to fully understand,” the statement said.

The family and Saunders’ team also asked HYROX and media organizations to refrain from making statements about the circumstances surrounding his death until the facts had been established. They acknowledged that people were seeking answers but said further information would be shared when the time was right.

The exact HYROX station or exercise Saunders was performing when he collapsed has not been publicly confirmed. There is also no reliable public information establishing whether a particular medical condition, exercise, or other factor caused his death. For that reason, the circumstances should not be speculated upon until further information is provided by his family or the relevant authorities.

In their statement, Saunders’ family thanked the communities he had been part of for the messages and support they had received following his death. They described the response as a reflection of the positive impact he had tried to make throughout his life and said he had encouraged “hundreds, if not thousands” of people to live without regret or hesitation. Saunders’ death came after a career that had made him a familiar name in Thailand’s fitness and combat-sports communities.

Leroy Saunders’ journey from fighter to elite fitness coach

Saunders owned IAOT CrossFit in Bangkok and founded Fight by Design, a strength-and-conditioning system created to help combat athletes prepare for competition. The program worked with Muay Thai fighters, MMA athletes and boxers, focusing on physical preparation, conditioning and performance. 

Saunders also had experience as a combat-sports competitor. His professional background states that he competed in Muay Thai at the WTKA World Championships in Italy. That experience as an athlete later became part of his coaching approach, giving him first-hand knowledge of the physical demands faced by fighters. He continued to compete in functional fitness as his coaching career developed. Saunders had previously taken part in HYROX, including the 2025 Bangkok Doubles event, where he competed alongside Annika Saunders and recorded a time of 1:17:51.

Beyond his competition results, Saunders’ coaching qualifications covered several areas of physical preparation.  That combination of coaching and competition became a defining part of Saunders’ career. He was not simply a fitness coach working from the sidelines. He had competed himself, trained fighters, and remained involved in demanding functional-fitness events.