Chaos can't stop McElheny

World champion opens season with setbacks

The result tells only part of the story. For HYROX world champion Alyssa McElheny, Beijing turned into a race full of obstacles. What was meant to be a relaxed season opener became a race defined by an extremely heavy sled push, a miscounted running lap and an oncoming cold.

Yet frustration is not the dominant feeling. Quite the opposite. McElheny sees Beijing primarily as a necessary first step toward the bigger races later this season.

"I mainly wanted to race again," she explains. "After three months without a competition, this was a chance to try things out, find my rhythm and see where I stand."

Training properly for the first time

Since winning the world title, McElheny's life has changed dramatically. Sponsorship obligations, international travel and a growing fan base are now part of her daily reality. Even so, she made a deliberate choice not to race for an extended period after the championship.

According to McElheny, that decision was crucial.

"My entire first period in HYROX consisted of racing, recovering and racing again. Everything revolved around qualifying for the Elite 15. Now I finally had the chance to train for months in a row."

That approach paid off. She talks about the best training sessions of her career and a sense that she has taken another physical step forward.

That is precisely why she went to Beijing, to find out how that progress would translate into a race situation.

The sled that wouldn't move

That plan ran into trouble early in the race.

The most frustrating moment came during the sled push. While competitors seemed to move through the station relatively smoothly, McElheny encountered a lane that she describes as exceptionally difficult.

"I have never experienced a sled lane like this one," she says. "I had to break the entire push into segments. At one point I actually fell because I had to apply so much force just to get the sled moving."

The world champion clocked more than three and a half minutes on the station, a remarkably high time for an athlete of her caliber.

The debate around differences between sled lanes has been ongoing within HYROX. According to McElheny, it is a problem that deserves attention.

"It's not just about the lost time. An effort like that affects the rest of your race. If you have to put in significantly more energy at one station than someone else, you carry that into every station that follows."

An extra lap

As if the sled push had not caused enough problems, a notable incident followed later in the race.

Before the farmers carry, McElheny decided to run an extra lap because she was unsure of her count.

"I arrived at the farmers carry and didn't see Joanna there. That didn't match what I expected. So I thought: maybe I miscounted."

She chose to play it safe.

It later turned out that both athletes had run an extra lap.

"That's obviously frustrating. In the end, something like that costs a lot of time and possibly the win as well. But in that moment, I mainly wanted to avoid making a mistake that would lead to a penalty."

A superstar reception

Despite the sporting setbacks, McElheny also experienced one of the most remarkable moments of her career.

The attention from Chinese fans left a deep impression.

"It was unlike anything I had experienced before. The number of people who wanted to take photos was incredible."

One supporter even gave her a custom-made doll of herself. She also discovered that Chinese fans have given her a nickname: Smile Queen.

For McElheny, these moments are a sign of how quickly HYROX is developing on a global scale.

"You can feel the sport growing. The energy from the fans was truly special."

On the way to Hamburg

Perhaps that is the most important takeaway from Beijing. Despite a difficult sled lane, an extra lap and physical discomfort, McElheny left China without concerns about her fitness.

She knows her preparation has been strong and sees plenty of reasons to look ahead to Hamburg with confidence.

"I don't think this was my best day. But that's fine too. That wasn't the point of this race. I wanted to race again, experience where I stand and lay a foundation for the rest of the season."

For the world champion, Beijing therefore feels not like a missed opportunity, but like the beginning of a new chapter. A chapter in which she is not only the woman to beat on the course, but also one of the faces of a sport that is growing faster and faster around the world.