HYROX Chicago Major Update

The “Elite” 15 is officially set for the first HYROX Major of the season going down in Chicago on November 11, 2023. It took until the last weekend for any new contenders to enter the Elite 15. But, with a time of 58:11, Rylan Schadegg became the only person to crack the field in the 2023-2024 season. Here is a quick rundown of what got us to this field and who will be getting the invites.

How do you qualify for this race?

There are 5 auto-bids from last season. The Top 3 at World Championships along with the North American and European Champions from last season. In the case that a regional champion was also Top 3 at Worlds there was then a roll down. 

The remaining ten spots will be based on time achieved at any Pro HYROX race in the calendar year 2023. The cut-off for times is two weeks before the Major. So, the Amsterdam race on November 4th will not qualify for Chicago. 

Who are the auto qualifiers?

Here is the full list of auto qualifiers and how they achieved their bid:

Men’s:

  1. Hunter Mcintyre- 1st Place World Championships
  2. Alexander Roncevic- 2nd Place World Championships and European Champion
  3. Tobias Lautwein- 3rd Place World Championships
  4. Ryan Kent- 4th Place World Championships (rolldown)
  5. David Magida- North American Champion

Women’s:

  1. Lauren Weeks- 1st Place World Championships and European Champion
  2. Megan Jacoby- 2nd Place World Championships
  3. Belle Macfarlane- 3rd Place World Championships
  4. Vivian Tafuto- 4th Place World Championships (rolldown)
  5. Mikaela Norman- North American Champion

What men will be invited based on time?

On the men’s side, Rylan is the only new contender in the Elite 15 since the start of the season. All of the other times were achieved in the last season. Here are the ten-time qualifiers:

  1. Tim Wenisch- 56:07 (Cologne, April 2023)
  2. Joffrey Voisin- 56:46 (Barcelona, March 2023)
  3. Jonathon Wynn- 56:58 (Malaga, April 2023)
  4. Graham Halliday- 57:35 (Hannover, May 2023)
  5. Rylan Schadegg- 58:11 (Valencia, October 2023)
  6. Florian Gast- 58:15 (Malaga, April 2023)
  7. Tom Hogan- 58:16 (Hong Kong, May 2023)
  8. Peter Schiller- 58:21 (Hannover, May 2023)
  9. James Kelly- 58:36 (Hong Kong, May 2023)
  10. Beau Wills- 58:37 (Karlsruhe, March 2023)

What women will be invited based on time?

This field has not changed since the start of the season. However, Camilla Massa did move up from 14th to 11th place with her time in Milan. 

6. Mirjam Von Rohr- 1:02:00 (Stuttgart, February 2023)

7. Alandra Greenlee- 1:03:42 (Maastricht, January 2023)

8. Rebecca Mason- 1:03:57 (Barcelona, March 2023)

9. Viola Oberlander- 1:04:07 (Manchester, May 2023)

10. Janne Thomsen- 1:04:31 (Hannover, May 2023)

11. Camilla Massa- 1:05:04 (Milan, October 2023)

12. Kris Rugloski- 1:05:05 (Manchester, May 2023)

13. Linda Meier- 1:05:20 (Cologne, April 2023)

14. Alina Willnow- 1:05:38 (Manchester, May 2023)

15. Terra Jackson- 1:05:50 (Manchester, May 2023)

Who is next up if these athletes can’t make the trip?

If an athlete is unable to make the trip to Chicago the invites will start to roll down. Here is who currently sits in the 15-20 spots.

Men:

  1. Michael Sandbach- 58:44 (Maastricht, January 2023)
  2. Dylan Scott- 58:48 (Malmo, September 2023)
  3. Alfons Deu Ruiz- 58:57 (Malaga, April 2023)
  4. Eugenio Bianchi- 59:01 (Madrid, October 2023)
  5. Gabe Heck- 59:01 (Hong Kong, May 2023)

Women:

  1. Jezabel Kremer- 1:05:50 (Barcelona, March 2023)
  2. Jacqueline Lippenmeyer- 1:05:54 (Maastricht, January 2023)
  3. Maria Fecik- 1:06:06 (Manchester, May 2023)
  4. Zara Piergianni- 1:06:12 (Manchester, May 2023)
  5. Kate Davey- 1:06:23 (Barcelona, March 2023)

What are they racing for?

The top 3 men and women will be the first qualifiers for the Elite Race at the World Championships happening in Nice, France in June 2024. Additionally, if an athlete finishes in the top 3 that was not already auto qualified they will be added to the auto qualifier list for all of the Majors remaining this season. 

There will also be a $21,000 prize purse for both men and women distributed as follows:

1st Place: $6,000

2nd Place: $4,000

3rd Place: $2,500

4th Place: $2,000

5th Place: $1,500

6th Place: $1,000

7th Place: $700

8th Place: $650

9th Place: $600

10th Place: $550

11th-15th Place: $300