iF3 Functional Fitness World Championships took place on 24th to 26th November 2023 at X Meeting Point in Oslo, Norway. 

There were five divisions in which athletes competed:

  • Women’s Individual Medley
  • Men’s Individual Medley
  • Women’s 19-20 Individual Medley
  • Men’s 19-20 Individual Medley
  • Teams Medley (two male and two female athletes)

The Team Medley was a 3 day event containing six tests of fitness across a standardised set of categories. The capacities tested in the Team Medley were Endurance, Strength, Bodyweight, Mixed and Strategy.

All athletes in all divisions were nominated and registered by their national federations. FRF(UK) has nominated and sent a Team of 4 athletes: Philroy Peters, Mitch Adams, Alexa Ferguson and Kirstin Walker.

Team UK 

Team UK had a solid start, initially leading Endurance Event 1, but eventually after a close race, they dropped to 5th position with 30s separating them from being in the Top 3. The following Strength Event 2 has seen Team UK fight to get a well-deserved tied 3rd position. Team UK completely dominated the competition floor during the Bodyweight Event 3 which they won by finishing it in just under 12 minutes, with 2nd place coming in 2 mins behind them at just under 14 minutes. This win was the second event win anyone has achieved to take from the Norway team that has a track record of being the unbeaten Team World Champion, and a first real taste of a possibility of finishing on a podium. The following 2 events Mixed Relay have seen Team UK land in 4th and 5th place consecutively. The final Strategy Event 6 was our last chance and Team UK secured a solid 4th place4 missing out on a podium by 66pts.

FRF(UK) Sport Director Mark Brine has said: “It has been one of the best events myself, and the team have been to. Logistics, venue, setup, the feel and events themselves have set a phenomenal standard. We fell short of a podium, but we have taken a lot of learnings from this year’s Worlds that we will be working on preparing all of our categories for Super Worlds5 in Hungary in Nov 2024.”

Annual General Assembly

The Worlds have also seen our delegation represented by Magda Rotsztejn attend the 7th Annual General Assembly meeting a day before the Worlds on 23rd November 2023. Together with leaders of over 60 nations that are a part of the iF3 we reflected on the progress made this year, the strategy for 2024 and key opportunities as well as challenges we need to tackle together to continue championing the growth and governance of the sport of functional fitness. An important area of focus for iF3 is our long term goal of becoming IOC (International Olympic Committee) recognised and landing on the next Olympics programme. We have just missed out on Los Angeles 2028 and we focused on the areas we need to continue working on to make Brisbane 2032 a possibility. 

What’s next?

FRF(UK) is now putting all its efforts to finalise a clear process by which we will be selecting our 2024 squad with the aim of bringing a full UK representation to the World Championships in Hungary planned for November 2024. The goal is to have all categories represented. Every country has a quota for the World Championships of three individual female and three individual male per category, as well as a single team of four (two female and two male).