Alyssa McElheny and Joanna Wietrzyk were 1-2 at the World Championships three months ago, so it was exciting to see them line up against each other again in Beijing for an early-season reprise. Neither needed the points to maintain E15 status but a win would provide some backup if races don’t go their way this season.
Who was the favorite? Joanna won all four Majors, Alyssa won the Worlds, so…neither. Joanna was described this week by her new coach Chris Bayens on Hybrid Fitness Report podcast as, “probably the most genetically gifted person I’ve ever seen.” On the other hand, Alyssa is so new to the sport that her stations are only going to improve as she continues, and her running is already top-tier.
Going into the race Alyssa, “came down with a little bit of a cold” from all her travelling and said that she didn’t feel completely herself. That was compounded on the sled push, where Alyssa said that, “my lane was awful. I think there were other lanes that were also bad. But normally that’s one of my strongest stations and…I had to break it up into thirds by the end. I think it really just kind of messed me up for a little bit of the race after that.” She lost 35 seconds to Joanna on that station. Alyssa also did an extra lap on run 6, heading into the lunges.
For her part, Wietrzyk came into the race suffering from food poisoning and did TWO extra laps during the race. The first was after the Farmers Carry, like McElheny, but then she repeated the error on the next run, still managing to get into the wall balls 36 seconds in front.
McElheny v Wietrzyk – Stations
See below chart for a direct comparison between Wietrzyk and McElheny’s stations and running:
| JOANNA WIETRZYK | ALYSSA MCELHENY | |
| SKI | 4:12 | 4:20 |
| SLED PUSH | 2:58 | 3:33 |
| SLED PULL | 3:18 | 3:23 |
| BURPEE BROAD JUMPS | 3:19 | 3:39 |
| ROW | 4:19 | 4:31 |
| FARMERS CARRY | 1:35 | 1:54 |
| SANDBAG LUNGES | 2:49 | 3:00 |
| WALL BALLS | 3:25 | 3:34 |
| RUN TOTAL | 31:04* | 29:38** |
| TOTAL TIME | 1:01:23 | 1:02:08 |
*Inc two extra laps
**Inc one extra lap
With this result, Alyssa goes from 4th (530.21 points) to joint-3rd (532 points) with Calypso Sheridan.
Shoutout to Japanese athlete Aki Yoshida in the 40-44AG, who came in 3rd overall in the singles, and also scored an overall win in the doubles.
The Incident
In the 24 hours since the race, there has been a lot of noise online about Joanna’s very public incontinence incident during the burpee broad jumps.
It seems obvious from this distance that for health reasons a Head Judge should have told Joanna she needed to DNF herself, as a combination of race brain, competitive spirit and focus had caused her to carry on. Unfortunately, no judge felt empowered to do that, perhaps because there are no clear regulations for this.
Hyrox have since said, in communication with Matt Davis of Hybrid Fitness Media, “Very unfortunate situation and we will adjust the rules, as no-one was thinking about such a situation/incident.” Their official statement since then is on similar lines, adding that there will be zero tolerance for any abuse directed at Wietrzyk (of which there has sadly been a lot.)
And as her coach Chris Bayens said on Instagram Sunday, “It is very easy to construct the perfect response once the moment has passed…Discussion is legitimate. The hatred and personal attacks that have followed are not.”
On a more positive note, the event itself is proving very popular with athletes. McElheny said, “the crowd was incredible. The spectators there were more…joyful and excited than any spectators I have yet to meet. I took thousands of selfies. It was so fun.”
Luke Greer agreed, saying, “Venue and crowd were amazing, can really see how invested they are over here in China…Hyrox World Championships in Hong Kong will be a spectacle.”
Heck, Greer, Cruz
The men’s singles had a lot more directly riding on it, as leading contenders Luke Greer and Gabe Heck had points and E15 placings at stake. A win would have pushed Greer to 523 points and a share of 11th with Tomas Tvrdik, from his current vulnerable spot in 15th.
Gabe Heck sat 9th going in, with five 105-pointers (all of them race wins) to his name. Another win would keep him secure for months to come – his next points to defend are in December from his Shenzhen win last year. Meanwhile 23rd-ranked Tanguy Cruz was looking to solidify his Challenger division spot while possibly making headway towards the Elite15.
Greer, as expected, was quicker on the runs with a 25:34 total versus Heck’s 26:59. So the difference in Gabe Heck’s victory came on the stations, (e.g. 20 seconds quicker on both sled pull and sandbag lunges). And, like McElheny, Greer suffered a “wrinkling problem” on the sleds. And yet, the two leading contenders entered the wall balls neck-and-neck. It was only there that Heck took control with a 3:56 compared to Greer’s 4:51, leading to an overall win margin that belied how close they were throughout the race.
Tanguy Cruz came in third only a few wall ball reps behind
After the race Greer said, “Wish the race could have gone better but it’s still early in the season and I’m learning from every race. Travelling [to China] is definitely tough but no excuses, everything was set up really well…”
Heck noted that “the points system isn’t perfect, but I’m glad it’s giving me the opportunity to prove myself against the best in the world. That’s where I believe I belong when I put together the race I know I’m capable of. I’m staying patient and playing the long game…I’ve had a lot of success racing in Asia where I live, so I’m excited to try to replicate more of this on a global scene.”
And he’ll have that opportunity for sure at the season’s first Elite15 race in Hamburg at the end of October.
The points impact:
- Gabe Heck: stays in 9th with 525 points
- Luke Greer: stays in 15th with 520 points
- Tanguy Cruz: up to 23rd with 507.77 points
Doubles – Applewhite Building on Worlds Success and Japanese Pair Reach Elite15 Position
Englishman Ewan Applewhite won the U24 Doubles World Championship in June with his Irish partner Conor Maguire. With the new single-country regulations both are now with fellow countrymen – Ewan has teamed up with Mohamed Redaoui.
After Beijing they are now two races in with two wins under their belt. “Racing out here,” Applewhite said, “you definitely have to respect the conditions a little more and neither of us probably felt our best, so we were really happy to come away with the win. We both know there’s plenty we can improve on, which is exciting…Challenger 15 is the goal for this race block and I think for us it’s about racing without any fear and backing ourselves and seeing how far we can take it. Elite 15 is something we’d love to achieve one day…” That may come sooner than he thinks.
Second-placed Jay and Tom Rogan picked up a valuable 100 points, rising to 302.83 points and moving up two spots from 28th to 26th (which, after duplicate duos are ruled out, may be more like 24th.) Meanwhile, third-placed Tyler Rutten and Thomas Gregory from the UK are not yet in the Pro rankings.
On the women’s side, Aki Yoshida triumphed, with her partner Megumi Hirayama. Like many others, their partnership is only a few months old but this is now their third win in a row after finishing on the top step of the podium in both Jakarta and Bangkok. With 315 points they leap up to 14th in the rankings, bumping Skillen and Parnell out of the Elite15 as things stand. Qualification for Hamburg may come down to Strength of Field rankings, depending on results over the coming weeks.
Next week sees the Hyrox Asia swing continue in Mumbai, India, where Applewhite and Redaoui will come up against newly-crowned Deadly Dozen Pairs World Champions Ciaran Parkinson and Tony ‘Are you not entertained?’ Revell. The Hogans may also be continuing their Asian tour.
Other Hyrox races next weekend are in Maastricht (Netherlands), Salt Lake City (USA) and Izmir (Turkey).
In the meantime, head over to the Hybrid Fitness Report podcast that I host with my son Jude Reynolds. Last week’s interview was with Joanna’s coach Chris Bayens and this week’s episode has us chatting with the champ, Dylan Scott.
Beijing Results
Women’s Singles
1. Joanna Wietrzyk (1:01:23)
2. Alyssa McElheny (1:02:08)
3. Aki Yoshida (1:04:52)
Men’s Singles
1. Gabe Heck (55:56)
2. Luke Greer (56:51)
3. Tanguy Cruz (57:13)
Women’s Doubles
1. Megumi Hirayama & Aki Yoshida (58:53) 2. 亚茹 王 海飞 徐 (1:01:16)
3. Holly Walters & Rhiannon Dobbs (1:02:37)
Men’s Doubles
1. Ewan Applewhite & Mohamed Redaoui (52:36)
2. Jay & Tom Hogan (53:01)
3. Tyler Rutten & Thomas Gregory (53:29)
*HYROX has just updated their rulebook with an addendum to the DNF section (scroll to page 44, section 12.3).
If a racer’s blood, vomit, urine, or faeces poses a welfare or contamination risk to the racer or to other racers, a Race Director may withdraw the racer from the race on medical grounds, in line with HYROX’s medical and hygiene SOPs. Any such withdrawal is recorded on the leaderboard as Did Not Finish [DNF].
