Australia’s Joanna Wietrzyk stole the show, surging past a stacked field to claim victory in a blistering performance that sets the tone for the 2025 campaign.
Wietrzyk started fast and followed three-time world champion Lauren Weeks into the SkiErg with a sharp 4:01 opening run. A 4:09 split on the SkiErg put her in the lead, a position she would command for the rest of the race.
The field pushed her all the way though, and at the start of the Sled Push there was barely anything between Wietrzyk in first, Belgium’s Lena Putters in second, and Lauren Weeks in third.
Wietrzyk’s steady power allowed her to push ahead and she would leave this station with a lead of more than 20 seconds. That carried into the Sled Pull where she completed her first pull right as second placed-athlete Stefanie Oswald was arriving at the station.
Going into the Burpee Broad Jumps Joanna had extended her lead to 47 seconds with reigning world champion Linda Meier now in second place. The field was now very bunched up with just 16 seconds separating Linda in second and Seka Arning in seventh.
While Wietrzyk was the clear favourite to win the race, it was anyone’s guess who would claim second and third and the remaining two qualifying spots for the World Championships.
At this stage the USA’s Vivian Tafuto would step forward with 4:20 in the Row and 1:24 in the Farmer’s Carry. She was now closing rapidly on Wietrzyk and cut her lead to just 24 seconds entering the lunges, with Lena Putters right alongside her.
Tafuto would continue to surge forward and was just 5 seconds behind Wietrzyk entering the Wall Balls. Wietrzyk is known to be extremely strong in the Wall Balls, however, and that lead would prove to be enough as she completed the station with zero no reps to cross the line in 58:22.
Tafuto would cross in second and claim her spot at the World Championships with a time of 58:35, but with five no reps in the Wall Balls she could have been very close to the win. Lauren Weeks rounded out the top three in 59:14.
For Lena Putters there was deep disappointment as her strong challenge faded with a three-minute penalty for missing a running lap going into the Farmer’s Carry. But she can be encouraged by one her strongest HYROX performances to date.
With a world record in the Men’s race and high drama with the women, the HYROX season is off to an exceptional start. Follow Expect more records, rivalries and redemption stories ahead – and follow BOXROX for all the latest news and analysis.
