The 2023/24 HYROX World Championships was held at the prestigious Palais des Expositions – Nice Acropolis, located in the picturesque city of Nice, France (Parvis de L’Europe, 06000, Nice, France). The 3 day event was held on June 7th, 8th and 9th 2024, and and a record $150,000 prize purse was up for grabs for the sports highest honour.
The three-day affair kicked off on Friday the 7th, beginning with the opening ceremony and the Elite 15 races. In response to the surging number of participants, HYROX made a decision to expand the Age Groups HYROX World Championships to span two days, offering singles on Saturday and doubles racing on Sunday.
Upon announcing the event, Christian Toetzke, HYROX Founder said“Nice, France, will set the stage for the 2024 HYROX World Championships, where athletes will converge to compete and inspire. Against the backdrop of the stunning French Riviera, the HYROX World Championships will see HYROX Elite and everyday athletes push their limits even further and redefine what’s possible. It’s incredible to think that from the humble beginnings of our first season of races in 2018, where 11,000 people took part, we’ve now skyrocketed to a forecasted 175,000 participants across the 2023/24 season. This is a testament to the passion and dedication of our HYROX community as we continue to witness year-on-year growth.”
The weekend culminated at the legendary official HYROX Afterparty.
The divisions ran in age group order. So the youngest age group start first, oldest last.
For full details of the previous HYROX World Championships, held in Manchester, UK, check out this article.
Elite 15
HYROX introduced a new season structure and qualification process for its Elite 15 Series in the 2023/2024 season with over $300,000 in prize money available throughout the season.
The Elite 15 series is the professional racing division in the sport, featuring the top 15 female and top 15 male athletes during any season competing in various Elite 15 races. This season’s Elite15 Series will consist of the following key events:
- 4 Regional Major Races ($42,000 prize purse per event) – Participants can qualify for the Majors through time placings in the year 2023. The top three times at each Regional Major will earn coveted spots at the HYROX World Championships.
- 2 Last Chance Qualifiers – Open Field events held at the end of the Major’s season schedule will provide athletes with one last opportunity to secure a spot at the HYROX World Championships.
- The HYROX World Championship – This event is the crown jewel of the season, where the best of the best will compete for titles, substantial prize money, and the prestigious title of HYROX World Champion.
Qualification has been achieved through a placing at one of the “Major” races during the 2023/24 season, or via one of the two “Last Chance Qualifiers” (for more information on that process check out this post).
To get a better idea of how strong and fast these Elite 15 athletes are, check out this article.
Elite Women
The Elite 15 Women kicked off the weekend’s racing – with Megan Jacoby ultimately being crowned World Champion.
Megan established her lead at the sleds and never looked back – a highly impressive and dominant performance.
The remaining podium places came to a climatic ending at the wall balls, with Viola Oberländer, Lauren Weeks, Vivian Tafuto and Linda Meier all in contention for the remaining two podium places. Viola crossed the line ahead of Lauren and Vivian, but heartbreakingly for her, her last wall ball was a no rep – as was Vivian’s – leading to 5 second penalties for both Women. Viola also received a 3 second penalty for leaving the Ski Erg too early.
There was a lot of confusion at the end of the race, but the final standings after the penalties were as follows:
1. Megan Jacoby 00:59:59
2. Lauren Weeks 01:03:37
3. Vivian Tafuto 01:03:44
4. Viola Oberländer 01:03:45
5. Linda Meier 01:03:57
6. Kate Davey 01:04:42
7. Amy Bevilacqua 01:07:11
8. Zara Piergianni 01:08:25
9. Maria Fecik 01:09:11
10. Mikaela Norman 01:10:50
11. Alina Willnow 01:11:06
12. Lauren Griffith 01:13:33
13. Jana Lebenstedt 01:13:50
14. Camilla Massa 01:15:27
15. Antje Hardes DNF
Highlights of the Women’s race can be viewed below:
Elite Men
After the excitement of the Women’s Elite 15 race, it was the Men’s turn – with ‘Mr Consistent’ Alexander Roncevic finally getting his chance to stand on the top step of the podium.
It was a fight from the start between Alex, Hunter McIntyre and Michael ‘Sandy’ Sandbach – all of them going out very fast, all eager to establish an early dominance. Sandy had taken a good lead at the sled pull but received a 5 metre penalty for stepping out of the box, but fought back in impressive fashion in the next stages of the race to be leading again going into the lunges (closely followed by Alex). Hunter, who appeared to struggle more than normal during the latter stages of the race, was overtaken by James Kelly in the lunges.
Sandy went into the wall balls 23 seconds ahead of Alex and it was incredibly close the whole way through, with both men having no reps. However Alex managed to narrowly beat Sandy across the line. We spoke to him a few days after the race on the Rox Lyfe podcast – you can view that here.
The full results were as follows:
1. Alexander Roncevic 00:56:21
2. Michael Sandbach 00:56:32
3. James Kelly 00:56:53
4. Pelayo Menendez Fernandez 00:58:30
5. Hunter McIntyre 00:58:37
6. Tobias Lautwein 00:58:59
7. Graham Halliday 00:59:27
8. Beau Wills 01:00:04
9. Jon Wynn 01:01:01
10. Dylan Scott 01:01:03
11. Tomas Tvrdik 01:01:06
12. Colin Stiefer 01:01:54
13. Rich Ryan 01:03:36
14. David Magida 01:03:59
15. Ryan Kent DNF
Highlights of the Men’s race can be viewed below:
Congratulations to all of the Elite 15 athletes, who put on two incredible races.
Women’s Singles
Saturday was a day of Singles races, starting with the women. The start waves were by Age Group, so that each age group was racing each other in a bid to become World Champion.
Women 16-24
1. Lucy Procter 01:04:46
2. Lena Putters 01:07:22
3. Lisa Richter 01:07:25
Women 25-29
1. Seka Arning 01:01:53
2. Alice Schürer 01:06:27
3. Kerri Hewitt 01:07:55
Women 30-34
1. Jade Skillen 01:04:19
2. Magdalena Schubert 01:04:59
3. Lauren Armstrong 01:06:21
Women 35-39
1. Simone Feld 01:05:15
2. Jess Towl 01:05:37
3. Tilde Jensen 01:09:03
Women 40-44
1. Jezabel Kremer 01:07:38
2. Jessica Short 01:09:53
3. Jodie Digby 01:10:03
Women 45-49
1. Mareesa Robertson 01:07:35
2. Helena Falk 01:11:02
3. Elita Amato 01:11:51
Women 50-54
1. Camilla Åbergh 01:15:09
2. Kristjana Hildur Gunnarsdóttir 01:17:42
3. Stefanie Wagner 01:19:36
Women 55-59
1. Anna Buxó 01:15:39
2. Cheryl Snow 01:19:12
3. Karina Heggan 01:19:57
Women 60-64
1. Mapi Serna 01:18:44
2. Anette Meier-Ullmann 01:21:23
3. Carol Norris 01:23:05
Women 65-69
1. Heidi Williams 01:24:31
2. Susie Mabie 01:49:43
3. Ellie De Rooy 01:56:19
Women 70-74
1. Celia Duff 02:02:37
2. Marta Corella 02:14:40
Men’s Singles
Men 16-24
1. Roberto Viciedo 01:00:29
2. Luis García Rubio 01:00:49
3. Jannik Czapla 01:01:48
Men 25-29
1. Hidde Weersma 00:59:12
2. Sean Noble 00:59:55
3. Igor Arruti 01:00:24
Men 30-34
1. Alan Cao 01:00:00
2. Krystian Poremba 01:00:12
3. Alen Ploj 01:00:42
Men 35-39
1. Alfons Deu Ruiz 01:00:22
2. Ryan Hogan 01:00:40
3. Adam Corlett 01:01:34
Men 40-44
1. Tiago Lousa 01:02:20
2. Mark Lynch 01:02:50
3. Samuel Pimentel 01:03:22
Men 45-49
1. David Martín Peral 01:03:10
2. Matt De’Ath 01:04:37
3. Jochen Binder 01:05:54
Men 50-54
1. Guy Portlock 01:07:28
2. Simon Passmore 01:08:05
3. Thilo Schmalkoke 01:10:24
Men 55-59
1. Joze Kojc 01:11:04
2. Thomas Heider 01:14:36
3. Glenn Waters 01:19:03
Men 60-64
1. Stefan Eichhorn 01:14:19
2. Myles McNulty 01:14:38
3. Kevin Marshall 01:16:02
Men 65-69
1. John Wootton 01:19:41
2. Thomas Klein 01:21:47
3. David Banks 01:24:03
Men 70-74
1. Anders Olsson 01:33:17
2. Stephen Woods 01:46:05
3. David Ridout 01:58:16
Men 75-79
1. Peter Langsjoen 02:08:01
Highlights of the Age Group Singles races can be seen here:
Women’s Doubles
Women’s Doubles 16-29
1. Margot Vandenlindenloof and Charlotte Vandenlindenloof 00:58:48
Women’s Doubles 30-39
1. Kate Davey and Zara Piergianni 00:57:59
Women’s Doubles 40-49
1. Katrin Hulme and Sam Bilbie 01:02:10
Women’s Doubles 50-59
1. Mimoushka Kion and Martina Goerz 01:10:52
A noteable mention goes to Kim Cole and Cheryl Snow who finished 2nd with exactly the same time!
Women’s Doubles 60-69
1. Ásta Katrín Helgadóttir and Árdís Lára Gísladóttir 01:23:59
Mixed Doubles
Mixed Doubles 16-29
1. Meg Martin and William Martin 00:54:58
Mixed Doubles 30-39
1. Fabian Eisenlauer, Jennifer Nikolaus 00:53:08
Mixed Doubles 40-49
1. Joffrey Voisin and Jezabel Kremer 00:56:53
Mixed Doubles 50-59
1. Anna Buxó and Carles Pujadas 01:08:57
Mixed Doubles 60-69
1. Peter Kelly and Wendy Williams 01:14:47
Men’s Doubles
Men’s Doubles 16-29
1. Jake Dearden and Marc Dean 00:52:34
Men’s Doubles 30-39
1. Dylan Scott and David Magida 00:53:24
Men’s Doubles 40-49
1. Jaafar Moumen and Robert Van Herk 00:54:07
Men’s Doubles 50-59
1. Daniel Sevilla and Simon Passmore 00:59:21
Men’s Doubles 60-69
1. Juan Fernando Martínez Valero and José Pepe Mota 01:08:18
Men’s Doubles 70+
1. Marino Malinka and David Ridout 01:42:40
You can view highlights of the Doubles races below:
Mixed Relay Championships
The 2024 World Championship event saw the first ever Mixed Relay World Championships on Sunday evening. 20 mixed relay teams (each representing a different country) battled it out in what was a great race! Each country had a team captain (selected by HYROX) and it was the responsibility of the captain to choose their team.
The Mixed Relay Championship was won by England in a time of 00:50:35.
Second was USA in 00:50:55.
Germany took third place in a time of 00:51:08.
The countries who took part are as follows (with team captains shown first in brackets, followed by the remainder of the team, if known):
United States (Hunter McIntyre, Lauren Rantala, Ryan Kent, Megan Jacoby)
Germany (Linda Meier, Viola Oberländer, Dominic Molzahn, Tobias Lautwein)
Italy (Camilla Massa, Eugenio Bianchi, Giuseppe Spreafico, Alessia Donati)
Canada (Maria Fecik, Kayti Simonson, Cole Learn, Adam Di Fluvio)
Spain (Pelayo Menendez, Alba Lopez, Aitor Lizarazu, Yadira Perez)
Korea (Hong Boemseok, Jang Hansol, Song Byung Seok, Kim Jae Yun)
Belgium (Pieter Maes, Charlotte Vandenlindenloof, Margot Vandenlindenloof, Tom Franssens)
Poland (Krystian Poremba, Ewa Chudzio, Pawel Kozak, Karolina Bosiek)
Portugal (Tiago Lousa, Daniela Couto, Bruno Ferreira, Tania Cruz)
Sweden (Mikaela Norman, Madeleine Larsson, Hugo Huge, Par Bergsman)
Switzerland (Mirjam Von Rohr, Mika Merz, Nadine Messner, Pascal Mani)
France (Joffrey Voisin, Jezabel Kremer, Tanguy Cruz, Angelique Chetaneau)
New Zealand (Beau Wills, Biddy Sefton, Abbas Nazari, Taylor Stockman)
England (Michael Sandbach, Kate Davey, Jake Williamson, Zara Piergianni)
Scotland (Graham Halliday, Kelly Limond, John Carlisle, Anna Aitken)
Ireland (Dena Hogan, Tom Hogan, Ellevyn Irwin, Barry Watkins)
Australia (James Kelly, Jess Pettrow, Kane Gatty, Mareesa Robertson)
Austria (Alexander Roncevic, Alice Schurer, Matti Waldner, Lemi Wutz)
Denmark (Ida Mathilde Steensgaard, Laura Valgreen, Oscar Pedersen, Turker Alici)
Netherlands (Hidde Weersma, Nyima Zoutenbier, Thierry Willenberg, Lienke de Jong)
You can see the highlights of the race below…
Here are some photos of the event:
World Championships History
Previous HYROX World Championships have been held at the following locations:
2019: Oberhausen, Germany
2021: Leipzig, Germany
2022: Las Vegas, USA
2023: Manchester, UK
2024: Nice, France
The location for the 2025 HYROX World Championships is yet to be revealed (and likely won’t be until after Nice). It is heavily rumoured to be in Asia, with Singapore thought to be a possibility. But there are always rumours – and they are rarely accurate! We’ll let you know as soon as we know more.
World Championship Qualifying
At each HYROX event, there are a number of World Championship qualifying spaces available for the fastest athletes in each division, by age group.
The number of spaces available is dependent upon the number of participants in each division / age group at that particular event. Qualifying participants will be sent an email, shortly after each event, offering them the opportunity to claim their place (i.e. buy their ticket). They have 48 hours to do this. If they don’t accept their spot in that time frame then the spot rolls down and is offered to the next fastest athlete. This means it’s possible to qualify outside of the automatic qualifying spots.
For further details on how to qualify for the HYROX World Championships in the age group divisions (i.e. the non Elite race) then check the linked article.
