Fitness Training
Breakthrough athletes stun the field to win HYROX world titles
The HYROX World Championship lit up Chicago as the world’s top hybrid athletes went head-to-head in the Elite 15. The results? Just as wild and unpredictable as the season itself.
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No one saw it coming, not like this. On a night when the HYROX’s biggest names were expected to dominate, it was two German athletes, long considered just outside the inner circle of HYROX’s elite, who stole the show.
After two missed World Championships, Tim Wenisch is back
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Tim Wenisch, 27, and Linda Meier, 34, powered through packed, star-studded fields and years of battling illness and inconsistency to claim their first HYROX World Championship titles at Chicago’s Navy Pier. Wenisch crossed the line in 53:53, edging out world record holder Hunter McIntyre from the US by just five seconds. Meier, steady and sensational, took the women’s crown in 58:56 – a breakthrough performance that capped a season defined by unpredictability and a fast-shifting power dynamic in the sport. Meier, a familiar face in the HYROX Elite 15 for several seasons, left pre-race favorites Lauren Weeks and Joanna Wietrzyk trailing behind her in a performance that rewrote the script.
Tim Wenisch and Hunter McIntyre – a fierce battle for the HYROX title
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Behind their victories is a bigger story: HYROX’s old guard, legends like McIntyre, defending champ Alexander Rončević, and four-time title threat Lauren Weeks, are no longer safe at the top. This season saw the rise of a new, younger generation: athletes like Australia’s 23-year-old Joanna Wietrzyk, who took down Weeks in Hong Kong, and 22-year-old Lucy Procter, who stormed into her first World Championship and finished fifth. The message in Chicago was clear: the HYROX landscape is changing fast.
Meier makes it count
The first race of the evening saw a blistering contest in the women’s Elite 15 – Linda Meier overcoming pre-race favourite and three-time World Champion Lauren Weeks (USA) and up-and-coming star Joanna Wietrzyk (Australia) to clinch her first title.
Initially, Weeks and Wietrzyk had resumed a battle that had raged all season – the pair having shared the podium at all four Majors this year – but the rising star appeared to have the better of the master, building a 10-second advantage by the end of the Sled Push.
Joanna Wietrzyk, Linda Meier and Lauren Weeks on the podium
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One station later, though – the Burpee Broad Jump – the race had been turned on its head, Meier catching and then overtaking Wietrzyk. It would prove to be the winning move, and the German never really looked in trouble, powering her way to the biggest victory of her career. Despite her best efforts, Wietrzyk would have to settle for second, with Weeks in third.
"It feels so unreal. I'm so overwhelmed", Meier shared. "It shows that it takes time. Today was my day. I wasn't ill for the last three to four months, so that's a win. For me, a big win would have been top five – that was my big goal today. I hoped that it'd be enough for a podium but I have never been dreaming of being a world champion. "Despite her world-class performance, Meier isn't a full-time athlete – she juggles her HYROX training with a demanding career in IT. That makes her world title all the more impressive. Her biggest supporter is probably her 61-year-old mother, who competes in HYROX herself and has become a familiar face at events.
It shows that it takes time. Today was my day
Wenisch gets the better of HYROX master McIntyre
While the women’s Elite 15 was ultimately decided at the midway point, the men’s Elite 15 that followed went to the wire – Tim Wenisch edging three-time World Champion Hunter McIntyre (USA) at the very last.
The men's Elite 15 is out of the start tunnel
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After an explosive start from one of the big performers of this season, two-time Major winner James Kelly (Australia), it was McIntyre who exited the first station in the lead – the legendary American looking back to his best after a difficult season where new HYROX athletes have come to the fore. After the Sled Push, he appeared on course for a record fourth world title, but Wenisch had other ideas.
The German, who had missed the last two world championships through injury, led the charge, chipping away at a 20-second deficit to catch McIntyre by station five – the 1000m Row. He exploded into life, finding eight seconds on the American before building a comfortable lead of his own. Entering the Wall Balls, he had a 40-second advantage – a buffer that turned out to be just enough as he narrowly held out to take his first title by five seconds. Scott Daniels (USA) would complete the podium, with Kelly in fourth and last year’s world champion, Alexander Rončević (Austria), eighth.
Alexander Rončević charges ahead at Red Bull Hyrox Chicago
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“It’s amazing. I’ve worked for this for two years. On days like today, I get rewarded for all the hard work. I knew when I was 10 Wall Balls in front, I could do short breaks to make sure I’d hit the target – it was really tactical because it’s enough to be in front by five seconds. Hunter is one of the leaders in HYROX. Tiny Tim is the World Champion, and Hunter is second. It’s unbelievable.” It was a moment heavy with irony, as McIntyre had once used the nickname ”tiny Tim” to downplay Wenisch. Now, the tables had turned in the most decisive way possible.
Lucy Procter podiums as Pro Doubles debuts
One of the most anticipated moments of the 2025 HYROX World Championships was the debut of the Pro Doubles classes as a full world title competitions. Both Male Pro Doubles Elite 15 and Female Pro Doubles Elite 15 world titles were up for grabs in Chicago, with a number of competitors from Thursday's Pro Elite 15 races competing again on Saturday with a partner.
In the Male Pro Doubles Elite 15, Germany's Tim Wenisch walked away with his second 22025 HYROX World Championship crown with partner Jannik Czapla after they raced home in a time of 50m 24s to defeat Spanish duo Roberto Viciedo Gimeno and Luis Garcia Rubio by just six seconds, while Americans Rylan Schadegg and Ryan Kent completed the podium. After two missed World Championships due to injury, Wenisch walking away with both the Men's Elite 15 and Men's Double Elite 15 crowns marks an incredible comeback to form that will be remembered for years to come.
Lucy Procter and partner Sinéad Bent on the Pro Doubles podium
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In the Pro Women's Elite 15 final, American powerhouse duo Lauren Weeks and Lauren Grifffiths stopped the clock in 54m 58s to take home the gold medal while rising British star Lucy Procter followed up a fifth place finish from her first Elite 15 World Championship on Thursday with a brilliant second place with partner Sinéad Bent, just nine seconds behind the veteran winners.
The next HYROX season will be even more unpredictable
Although the 2025 HYROX World Championships marks the end of the sport’s seventh season, the 2025-26 contest kicks off again in just two weeks in Singapore at the AIA HYROX Open Asian Championships.
Lucy Procter is one of the rising talents in HYROX
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The Elite 15 is shaping up to be the most competitive yet, with a clear rivalry brewing between Wenisch and McIntyre, rising stars like Lucy Procter pushing toward the podium, and Jake Dearden symbolizing just how far grit and dedication can take an athlete. This season marked Dearden’s first-ever qualification into the Elite 15 field and his debut at a HYROX World Championship final, proof that anyone willing to invest the work can rise through the ranks.
On to the next one for Jake Dearden, who dropped out in Chicago
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Although his night in Chicago ended in heartbreak, forced to withdraw mid-race due to lingering nerve issues from a recent injury, his mindset reflects the resilience of a new generation of athletes. “Unfortunately, tonight wasn’t my night,” he said. “My left leg didn’t feel like mine. No power, no connection, just numbness. I was limping round the track... I’m so gutted, but I’ll learn more from this race than any race that has gone well.”
Stories like Dearden’s, alongside Meier’s breakout win and the surging youth field, underscore the core of HYROX’s unpredictability: on any given day, anyone can make a name for themselves.
A fast growing global sport
"We are growing so fast. There are so many more participants this year compared to last year, and we expect the same for next season", said HYROX co-founder Moritz Fürste. "We want to get better every day. We’re working very hard to make this sport the best platform in the world of fitness, but also in the world of sport.
[The World Championship] is the biggest show, the biggest platform in our sport, and I'm here to enjoy it, but in the end, it's all about the athletes. It's their show, we want them to shine, and we're working very hard to make that happen."
Experience the thrill and grit of the world's best HYROX athletes in the new series Beyond The Rox, now streaming in Red Bull TV:
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