On Sept. 11, 2021, HYROX World held its World Championship of Fitness event in Leipzig, Germany. This annual competition aims to determine which competitive functional fitness athletes are the best in the world.
The contest is a combination of running and various workouts. The 2020 world champions going into this year’s event were American athletes Hunter McIntyre and Lauren Weeks. Weeks successfully defended her title, but the men’s title now belongs to Tobias Lautwein of Germany. The event was streamed live on HYROX World’s Instagram page.
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2021 HYROX World Championships Results
The top five for each division and their overall times are below.
Women
- Lauren Weeks — 1:03:43
- Viola Oberländer — 1:06:00
- Rachel Schreiber — 1:06:55
- Elisabeth Sarah Kholti — 1:08:20
- Imke Salander — 1:08:25
Men
- Tobias Lautwein — 1:00:00
- Alexander Roncevic — 1:01:04
- Tiago Lousa — 1:01:12
- Hunter McIntyre — 1:01:28
- David Magida — 1:03:07
About HYROX Competitions
HYROX’s championship event is the same each year. The entire event consists of eight one-kilometer runs and eight varied workouts. The runs and workouts are staggered — run, workout, run, workout, and so on. Whoever completes all eight runs and workouts the fastest wins. The eight workouts are below.
- Workout 1: 1,000 meters on the SkiErg.
- Workout 2: 50-meter Sled Push with 275 pounds for women, 385 pounds for men.
- Workout 3: 50-meter Sled Pull with 165 pounds for women, 275 pounds for men.
- Workout 4: 80 meter Burpee Broad Jumps
- Workout 5: 1,000-meter Rowing
- Workout 6: 200-meter Farmer’s Carry with 53 pounds for women, 70 pounds for men.
- Workout 7: 100-meter Sandbag Lunges with 45 pounds for women, 66 pounds for men.
- Workout 8: 100 Wall Balls with 14 pounds for women, 20 pounds for men.
Women’s Recap
Weeks retained her championship status, finishing almost four minutes ahead of the runner-up. Here’s a recap of the top three women’s performances.
Winner — Lauren Weeks
Weeks’ time of 1:03:43 was good enough for the win and a new world record — a minute and a half faster than her previous WR time. She finished first in Workouts four, seven, and eight. Her longest time running was only four and a half minutes, which was the final run of the day. By that point, she was well ahead of the rest of the field.
Second Place — Viola Oberländer
Oberländer was steadily competitive for most of the race. Her start was strong, and she won event six. However, two of her running times were over four and a half minutes. Those longer-than-normal run times, coupled with Weeks’ dominant event seven and eight wins, had the German second.
Third Place — Rachel Schreiber
The 2021 HYROX Dallas winner started quickly, winning the first three workouts of the day. Like Oberländer, her running times are what cost her. Six of her eight times were over four minutes, with the final run being over five. Weeks was able to take and hold on to the lead as a result. Schreiber’s first-place effort in workout seven kept her in a position to remain on the podium.
Men’s Recap
The biggest shocker: 2020 HYROX champ Hunter McIntyre didn’t podium. The first-place spot went to Tobias Lautwein. Here’s a recap of the top three men’s performances.
Winner — Tobias Lautwein
Lautwein, a German native, had a home-field advantage. McIntyre was the overwhelming favorite to repeat this year, but Lautwein focused on his own race instead of others. He kept seven of his eight run times under four minutes.
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Even though he only won Workout two, he placed in the top three in five of the eight workouts. The German’s consistency undoubtedly played a role in him pulling off the upset and being crowned the world champion for 2021.
Second Place — Alexander Roncevic
Roncevic won workouts three and eight on the men’s side, logging a time of three minutes and 24 seconds. With this second-place effort, Roncevic put the HYROX community on notice that he will be a force to be reckoned with in 2022.
Third Place — Tiago Lousa
The native of Portugal won workouts four and seven. Unfortunately for Lousa, his inconsistency in the other workouts may have been what cost him here. He was 15th in workout two, 16th in workout three, and placed 12th in workout six.
Featured Image: @hyroxworld on Instagram
