Hyrox Perth Recap
The first ever Hyrox event on the Australian west coast was held on Saturday, 14 September, and boy did it not disappoint!
Around 3,000 athletes competed at the Hyrox Perth event, with 41 World Championship slots up for grabs on the day. Held at the Perth Convention & Exhibition Centre, the event was the fourth Hyrox event in Australia for the 24-25 season.
Starting with the Women’s Pro, Joanna Wietrzyk proved she is unstoppable this season, taking out another first place spot in the race with a finishing time of 1:00:46. This was a six second improvement from her time in Brisbane five weeks prior. Joanna has already secured her a place in the Elite 15 series qualification and will be attending her first Hyrox Major in Amsterdam this October. The elite athlete, who is still fairly new to the sport of Hyrox, will be heading into the Majors knowing she has the the fourth best time in the world for the Women’s Pro event.
Another rising star amongst the females down under is JK Hybrid athlete Jess Petrow. Jess finished in second place in the Women’s Pro event in Perth with a personal best of 1:04:25. Her extraordinary performance in Perth resulted in Jess jumping from 30th to 19th spot in the Women’s Elite 15 Major Qualification ranking, with an average time of 1:04:28 - less than 30 seconds behind 15th spot. With plans to race in the USA later this year, we have no doubt we will be seeing Jess in an Elite 15 race at some point this season.
Another notable result in the Women’s Pro event was Trychelle Wright who finished in third place with a time of 1:06:31. This was Trychelle’s first ever Hyrox event, proving she is one to watch going forth. The incredible athlete later competed in the Women’s Doubles event on the same day and finished in second place with her doubles partner, Sarah Wachjo. Well done Trychelle!
Moving onto the Men’s Pro race, we saw rising star Tom Rodgers take out first place in a tight finish against Dexter Buchanan. This was Tom’s second sub 60 minute time in the Men’s Pro race this season, proving he is quite the consistent athlete when it comes to the sport of Hyrox. Tom’s strong performance in Perth means he is now ranked 23rd in the Men’s Elite 15 Major Qualification ranking, with an average time of 58:28 - just 35 seconds behind 15th spot.
“I’ve come second in my last four races so it was great to finally get the win,” Tom said.
“Unfortunately I would have liked to go 57 something just to get inside that Elite 15.”
“I think I’ll have to go race somewhere else to get that time now.”
It was no easy feat for Tom who battled it out against Dexter Buchanan for first place. Dexter has become an athlete to watch down under, having gone from a 1:01:43 at Hyrox Sydney in June, to a 58:53 in Perth - an improvement of almost three minutes in just a few short months. We’re hoping we will see both Tom and Dexter compete at the Hyrox Melbourne event this December.
Other notable performances on the day included:
Men’s Pro Third Place - Lawrence Cartwright (GBR) @ 1:01:16
Women’s Pro Doubles Winners - Ilona-Jade Errington (GBR) & Aimee Pink (GBR) - 1:09:38
Men’s Pro Doubles Winners - Kosta Ilic (AUS) & Regan Burley (AUS) - 1:02:55
Women’s Open Winner - Mollie Emond (AUS) - 1:00:30
Men’s Open Winner - Callum Meehan (NZL) - 58:41
The Perth event was originally meant to be the final instalment of the Hyrox Australian tour for 2024, however the addition of Melbourne in December means it will be a Hyrox Christmas down under this year!
