A Portadown fitness coach and founder of an award-winning mum’s fitness group has qualified for the Hyrox World Championships in Chicago despite having only very recently taken up the sport.
Aimee Oliver – Bodyfit Mums fame has always channelled her competitive nature into sport and fitness. A business owner and mum, Aimee has also for approximately 20 years played volleyball at a highly competitive level on Northern Ireland’s Women’s Volleyball team.
Aware that, after two decades, the time to “hang up her trainers” may be fast approaching, Aimee was on the look out for something new to get her teeth into.
So when a friend told her about a “really mad race” that would be “totally up her street”, Aimee wrangled her husband, Matthew into signing up for a mixed doubles Hyrox competition in March 2024 in Madrid… little did she know – it was the start of something extraordinary.
Speaking to Armagh I, Aimee said: “Me and my husband just randomly signed up for it for a bit of craic and didn’t really know what to expect. But that was when we were in mixed doubles and I quickly worked out that it was something that I really enjoyed in a weird, kind of painstaking way.”
Upon arriving home, Aimee signed up for an online coach and took her training to the next level. She then entered for her first solo competition in Birmingham in October 2024 and just three weeks later entered Dublin, where she scooped first place in her age category (35 – 39 years), placing fourth overall out of approximately 939 people.
The remarkable achievement in Dublin secured her a qualifying space at the Hyrox World Championships in Chicago, which will be underway from June 12 – 15.
But it wasn’t exactly a cake walk. Aimee said of her Dublin race: “It was quite possibly the worst thing I have done in my life!
“It’s definitely a test of mental strength. The doubles is nice because you’re with someone and although you still both run the kms together, you can share the stations.
“It took me a good few days to come down to reality after it. My time was completely different to Birmingham; I knocked like seven minutes off it but I went in with a completely different mindset, like just go – run!”
Aimee and husband Matthew
While Aimee is still very much enjoying her training and playing volleyball for Northern Ireland – she finds Hyrox to be a breath of fresh air that affords her an ability to focus on her training as an individual rather than as part of a team.
And while it is very much an individual effort – beyond the mixed doubles races – Aimee champions the “sense of community” within the sport… and it’s one of the reasons why she believes Hyrox is taking off across the country.
She explained: “One thing I absolutely love is that anyone can do it.
“I did Dublin singles on the Friday and then on the Sunday I entered the mixed doubles with my dad who is 76 years old and that’s something I will cherish forever.
“He was incredible and the amount of support that he got! If you can imagine being in a big stadium with thousands of supporters there and he was clearly the oldest in the building by a clear mile.
“We did it for Macmillan Cancer Support and we had the Macmillan tops on us and he had his name and age on the front so the amount of support was incredible!
“He completed it and the sled pushes are like 153kg, the sled pull is 103kg and kettle bells are 48kg – they are not weights to be laughed about and he did more on the skier and rower than I did! But it’s great because there is no time restriction. We did it in an hour and 46 minutes which was amazing.”
Like Aimee, her father has now officially caught the Hyrox bug and together they have already made plans to go again in Dublin this November.
Of her World Championship race in Chicago, Aimee is prepared and excited but humbly admits she is “a little bit nervous”.
“You know that everyone who’s there has had to qualify to be there,” she adds. “It’s like the the top 2% in the world who qualify for it.
“The standard is going to be much higher and my online coach, who is in the Elite 15, is going to be in my race which is a bit scary!”
However, for a competitor who set out with the simple intention to “find my feet and get a few races under my belt to see what I was capable of”, Aimee is intensely proud to have been granted the opportunity to compete at this level so soon.
It will be an entirely new experience again – as not only will she be competing against Hyrox’s top competitors from across the world – she will also be racing with women’s pro weights…
But she’s had a taste of these weights before during mixed doubles and is confident that she’ll be able to give it her all.
Aimee will also be competing in Chicago alongside several County Armagh-based qualifiers, including brother and sister duo, Ruairi and Tiarná Grimes, in mixed doubles, Connor Magill in men’s singles and Joe Orr, who recently obtained the World Record in Dublin for his age category in men’s singles and mixed doubles alongside his girlfriend Kirby Mercer.
