Josh van Zeeland is now offically among the best HYROX athletes in the world, finishing the Perth race in a time of 57 minutes 17 seconds.
Racing in only his fifth HYROX event and fourth in the Pro category, Luxembourg's Josh van Zeeland has now placed himself among the Elite 15 in the sport. If results go his way at the Maastricht event on 19 September he will qualify for his first Major competition in Hamburg at the start of October.
Despite his impressive time, van Zeeland was not satisfied with his performance. "It's bittersweet at the moment because I was hoping to go faster and hoped that would've made it more likely to stay in the Elite 15. At the start of the year I would have been ecstatic with my time, it just shows that I hold myself to a high standard." It's also worth mentioning that the preparations for the race were not optimal, as two weeks prior he caught the flu which caused respiratory problems.
The race itself did not go to plan. The 27-year-old, perhaps too eager to lower his average time (a key factor in Elite 15 placement), launched into the race at a blistering pace and attacked the SkiErg harder than he ever had in training. Subsequently, he entered what he called the “pain cave” for the remainder of the race, later admitting that he “was not in control on the wall balls”, the final station. He collapsed over the finish line in exhaustion.
Despite the struggle, he finished second overall and first in his age category – just one second behind Elite 15 athlete Tom Rodgers. Even in what he called a “disappointing” race, he improved his average time to 56:19, climbing from 18th to 14th place and securing a spot in the coveted Elite 15. As he humbly reflected: “It’s not a failure but a data point.”
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Best ever HYROX times
Josh ran the 7th fastest ever time in the HYROX Pro category in Sydney earlier this year.
