The 2022/23 HYROX World Championships were held in Manchester, UK on Friday 26th and  Saturday 27th May 2023, at the Manchester Central Convention Centre. 

Over 5,000 people attended the event including both athletes and supporters; attendees also enjoyed a Fitness and Wellness Expo with presentations and activities from leading businesses in the fitness industry. The event saw athletes from 42 countries competing.

The weekend began on Friday night for the Walk of Nations Opening Ceremony, with all qualified athletes attending before notable professional singer Laura Wright opened the event with the British National Anthem, before the headline Elite 15 Race began.

Elite 15 Results

A major highlight of the weekend saw the Elite 15 Male and Female competitors race for the title of Elite World Champion and $85,000 in prize money on Friday 26th May. The Elite 15 are the fastest 15 men and women who qualified from around the world throughout the 2022/2023 season. The opening ceremony and Elite races were livestreamed (co-commentated by our very own Greg from Rox Lyfe) on HYROX.com and on Red Bull TV.  The replays can be watched below (scroll down).

The ultimate winners, and 2023 HYROX World Champions, were Hunter McIntyre and Lauren Weeks.

Male Race Highlights

Hunter McIntyre started the race aggressively running 3.30 – 3.45km pace for the first 4 laps which helped him to open up a significant lead which at one point reached 2 minutes 26 seconds. He notched 1st place times in each of the first 5 workouts including a blistering sled push (2.21) and burpees (2.27). His runs slowed noticeably in the second half of the race as he stopped in each of the last 4 runs for water. He finished the race with a 1 min lead over second place Alex Roncevic.

Roncevic ran a consistent race to take 2nd – he recorded the second fastest times on 4 stations and won the wall ball station. One of the most consistent athletes in HYROX history, he worked his way steadily through the field following a mid-field start and ended the race in his best-ever finish in a World Championship race.  That’s now 4 podium finishes in 4 HYROX World Championships for this amazing athlete (who is also the 2023 European Champion). 

The battle for 3rd and 4th was intense with Ryan Kent and Tobias Lautwein recording an identical 58.26 score which came down to a photo finish and saw Lautwein edge his American Counterpart for the final podium spot.  Father of 4, Lautwein, gave an emotional interview on the livestream afterwards which you can watch here. 

UK athletes Graham Halliday (5th 58.41) and Michael Sandbach (10th 1.00.30) both raced impressively in front of their home crowds. 

The full men’s results were as follows:

1   Hunter McIntyre        00:56:40
2   Alexander Roncevic  00:57:35
3   Tobias Lautwein        00:58:26
4   Ryan Kent                   00:58:26
5   Graham Halliday       00:58:41
6   Jonathon Wynn         00:58:50
7   Florian Gast               00:59:59
8   James Kelly                 01:00:12
9   Tiago Lousa                01:00:20
10  Michael Sandbach    01:00:30
11  Tom Hogan                01:00:47
12  Joffrey Voisin              01:01:11
13  Peter Schiller             01:02:30
14  Dylan Scott                01:04:13
15  David Magida            01:09:41

A reply of the race can be watched in the video below…

Female Race Highlights:

Lauren Weeks regained the World Champion title she last held in 2021, breaking the 60-minute barrier in 59.51. She won two stations, came 2nd in four and held a steady run pace around 4.10/km. Having secured the lead in the first lap she never relinquished it, entering the final wall ball station 30 seconds ahead of her fellow American athlete Megan Jacoby to hold the lead and win.

Megan Jacoby finished in 1.00.23. She fought hard in the midsection of the race coming off the rower at the same time as Weeks but was unable to match her in the second half of the race, falling just shy of becoming the first woman to break the 60 min barrier for a second time.

Belle McFarlane rounded out the podium making it an American clean sweep. She finished in 01.02.11 with a strong second-half race, notching a win in the sandbag lunges (3.23) and a 3rd in the Wall Balls.

Last year’s champion, Kris Rugloski, finished 7th.

The full women’s results were as follows:

1     Lauren Weeks         00:59:51
2     Megan Jacoby         01:00:23
3     Belle Macfarlane     01:02:11
4     Vivian Tafuto           01:04:04
5     Viola Oberländer     01:04:07
6     Rebecca Mason        01:04:25
7     Kris Rugloski            01:05:05
8     Janne Thomsen       01:05:34
9     Alina Willnow          01:05:38
10   Terra Jackson           01:05:50
11   Linda Meier               01:06:58
12   Alandra Greenlee     01:08:29
13   Jezabel Kremer         01:09:21
14   Antje Hardes             01:12:56

Christian Toetzke, Founder of HYROX, comments “This evening we saw 2 of the best athletes to ever compete in our sport show their pedigree, both ran impressive races pushing the pace early and demonstrating an awareness of both their fitness and the ability to manage themselves to win in highly competitive fields. Both times recorded would have broken World Records last year and it’s a huge testament to the speed at which the sport is progressing that these athletes and all of the other Elites have broken time barriers.”

A reply of the race can be watched below…

Away from the Elite 15, 2600 athletes competed on the Saturday in the age group races…

Women’s Pro

The fastest Woman Pro on the day was Camilla Massa in a time of 01:05:45.  Closely following behind was Maria Fecik in 1:06:06, and third fastest was Zara Piergianni in 01:06:12.  All 3 of those ladies were in a hugely competitive 30-34 age group.

Kate Davey finished 9th fastest overall due to a 3:30 time penalty, without which she would have finished in sub 01:05 – a time that would have been fast enough to qualify her for the Elite 15 this season. I recently got to interview Kate – you can give it a watch here.

Additionally, massive congratulations to Sam Bilbie and Mimoushka Kion who broke their own 45-49 and 55-59 Age Group World Records respectively in times of 01:09:22 and 01:16:29.  Celia Duff also cemented her 65-69 age group world record with a 01:50:54 finish (at Open weights).

Men’s Pro

The fastest Male Pro on the day was Martin Michelius in a time of 00:59:59.  Second was Harry Thompson in 01:00:52 (you can see my interview with him here), and third was Aitor Lizarazu Hormilla in 01:01:00.

Congratulations also to Tim Carr who broke the 65-69 Age Group World Record in a time of 01:22:29 (at Open weights).

Doubles

The fastest Mens Doubles at the 2023 World Championships were Colin Stiefer and Taylor Haney in 54:29.

The Women’s Doubles were won by Rebecca Naether and Mirjam Von Rohr in 01:00:36.

The quickest Mixed Doubles pairing was Jacqueline and Florian Lippenmayer in 55:51.

A special mention too to Rob Porcarelli and Maria Colacurcio for breaking a long standing 50-59 Age Group World Record in an incredible time of 01:03:22.

Rewarding the UK Success

Following a hugely successful start to HYROX’s second UK tour (in the 2022/23 season), with three sold out events months before race day (Birmingham 15th Oct, London 19th Nov, Manchester 28th Jan), HYROX rewarded the UK fitness community’s commitment to the sport by selecting Manchester as the location for the World Championship Race.

Upon the announcement, Christian Toetzke, HYROX Co-Founder, commented “The UK market is special, I’ve never seen anything like this in my 30 years of running these sorts of events. We have been blown away by the support from the UK fitness community so it was only right that we recognise that support by hosting our next World Championship Race at the stunning redbrick Manchester Convention Centre. As one of the most iconic venues in our global calendar, Manchester was an easy choice for us. Our Manchester race in January 2022 was an incredible event and I am beyond excited to see what we can do with our global community in such an incredible city”.

HYROX in the UK By The Numbers:

• 25th September 2021 London, 679 athletes
• 30th October 2021 Birmingham, 729 athletes
• 29th January 2022 Manchester, 2280 athletes
• 30th April 2022 London, 4170 athletes (sold out)
• 15th October 2022 Birmingham, 4600+ athletes (sold out)
• 19th November 2022 London, 4600+ athletes (sold out)
• 28th Jan 2023 Manchester, 3,400+ athletes (sold out)
• 11th Feb 2023 Glasgow, 3,600 athletes (sold out)
• 30th Apr / 1st May 2023 London, 7000+ athletes (sold out)

With growth number like these, it is easy to see why HYROX chose the UK to host the World Championships!

The 2022 HYROX World Championships were won by Hunter McIntyre and Kris Rugloski.

Weights

The majority of athletes at the World Championships were required to use Pro weights, even if they didn’t qualify using those weights.  For example, all individual racers were at Pro weights, as are the same sex doubles. Mixed doubles continued to use the Men’s Open / Women’s Pro weights, as per normal.  The only exception to this was for individual athletes aged 60+ who will use Open weights.

This was a significant change for the same sex doubles in particular, all of whom will have qualified at the Open weights. In fact, this was the first ever event where doubles had been able to compete at Pro weights. For more details on the weights / distances used by division, check out our Beginner’s Guide to HYROX.

Weekend Timings

Friday 26th May

10:30-17:00 | HYROX Athlete & Spectator check-in & expo
17:30 | Opening Ceremony / Walk-in of Nations.
19:00-21:15 | Elite 15 Races (Men and Women)

Saturday 27th May

8:00-09:10 | Doubles Women
9:20-12:00 | Women
12:20-13:35 | Doubles Mixed
13:50-17:05 | Men
17:15-18:30 | Doubles Men

Afterparty

Starting at 9pm on the Saturday, an afterparty for athletes and friends was held at Revolution, Manchester, with the venue hired exclusively for the party.

How to Qualify for the HYROX World Championships

If you’re wondering how to qualify for the next HYROX World Championships (which will be held in June 2024 in Nice, France – as revealed here), either at the Elite races, or the age group races, then check out this article on how to qualify.

Competition Prices

Ticket prices for those who qualified were as follows (excludes booking fee):

HYROX Pro – £169

HYROX Doubles – £134.50 (per person)

Spectator – £25

If you were at the event, either as a spectator or athlete, let us know in the comments what you thought!