In the realm of fitness racing, where every second counts, the stage is set for an epic showdown. Welcome to the world of HYROX, where the Elite 15 athletes strive not just for victory but to redefine their limits. As the 2024-25 season unfolds, these extraordinary competitors push themselves beyond the ordinary, racing against time and each other for a coveted spot at the World Championships in Chicago.

The Elite 15 season kicks off in Amsterdam – the first Major, the first statement. It’s where athletes show who’s been grinding in the off-season and who’s ready to shake up the rankings. With three World Championship spots up for grabs, the qualifiers walk away with more than just bragging rights – they gain control of their season.

With a focus on building his running base, the fitness athlete and master coach clocked a head-turning 2:28 at the Berlin marathon less than two weeks before the Amsterdam race. “It was a gamble,” Dearden said. “But I think it’s going to help with my HYROX. Twelve days after this I’ve got my first Elite 15 Major. I’m a bit nervous. Obviously, I’m not going to be in tip-top condition.”

Dearden’s gamble didn’t quite pay off. He finished 11th but took some valuable insight from his first top-flight race. More than that, his competitors were put on notice.

In the female race, the stark differences between athletes were top of mind, with a three-way battle between Lauren Weeks, a HYROX veteran, balancing being an athlete and a mother. Megan Jacoby is getting to grips with a new full-time professional occupation in HYROX. Joanna Wietrzyk is a brand new 22-year-old professional making waves in the sport after only three months.

At the HYROX Major Hong Kong, Australian James Kelly proved he could be at his best when it counts. He found a way through the tumult of an Elite 15 contest to claim his first victory and upset Alexander Roncevic’s lofty dreams of a Majors clean sweep. “If I could win any major, it would definitely have been tonight. Call me biased, but us Aussies are just getting started.”

He was spot on. In the women’s race, fellow Australian Wietrzyk, aged just 22 and with only a few months of HYROX under her belt, had already qualified. The former professional tennis player ran away from the field and won in her second race, securing a historic Australian double win.

The first HYROX Major of 2025 saw the US athletes in full flow and the return of Hunter McIntyre, the US native who won the 2022 World Championships here, in a dominant display. However, fellow American Dylan Scott, in 2025, would put in a fierce performance to edge McIntyre at the wall balls; Scott, a HYROX veteran, had some choice words for his critics at the finish line.

Instead, Dearden went to the Red Bull Athlete Performance Centre in Salzburg for biomechanical analysis and strength testing to pinpoint the cause of the problem.

“We identified the issue, made a rehab plan and I’m feeling fitter than ever.” He came through strongly in the second half of the race but ended up finishing fourth, notching a PB, but agonisingly just one spot out from a World Championship ticket.

“I had no idea what it was. I did my first race in 2023,” she said. “I thought I’m going to do this. I’m going to move away from running. It was a big risk, but I knew this was it. It took off and the last two years have been a rollercoaster.”

Her coach is current Elite 15 world champion and HYROX game-changer Megan Jacoby. “As someone who became a professional late, it’s exciting for me to guide someone younger,” said Jacoby.

HYROX-specific coaches have become increasingly vital to athletes’ maximising their potential as sporting standards rapidly increase. Anthony Perissini of The Hybrid Engine coaches a total of nine of the Elite 15, including 2024-25 race winners Lauren Weeks and James Kelly.

“Our philosophy is general fitness,” said Peressini. “You need to be fit in multiple aspects outside of just the movements presented in a singular race.”

In the fourth and final major of the season in Glasgow, UK, tension was mounting: In the fourth and final major of the season in Glasgow, UK, tension was mounting: Nine qualification slots in the Elite 15 were already allocated, and only the last three direct qualification slots were available.

Lauren Weeks travelled in the day before the event to beat her own world record, and James Kelly ran like the wind, crossing the line just a second shy of McIntyre’s record time to secure his second win of the season.

For UK-based Jake Dearden, this was home turf – and his last shot at qualification.

“Everyone kept telling me I’d qualify, so I just thought I best start acting like it. You have to believe you can do it.”

That belief powered him through his now trademark faster second half of the race, reaching the wall balls with a spot at qualification within his grasp. Having keyed in on this last station since just missing out in Las Vegas, a stronger finish on the wall balls was pivotal in finally snagging the qualification that had evaded him all season.

With the World Championships held in mid-June in Chicago, the qualified Elite 15 athletes are now training to be at their absolute fittest for the biggest race of the season.