Weersma Rises, Czapla Delivers and HYROX Stars Face a Points Crisis

Here is everything you need to know about HYROX from another epic weekend of racing.

ROME SINGLES 

Hidde Weersma is an Elite15 athlete, but after last week’s season-debut in Maastricht he teetered at 15^th in the standings. He’s now 5^th.  

After a disappointing world championships ended an otherwise very successful season, in which he held the men’s Pro World Record for a while in the spring, Weersma took a break before starting to “build from the ground back up”. In Maastricht he looked like he was not yet in competitive form but he stormed to victory in Rome on Friday.  

After everyone struggled with the sleds, Weersma found himself battling Sean Noble, who led into the burpee broad jumps. That’s when Weersma made his move, telling me that “I wanted to take the lead and after that I wanted to immediately kick everyone in the teeth so the run after the burpees was one of the hardest for me in the race, but I really wanted to create a gap to get in good position for the end of the race.” 

In common with some other Elite15 athletes he wants to be there in Hamburg, and wants to compete, but “my main target is London” for the first half of the season. And if he “needed to race the Challenger in Hamburg that of course doesn’t have my preference but at the same time…it wouldn’t be the end of the world since I’m mainly focusing on London.”   

Saskia Millard didn’t take a big break over summer, but her focus was track rather than Hyrox and told me she “had done very minimal station work since Stockholm” until three weeks ago. She was only able to take third in Athens and said, “it takes a few races to remind your body how brutal the race is and to be able to push that hard for so long.” She was “much more excited for this race”…and it showed, winning by 90 seconds from Camilla Massa. Although she suffered with everyone else at the sluggish sleds, her wall balls improved by 30 seconds, which she says is “still not good enough!” and feels the problem may be at least partially “in my head” after rattling off 92 unbroken the following day in mixed doubles.  

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To be fair, the wall balls live rent-free in MOST people’s heads.  

OSLO SINGLES 

Annie Emilsson dominated with 1^st place in the women’s singles, and 1^st place in the women’s doubles with Fanny Ahlfors. In the singles she finished almost four minutes ahead of second place and reduced the points allocations for third through eighth to a pile of rubble.  

Jannik Czapla winning an event isn’t a shock, but it was against a notably strong field containing the likes of Sebastian Ifversen (needing another win to hold onto Elite15 status for Hamburg), Ronan Lindsay, Tomas Tvrdik, Gustav Cordua and the U24 World’s runner-up Sam Schoeman. Czapla was delighted with the victory, especially as he told me he “knew that a win would secure my qualification for the Challenger in my hometown of Hamburg…That’s why I pushed from the very beginning, so I could control the race myself…I’m really looking forward to…giving it everything in front of my friends and family and hopefully securing direct qualification for the Elite division in London.” 

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BIG NAMES UNDER THREAT FROM DISAPPEARING POINTS 

Tomas Tvrdik had a 2^nd in Tenerife a few weeks ago and 4^th this weekend. Solid results. But he needed a win in one of those as 105pts come off next weekend from his 5th place at the Hamburg elite 15 race a year ago. He had consecutive event wins in Katowice and Vienna seven months ago but needs to find the top step again in the next couple of weeks or he is likely to find himself in the Challenger15 in Hamburg.  

Other than Tvrdik, here are the major men’s points rolling off in the coming month, with their provisional rankings after this weekend: 

1^st: Dylan Scott – 108 points (Hamburg Major, 3^rd October 2025) 

2^nd: Alex Roncevic – 110 points (Hamburg). (Alex races in Bordeaux next weekend.) 

5^th Hidde Weersma 107 points (Hamburg) moves up to 4^th after this weekend but will be nearer 15^th again when the Hamburg points drop off. 

6^th : Cole Learn 105 points (Boston, 26^th September 2025. Those points will be replaced by 100 from a second place in Atlanta 11 months ago, putting Cole down to 523 but still just inside the Elite15. I would expect to see him race again before Hamburg to try and bolster his points total, given his 2^nd in Atlanta and 1^st in Chicago both roll off in the next two months. 

13^th: Sean Noble – 105 points (Birmingham, 22^nd October 2025) 

14^th James Kelly – 106 points (Hamburg) 

16^th Sebastian Ifversen – 105 points (Oslo, 26^th September 2025). After a second-place at the same event this weekend, Ifversen drops 5 points and out of the Elite15.  

17^th Rich Ryan – 104 points (Hamburg) 

18^th: Frederic Dube – 105 points (Toronto, 3^rd October 2025). 

On the women’s side, here are the soon-to-be disappearing points from the top tier:  

1^st: Joanna Wietrzyk – 110 points (Hamburg) 

5^th : Vivian Tafuto – 108 points (Hamburg) 

12^th: Lucy Procter – 103 points (Hamburg) and 105 points (Paris, 22^nd October) 

13^th : Jess Petrow – 104 points (Hamburg) 

14^th: Seka Arning – 106 points (Hamburg) 

It’s a sign of how locked-down the Elite15 is under the current points system, that four overall event wins and a second place are NOT certain to be enough. This situation may not change very much until the spring of 2027 when a high proportion of athlete’s points will start expiring and open up the standings. Although of course the Elite races themselves in Hamburg (October) and London (December) are when the Elite15 points totals get shaken up the most.  

It feels like you almost need to be in the Elite15 already to have a chance of qualifying for the Elite15. And worse, you really need to be in the top 14, as after Hamburg the 15^th spot will be taken by the winner of the previous Challenger15 race. 

PUTTING THE PAST BEHIND YOU 

Cem Ter Burg and Ross Walker were prohibitive favourites for the U24 Mens Doubles in Stockholm, and they crossed the line first. However, due to penalties they wound up third, with Ewan Applewhite and Conor Maguire taking the win. Talking to Cem afterwards, it was not just missing out on winning with his friend that hurt him, but knowing that was their last competitive race together.  

However, new season and new partnership: Ter Burg and Maarten Enthoeven trialled their new partnership in the spring and now they have now all-but-officially booked their place in Hamburg where Cem will make his Elite15 debut, four years after starting in the sport and just four months after World Championship heartbreak.  

MORE POWER-FAMILIES/COUPLES 

The stakes are higher than we realised. Last week in Maastricht, Hidde Weersma raced with his older sister Maaike. They finished in 56:26 to take the overall win by nearly a minute and a half. This weekend he raced with his younger sister Jitske and they finished with a faster time (55:02), but came in third behind Holly Archer & Elliot Giles, and Saskia Millard with her boyfriend John Howorth. So which sister really won? Hidde said, “Beforehand we said time would be the decider. So my younger sister won.” Maybe Maaike should appeal to the Hyrox rules and insist on three qualifying points scores with a strength-of-field tiebreaker…  

OTHER WEEKEND NOTES 

There was a spectacular finish to the Rome men’s Pro Doubles. Weindl & Eisenlaer came into the wall balls about 30 seconds ahead of second-placed pair Osselaer & Mattheeuws, who then came storming back with Osselaer as the closer. Both pairs left the station at the same time and the Germans took it on the line by a hundredth of a second for their third race win and a provisional spot in the Elite15 in Hamburg. 

There are 55 men with five qualifying Pro results, and 38 women. The top men with only four qualifying scores are Hunter McIntyre well in front, then Beau Wills and Jude Reynolds.  

Scott Bayvel was the only men’s athlete making points for the first time, as he did  57:12 for a 2:07 PB and 7^th place in Oslo. Meanwhile SEVEN women scored points for the first time (assuming they’ve all applied for their Pro licence.) 

SOCIAL MEDIA GLEANINGS 

Hunter McIntyre is back in hybrid training after an offseason of light deforestation with his axe, and wearing sunglasses indoors. He even used the word ‘hyrox’ in a post this week while wearing clothing by Adidas, Puma and The Feed. Assuming he stays in North America he needs a race win in Toronto or Boston over the next couple of weekends, if he wants to be in the Elite15 in Hamburg. He has no more points rolling off before December though, so has plenty of options if his target is Elite15 in London.  

Congratulations to recent Hybrid Fitness Report guest Ryan Douglas, who successfully proposed to his girlfriend Julia Morris this weekend. 

THE PODCAST & RACE AHEAD 

Next week the Hyrox trucks roll into Bordeaux, Karlsruhe and Toronto for a combined 13 days of racing. The following week it’s three races again: six sets of 105 points up for grabs and, as we’ve seen from the above roll-off situation, final Elite15 places are at stake. 

To whet your appetite for those races, look out for Hybrid Fitness Report on Wednesday where Jude and I chat with one of the biggest prospects in the women’s field.  

RESULTS: 

OSLO  

WOMEN’S SINGLES 

1. Annie Emilsson (57:37) 
2. Malene Pederson (1:01:23) 
3. Megan Platten (1:02:56) 

MEN’S SINGLES 

1. Jannik Czapla (55:01) 
2. Sebastian Ifversen (55:39) 
3. Ronan Lindsay (55:45) 

WOMEN’S DOUBLES 

1. Annie Emilsson & Fanny Ahlfors (56:16) 
2. Ida Mathilde Steensgaard & Laura Valgreen (57:28) 
3. Laura Aryeetey & Imogen Amos (57:45) 

MEN’S DOUBLES 

1. Cem Ter Burg & Maarten Enthoven (49:43) 
2. Hakan Burton & Michael Stephens (50:00) 
3. Erik Oscar Bøe & Erik Woodward (50:18) 

MIXED DOUBLES 

1. Malene Pedersen & Lars Rudi (53:14) 

ROME 

WOMEN’S SINGLES 

1. Saskia Millard (59:18) 
2. Camilla Massa (1:00:51) 
3. Linda Meier (1:01:19) 

MEN’S SINGLES 

1. Hidde Weersma (54:58) 
2. Roberto Gimeno (55:25) 
3. Sean Noble (56:12) 

WOMEN’S DOUBLES 

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1. Linda Meier & Svenja Sommer (55:21) 
2. Camilla Massa & Gloria Corbetta (56:31) 
3. Fern Gardiner & Kate Hutchinson (56:39) 

MEN’S DOUBLES 

1. Paul Weindl & Fabian Eisenlauer (49:31) 
2. Louis Osselaer & Emile Mattheeuws (49:31) 
3. Jouve Olivier & Dimitry Martins (50:08) 

MIXED DOUBLES  

1. Holly Archer & Elliot Giles (51:39) 

Stay up to date on the entire HYROX scene with the Hybrid Fitness Report. Check out the last interview with Jack Driscoll.