Hamburg, the home of HYROX, hosted it’s second HYROX event of the season on 1st April 2023 at the Hamburger Messe und Congress.
Men’s Pro
The Men’s Pro division saw several big names lining up, many hoping to stake their claim for a place in the Elite 15 race at the 2023 HYROX World Championships. Ultimately it was won by Tony Revell in a time of 01:01:22. Sebastian Ifversen was second in 01:02:24, and Dominic Molzahn was third in 01:03:06.
Revell, who had finished second in HYROX Glasgow at the start of February 2023, commented on the race in the below video…
Women’s Pro
The Women’s Pro race was won by Rebecca Naether in a time of 01:09:17.
Second was Anna Blank in 01:10:17, and third was Magdalena Schubert in 01:13:17.
Sled Problems
Both the Men’s and Women’s races were impacted by the sleds (the sled pull in particular), which several athletes commented on, suggesting they felt heavier than normal on the day. If we look at the Men’s Open median sled pull time we can see it was 05:09m, compared to an average for the season of 04:41m. However, even that doesn’t quite tell the full story…
Some athletes had to pull out of the race completely because they ended up getting a sled that either wouldnt move at all, or was so hard to move it took literally everything the athlete had to be able to move it. I have heard of instances of this happening in the past to well-known, strong athletes, and it sounds as if the issue was even more prevalant than normal in Hamburg. For example, Dieter Schwarzkopf, 22nd fastest male of the season so far, had to pull out of the race because his sled wouldnt move, as did Beatrice Ardelt and Sabrina Rothig. All 3 are athletes who have featured in the HYROX Elite races. It was also known to have impacted Florian Lippenmeyer (who was allowed to eventually change sled pull lanes, but it had cost him time and energy by that point) and Carsten Flynn (who took over 9 minutes on the pull, compared to 04:22 just a few weeks earlier in Karlsruhe).
I do believe it is something that HYROX are aware of and are trying to fix. Let’s hope they can do so quickly, as it’s affecting times and potentially qualification for the World Championships. What’s more, it’s ruining races that people are paying a lot of money to travel to and enter.
Men’s Open
Fastest in the Men’s Open was Jannik Czapla in 00:57:18. That’s the second best time ever in the 16-24 age group at the time of writing.
Second was Janik Hoffmann in 00:59:25, followed by Robert Maire in 01:03:14.
Women’s Open
The winner of the Women’s Open was Sarah Kaiser 01:09:56. Second was Fanny Riese in 01:11:13, and third was Vivian Schuldt in 01:11:15
Doubles
The mixed doubles were won by Brits Sam Bilbie (who currently holds the 45-49 Open and Pro World Records), and Ryan Ibbotson, in an impressive 59:02.
The Women’s Doubles were won by Caroline Müller-Korn and Birte Mielke in 01:04:16.
Men’s Doubles were won by Christian Nolde and Clemens Scherbel in an incredibly quick time of 51:56m (the 7th fastest Men’s Doubles time ever).
Well done to everyone who competed!
Here are some photos of the event:
Photo credit Sportograf
