Fitness
Kelly and Wietrzyk lead Aussie sweep at HYROX Hong Kong
Joanna Wietrzyk and James Kelly's stunning HYROX victories stole the spotlight at Asia's biggest fitness race of 2024 – but the fight for the podium was nothing short of fierce.
After an explosive start to the HYROX season in Amsterdam, Netherlands, in October, Hong Kong’s Asia World-Expo welcomed the world’s top HYROX athletes on November 22 for the second Major race of the year.
Once again, all-important HYROX World Championship spots were on the line. Both the men’s and women’s fields were packed with established stars and up-and-coming athletes looking to book their place in the Chicago season finalé – including three-time Elite 15 Women’s World Champion Lauren Weeks, defending Men’s Elite 15 World Champion Alexander Roncevic, and Elite 15 Major first-timer OCR World Champion Ida Mathilde Steensgaard.
The Hong Kong Major was also a chance for competitors to show whether they’d sustained their earlier season intensity or improved after a slow start.
Women’s Elite 15: Wietrzyk overcomes Weeks in thriller
The women's Elite 15 race gets underway
© Brian Ching/Red Bull Content Pool
Joanna Wietrzyk only made her Elite 15 debut at the Amsterdam Major in October. Still, the 22-year-old Australian showed that her third place in the Netherlands was no fluke – pulling away from current world record holder Lauren Weeks to take the win in Hong Kong.
It’s pretty surreal to see two Aussies on the men’s and women’s side to win the first APAC Major
“I did not expect to come out on top. During the race, I always had that mentality that I knew I could do it. I just had to trust that my training block from Amsterdam to here would pay off.” She admits she got “a bit nervous” when Weeks caught up on her at the burpees – nevertheless, Wietzyk kept pushing it, trusting running was her greatest strength.
Wietzyk added: “It’s pretty surreal to see two Aussies on the men’s and women’s side to win the first APAC Major!”
Fierce battle for the podium
In the race’s early stages, 34-year-old American HYROX legend Weeks and compatriot Lauren Griffith set the pace, swapping the lead into and out of the SkiErg station. But come the Sled Push, Wietrzyk shot into first place and gradually extended her advantage at every run and station to finish sub-60 minutes and more than 30 seconds ahead of Amsterdam Major winner Weeks.
While the American favourite had already secured her spot at the Chicago World Championships, that didn’t stop her from laying down a solid and consistent performance in the final Major of 2024 – Weeks, not dropping out of the top two all race.
There was a fierce battle for the final podium spot, though. At the halfway point, Ida Mathilde Steensgaard appeared to be in pole position in her first Elite 15 Major, but the OCR star couldn’t compete with the late surge of Kate Davey – the Brit recovering from a slow start to leapfrog from fifth to third in the burpee station and just holding on to her lead in the wall balls.
Ida Mathilde Steensgaard secures World Championship Elite 15 spot
Steensgaard earned her place in the World Championship Elite 15 next year
© Brian Ching/Red Bull Content Pool
The Danish Obstacle Course Racing (OCR) icon finished fourth at the Hong Kong Major, guaranteeing her place at the 2025 HYROX World Championships in the process.
The 33-year-old two-time OCR world champion only competed in the hybrid fitness racing format for the first time in 2022, and her journey to the sport’s pinnacle has been meteoric. While she was juggling both disciplines for two years, Steensgaard switched her sole attention to HYROX in the summer, and the results already speak for themselves – highlighting there are transferable skills and inspiring other OCR athletes to consider taking part in the booming fitness race.
In her first race of the season, she set a new PB in Stuttgart, before qualifying for her first Elite 15 Major with her result in Hamburg. Lining up in Hong Kong, she had a top-five finish and a spot at the Chicago World Championships in her sights but had a more holistic target at the forefront of her mind. “The most important goal is to just do the best possible race that my body can do on the day and keep calm. You can't expect anything else," she said before the race.
Fortunately, she managed to do both, crossing the line fourth in 62:46 and clinching a spot in Chicago next June. And with six months of focused training between now and then, the sky is the limit for the sport’s breakthrough star.
“I am honestly really proud of myself. I had nothing to lose in this race, everything to win. It was my first Major, and I just pushed myself. I had a good battle with Kate [Davey], and then I snagged the ticket for the world championships. It was amazing,” she said after crossing the line.
“It's wild because it's been maybe three to four months focusing on HYROX. I had two races in a short amount of time within the last six weeks, so everything has just taken off. I qualified two and a half weeks ago for this race and was like, ‘You know what? Let's do it.’
“I know how to take it deep, find the beast mode from OCR and I like competing. This sport is really amazing and the girls here are so good. We're so close, it's so exciting, so I can find that extra gear.
Men’s Elite 15: Kelly makes it an Australian 1-2
James Kelly beat some of his fiercest rivals to earn the win
© Brian Ching/Red Bull Content Pool
After a quick refresh, the men’s race was soon underway, and with a field containing reigning world champion Alexander Roncevic and one of his main rivals, Michael Sandbach, fans could expect fireworks from the off.
It was James Kelly who laid down a marker, setting a blistering pace by completing the first 1km run in 3m 36s to enter the SkiErg station first. Tim Wenisch, Sandbach and Roncevic were hot on the Australian’s heels, though, with Sandbach and Roncevic using their experience to get the edge going into the second run.
Sandbach’s race was soon over, though – the Brit dropping like a stone during the sled push before pulling out on the third running leg. Roncevic, however, appeared to be in commanding form and looked to be the favourite to win his second consecutive Major of the season.
Kelly, though, had other ideas. The Australian had shown he could battle it out with the best with his second place in Amsterdam and concentrated on running his own race while those around him pushed too hard before fading. Roncevic, Rylan Schadegg and Wenisch all took the lead only to fade away, and as the athletes entered the midway point at the row, Kelly’s steady consistency was clearly paying off.
His lead kept growing, and by his final wall ball rep, he’d built an advantage of more than a minute. Crossing the line to congratulations from his partner, he was able to drink in what he’d just achieved as he stood alone in the finish corral.
"It was surreal. I can't believe I just did that. I got a lot of motivation from the young whipper snapper Joanna [Wietrzyk] about an hour before me. Two from two for the Aussies tonight, we'll take that," he said at the finish.
“It's been amazing the last six months, especially being a part of the Aussie HYROX community. It's just getting started Down Under, and there are a lot more athletes to come in this elite space as well. It's really exciting.”
Tim Wenisch soon joined Kelly in the finish area – the German was able to relax during the final station with a healthy gap between him and third place.
Schadegg appeared to have sewn up the final podium spot, but the American race came crashing down in the final two stations. Instead, it was Graham Halliday who completed the podium – the Scot surging from fifth in the wall balls and booking his World Championships spot.
What is HYROX and how does the ultimate fitness race work?
HYROX combines 1km runs...
© Jon Ho/Red Bull Content Pool
HYROX combines 8km of running with eight functional workout stations in an accessible and achievable format, regardless of age or ability. Participants can compete across three different race divisions – Singles, Doubles and Relay – while the difficulty of the workout stations can also be altered by choosing the Open or Pro (heavier and harder) categories.
After the first HYROX Hamburg in 2018, the format has expanded worldwide and will be on five continents for the first time for its seventh season, with more events added to the 2024-25 season calendar all the time.
There's always a great atmosphere at any HYROX event
© Baptiste Fauchille/Red Bull Content Pool
While its popularity is down to its accessibility, at the competitive end of proceedings, each participant has the chance to qualify for the HYROX World Championship – which will be hosted in Chicago in 2025. At the sport’s pinnacle, the best can take part in the Elite 15 – an amazing spectacle for fitness enthusiasts and sports fans as HYROX’s 15 best athletes go head-to-head in televised races.
Two Majors remain in the 2024-25 season – Las Vegas, USA, on February 1-2 and Glasgow, Scotland, on March 13 – and there are seven and eight spots, respectively, still up for grabs in the women’s and men’s Elite 15 HYROX World Championships. Find the full HYROX season 2024-25 calendar here.
Love HYROX? Watch the highlights from this years HYROX World Championships in Nice, France this year.
25 min
HYROX: The ultimate fitness competition explained
Discover what makes HYROX – the indoor fitness competition – a test of strength, endurance and determination.