Alexander Roncevic Caps a Historic Season with Elite Doubles Gold in Stockholm
World Champion, current World Record Holder, winner of multiple HYROX Majors, and a spot on the Red Bull athlete roster – Alexander Roncevic’s accolades are more impressive and abundant than those of almost anyone competing in the sport of hybrid fitness.
At the 2026 HYROX World Championships in Stockholm, Sweden, Roncevic competed over three nights. Although it was in a different division than the one he won last year, the Austrian walked away a winner again, this time in Elite Doubles alongside partner Tim Wenish, the 2025 Elite 15 Men’s Champion.
The Details
Having won two Majors earlier this season (Hamburg and Warsaw), set two World Records, and become the first athlete ever to finish a race under 52 minutes, he was the favorite to win the Elite 15 Men’s Division. Although he led from the start, he ultimately slipped to sixth place, with his Doubles partner Wenisch taking third.
- “When racing against him, I want to be in front of him, and he wants to be in front of me, obviously. But we have so much respect for each other; we are really good friends, and we also train often together. But once we line up together on the starting line, you are in your moment. You’re focused. I’m only thinking about him as an opponent, and I want to be in front of him. And that’s it,” Roncevic told Morning Chalk Up.
After the race is a different story. They check in on one another, their roles shifting from competitors to friends once again.
- “He got third, I got sixth, and he was like, ‘What happened?’ And we were talking about it, and he felt a bit sorry for me, and I was like, ‘Hey, I was 30 seconds off first place. It was not a bad race.’ It was not like my best race. It wasn’t 100%, but it doesn’t matter. It’s only one race,” Roncevic said.
Setting aside their Thursday performances, the two men showed up the following night, full of confidence, knowing the race was theirs to win. And with a time of 48:57, they did win.
This was the final dance for Roncevic and Germany’s Wenisch, as a new rule is being implemented for the 2026/2027 season: both partners in the Elite Doubles division must be from the same country.
- “It was a good way to go. It was a perfect season. We also have the world record; we’re the European champions. It was a really perfect story and the perfect way to finish this. Maybe it’s not our last, last race – we can race like pros, like normal double races,” Roncevic said.
Comradery Through Sport
The friendship forged among competitors and the bond shared throughout the community are the reasons Roncevic continues to compete year after year. It’s very different from other sports, he shares, and it’s one of the reasons he opposes HYROX potentially becoming an Olympic sport.
- “Once it gets Olympic, there are way more politics involved – you have the different clubs, the federations. And then you’re wearing an orange shirt, I’m wearing a blue shirt, and you don’t like each other at all,” Roncevic said.
“And right now, the HYROX community is not like that,” he continued. People are supporting each other. There is racing, and some people want to win, but it’s more the journey we are on, you know, the lifestyle we are living. It connects all of us.”
Looking Ahead
Roncevic told us that, because of new rules being implemented for the upcoming season, he will no longer be racing Doubles and will instead focus primarily as a solo competitor. He will need to collect points to qualify as an Elite 15, so his season begins right away.
- “I’m focusing on myself because the competition is getting bigger and bigger and faster and faster. So you need to live and train like a pro athlete. Full focus,” Roncevic says.
Next up is Istanbul in August, and then in October Roncevic will compete at the first Major (renamed “Elite Race” for this upcoming season), which will be held on the HYROX Cruise. He hasn’t yet decided whether he will compete in every Elite Race because an additional race has been added this year, and much depends on travel and recovery. It’s tempting, though, he says.
- “For me, it’s like grand slams in tennis. I always want to collect them. At the end of my career, I want to say I’ve won 20 of the Majors. And I like collecting world records as well,” Roncevic says, laughing.
He’ll be competing next season with an extra spring in his step and new shoes on his feet. He not only holds a coveted partnership with Red Bull but is also backed by the Swiss footwear brand On. Roncevic has played a major role in developing their new hybrid model, the Cloud Tempo Pro – a prototype he debuted in Hamburg and then wore again in Stockholm. The shoe will officially launch in August.
But for now, Roncevic is taking a bit of time off. He, Wenisch, and some other friends flew straight from Sweden to Las Vegas for some much-deserved R and R, as well as some light training before he ramps up for the next season, with his sights set on another title and maybe another World Record or two.
