The latest HYROX Vienna event was held on 10th February at the Messe Wein (Hall A/Entrance A).
The event was the 2023/24 HYROX Open European Championships, where anyone could enter to race (Open division only).
The Friday evening (9th February) hosted the latest European Major race for the Elite 15. The Men’s and Women’s Elite races were livestreamed (YouTube link below) and were again co-commentated by our very own Greg. The lineups for those races can be seen in the below Instagram post.
A livestream of the event can be watched below…
Read on for the main results of the day…
Women’s Elite
The Women’s Elite was won by Lauren Weeks in an absolutely incredible World Record time of 00:58:03. This is 49 seconds faster than the previous record set by Megan Jacoby in Stockholm at the last Major!
Second was Megan Jacoby in 01:00:26.
Third place was once again taken by Linda Meier in a time of 01:02:04, having finished in the same position in the last 2 Majors in Chicago and Stockholm.
The top three had already secured their World Championship spots. Viola Oberlander finished in 4th place and Vivian Tafuto finished in 5th, earning them places in the World Championships in Nice in June.
Incredibly, Lauren Griffith passed out during what was her first Elite 15 race – only to get up and carry on, completing her race with the other 14 Elite Women cheering her on at the wall balls. A wonderful display of team spirit!
Men’s Elite
An eventful Men’s Elite race saw Austria’s own Alexander Roncevic once again become European Champion, in a time of 00:54:28. It was a dominant, impressive performance from the athlete, who had a lot of support in the venue. He smiled throughout, despite being directed the wrong way out of the Ski Erg station (which likely cost him 10 seconds) and experiencing a real hiccup at the row station…
Coming into the Row station, both Alex and Michael Sandbach (Sandy) were well ahead of the rest of the field but as they sat down to row, it became clear that none of the rowers were working (due to technical issues). Some panic and confusion ensued but quick thinking from the HYROX team meant the athletes got redirected to a different section where they were able to use the rowers designated for the following day’s athletes. Both athlete began to row on the new machines, but Sandbach decided he’d had enough and ultimately decided to quit the race. The HYROX team quickly announced that Alex was being given a a time adjustment of 00:01:06 because of the issue. Â
Second was Pelayo Menendez Fernandez in 00:57:19, third place was taken by Tim Wenisch in a time of 00:57:19, and Tomas Tvrdik was in 4th place. These 3 all earned themselves a spot in the Elite race in Nice.
Women’s Open
The Women’s Open was won by Alice Schürer in a time of 01:01:15.
Second was Jana Lebenstedt in 01:01:57.
Third place was taken by Camilla Massa in a time of 01:02:54. Camilla had competed in the Elite race on Friday night, finishing in 14th place.
A special mention goes to Sam Bilbie who finished 4th in 01:04:37 – which gets her a new 45-49 Age Group World Record.
Men’s Open
The Men’s Open was won by Domen Dornik in a time of 00:55:20.
Second was Aitor Lizarazu in 00:56:34.
Third place was taken by Dieter Schwarzkopf in a time of 00:56:55.
Open Doubles
A VERY close Men’s Open Doubles was won by Florian Gast and Fabian Eisenlauer in a time of 00:51:58, beating Pieter Maes and Tom Franssens by just 1 second!
The Women’s Open Doubles was won by Lauren Griffith and Lauren Weeks (who’d both raced the night before) in a World Record time of 00:54:17.
The Mixed Open Doubles was won by Jezabel Kremer and Joffrey Voisin in a time of 00:56:08.
