The first Spanish event of the 2023/24 season was HYROX Madrid on 23rd September 2023, taking place at the IFEMA Exhibition Center. Many big names in the HYROX world were competing, with the hope of finishing in a time quick enough to qualify for the 23/24 Elite Majors (details of which we revealed here).
As ever, it was another fantastic event put on by the Spain team, and special mention should also go to the high quality of the Pro race livestreams they put on too – definitely the best to date outside of the 2023 World Championships.
Other Spanish HYROX events are held in Barcelona, Bilbao, Malaga and Valencia.
Women’s Pro
A very strong field in the Womens Pro division featured Elite 15 athletes Alina Willnow and Jezabel Kremer, as well as (amongst others) Kate Davey, Zara Piergianni, Maria Fecik, Felicity Cole and Beatrice Ardelt. The ladies had a great battle throughout the race, often exchanging the lead, and often arriving at the workout stations within seconds of each other. Towards the end, Alina built up a gap to the others and that was enough for her to hold on to victory (in a time of 01:06:04), despite very strong wall balls from Jezabel Kremer, with just 2 seconds separating the pair at the finishing line.
Kate Davey arrived at the Wall Balls in 5th but clawed back time and crossed the line in 3rd (in a time of 01:06:45), beating out Zara.
Men’s Pro
It was also a strong lineup in the Men’s race, with Eugenio Bianchi setting the early lead, closely followe by Elite 15 athlete Jon Wynn. Jon left it late to take the win, passing Eugenio at the Wall Balls, to finish in a time of 58:37. Eugenio was second in 59:01, and third was Ruben Patiño Vieites in 59:47. Throughout the race, those 3 had been closely followed by, amongst other, Pelayo Menendez Fernandez, Alfons Deu and Tanguy Cruzmermy.
Relay
Late in the day, an incredible performance in the Mixed Relay event saw the World Record broken in a time of 52:21. The team was made up of Tiago Lousa, Daniela Couto, Maria Fecik, and Diogo Freitas.
Women’s Open
The Women’s Open was won by Noelia Pérez Tur in a time of 01:06:14.
Jodie Digby finished second in 01:07:19, and third was Sally Lawton in a time of 01:07:34.
Men’s Open
The Men’s Open was won by Aitor Lizarazu Hormilla in 00:58:09.
Second was Sergio Olivares Plaza in a time of 00:59:55, and third was Simon Passmore (who won the 50-54 age group, and who later raced in the Pro division too!) in 01:01:37.
Doubles
The Men’s Doubles was won by Ivan Remesal Castaño and Jose Angel Hidalgo Izquierdo 00:54:11 (breaking the 40-44 age group World Record in the process).
The Women’s Doubles was won by Anna Syme and Dena Hogan in 01:02:14.
The Mixed Doubles was won by David Maia and Sara Pinto in 00:58:57.
Special mention in the Men’s Doubles should also go to Juan Fernando Martinez Valero and Jose Sanchez Mota who smashed the 60-69 age group HYROX World Record in a time of 01:08:16, beating the previous record by 6 minutes!
Here are some photos of the event:
