Obstacle Course Racing
Sweden’s Daniel Ekström and Linnea Stenson beat over nearly 200 global teams in their quest to conquer nine never-before-seen obstacles in the wildest race to the top of Ibiza Castle.
There was something special brewing under Ibiza’s sun this week, as nearly 200 teams from 50 countries ran, jumped, climbed, and slid their way through the first-ever obstacle course competition, Red Bull Ibiza Royale. In an action-packed final at the top of Ibiza Castle, Sweden’s Linnea Stenson and Daniel Ekström emerged as champions of the island’s first-ever mixed pairs obstacle race, where each obstacle was designed by a creative mastermind or Red Bull athlete.
It’s incredible! We applied but never thought we’d actually make it to Ibiza — and now we’re here holding the trophy.
“It’s incredible! We applied but never thought we’d actually make it to Ibiza — and now we’re here holding the trophy,” said Ekström. Stenson added, “We both compete in obstacle course races back home in Sweden, so we’ve trained a lot, but never as a team. This whole experience has been so crazy — so much fun!”
What is Red Bull Ibiza Royale?
Red Bull Ibiza Royale is all about fitness and fun. An obstacle course competition with a twist as teams from around the world took on nine unique and imaginative obstacles along the 1.4 km long course, with 90-meter elevation gain, all the way to the top of Ibiza Castle. Anyone could apply to compete, and a lucky 200 teams from 50 countries were selected for the big final.
So, what makes the obstacles unqie you ask? Well, like any Obstacle Course competion they tested the participants speed, strength, balance, and reaction time. However, with names like“Spaghetti Boulevard” and “Stay In One Piece” they also entailed getting soaked, falling into foam pits, leaping through mysterious doors, dodging swinging axes, and crawling through tunnels. See, each obstacle was especially designed for this course by a creative mastermind or Red Bull athlete.
Swedish Blue Bells takes the win
The competition in the final was fierce, with teams often balancing on their toes to avoid penalties. But in the end, Eskilstuna local Daniel Ekström and Stockholm’s Linnea Stenson clocked the best time and were crowned king and queen of the castle at Red Bull Ibiza Royale.
Daniel about their ambitions: "Our goal was to get to the final. Once there our main focus was to not get any penalties and to give it everything we had. Our time from the previous heats showed that we need to run faster as that's where we lost most time. So it was fun that we managed to actually run faster in the final!"
Three other Swedish teams competed in the qualifying heats with fitness creator Elin Härkönen and teammate Mathias Guss taking a spot in the final, finishing the race in 16th.