The former mayor of Seville and former Andalusian leader Alejandro Rojas-Marcos, who turned 84 last September, qualified to participate in the HYROX 2025 World Championships, the global event for this sporting discipline which will take place in Chicago next June.
Rojas-Marcos qualified during the preliminary tests held this weekend in Madrid, where he competed in a duo with Julio Paneque. Both athletes will compete in the over-70 category. To participate in this range, the average age of the couple must reach this age; Rojas-Marcos is 84 years old and Paneque is 58 years old, making a total of 142.
The Andalusian politician began practicing this sport at the Castelar gymnasium, where the athlete Manuel Halcon He coaches the first Hyrox team formed in Seville. The athlete, a long-distance swimmer and triathlete with several Ironmans under his belt, told ABC how Rojas-Marcos joined this discipline. “When he saw the Hyrox, he asked me if he could participate and he joined the practices. The sled fascinates him, he began to move it almost without weight and increased until it exceeded the specific weight, which is 125 kilos, plus the weight of the sled, which is 27 kilos. He reached the point of pushing 150 kilos. One day I told him, “Alejandro, he’s ready to compete,” and after a while he called me and said, “Did you mean that?” He is now another member of the team,” he adds.
Rojas-Marcos goes to the gym every day and has already participated in several Hyrox testsa sport designed to be practiced by people of all ages. “Physical limitations are objective, but they are generally the consequence of psychological limitations, subjective and surmountable. The key is vital enthusiasm. “I’m very lucky because I always wear it and I don’t have to borrow it,” he told ABC.
The Hyrox team to which Rojas Marcos belongs was received by Juanma Moreno last May, before competing in France
Hyrox is a discipline that is barely more than five years old and combines fitness with exercises for strength, endurance and athletic ability. In addition, it can be done alone, in pairs or in a team. “I have no chance of winning, I don’t compete for brands or anything like that, my goal is to survive,” commented Rojas-Marcos when he was received, along with the rest of the team. Hyrox team, by Juanma Moreno. at the San Telmo Palace last May.
