HYROX is growing at an extraordinary rate. Well over a million people will compete worldwide this year and events often sell out in minutes. The rise of HYROX has seen its top athletes become stars. Brands like Nike, Adidas and Puma are queuing up to sponsor the Elite 15 and the professionalization at the top end of the sport has been rapid.
Joanna Wietrzyk
A couple of years ago Joanna Wietrzyk was an F45 coach in Melbourne, Australia. Now she holds the HYROX world record after recording a 56:03 at the Women’s Elite 15 Major in Phoenix. Phoenix was her third major win of the season.
If she wins in Warsaw, she will hold all four majors simultaneously – an unprecedented Grand Slam.
Hidde Weersma
Hidde Weersma has been on the HYROX scene slightly longer but is still not long out of university and is one of the youngest men in the Elite 15. With a background in triathlon, he has improved steadily since his debut and now holds the title of the fastest man ever to do a HYROX following the 52:42 that earned him the 2026 EMEA title and made him the first man to ever go sub-53 minutes in a Pro solo race.
Both are undoubtedly at the top of their sport and, with top athletes competing well into their 30s, they surely have their best years ahead of them. Yet elite athletes are pouring into HYROX and quickly deepening the field. Their records are unlikely to stand for long. Not least because Hidde and Joanna would be odds-on to break their own records in the near future.
And, despite their rise to the top of the all-time rankings, neither has claimed the biggest prize in HYROX – the World Championships. In 2025, Joanna came second to Linda Meier, while Hidde took seventh place as Tim Wenisch claimed his first world title. The 2026 World Championships take place in Stockholm in June and both Joanna and Hidde agree that a win there would eclipse their world records.
We sat down with Joanna and Hidde in London as they prepare for the Warsaw Major to find out more about the athletes behind the records. How do they train? What strategies do they employ on race day? And how do they keep improving in a sport that is evolving alongside its athletes?
We also put them through a series of ‘this or that’ questions with input from our audience. To find out which is their favourite HYROX venue and whether they prefer a coffee or an energy gel, watch the full interview here.
