Red Bull X-Alps
Athletes Revealed for Red Bull X-Alps 2023
Press Release / 14.10.2022
They come from all over the world and include record-breaking adventurers, Olympic athletes, champion pilots and exploratory climbers. They are all united by one desire – to compete in the Red Bull X-Alps, the world’s toughest adventure race.
They consist of:
• 35 athletes
• 30 men and 5 women from 18 countries
• 18 veterans
• 17 rookies
Back to defend his title is the Swiss champion Christian "Chrigel" Maurer (SUI1), who has won every edition of the race since 2009.
Seven of the top ten athletes from 2021 are also back, promising a fierce fight at the front for a podium place. They include last edition’s second-place finisher Patrick von Känel (SUI2), and third place athlete Simon Oberrauner (AUT1).
The line-up features more female athletes than any time in the race’s history, with five women taking part. They include last year’s competitors Yael Margelisch (SUI3) Laurie Genovese (FRA3), and 2019 athlete Kinga Masztalerz (NZL). New this year are Elisabeth Egger (AUT4), a former supporter to Aaron Durogati and Celine Lorenz (GER3), who at 24, is the second youngest athlete.
The French line-up is looking very strong and includes former world cup champion Maxime Pinot (FRA1), who came 2nd in 2019 and challenged Maurer for much of the 2021 race.
Both France and Switzerland field the largest number of athletes with five each. Austria and Italy both have four athletes and include veterans Paul Guschlbauer (AUT2) and Aaron Durogati (ITA2), Germany three and USA two athletes – both rookies. The youngest athlete is once again Thomas Friedrich (AUT3) who will be 22 when the race starts. He made an impressive debut performance in 2021.
2023 will also see the race’s first athlete from China taking part, Junming Song, a two-time national champion.
All athletes had to go through a rigorous selection process and were hand-picked by the race committee to ensure they are safe to fly in rough conditions across the Alps and fit enough to handle the consecutive days of long hikes in the mountains. Most athletes come from the adventure and cross-country paragliding worlds, but some have unusual athletic backgrounds, including two who are former Olympic biathletes. Lukas Hofer (ITA4) is a two-time bronze medal winning biathlete while Lenart Oblak (SLO) competed at the Pyeongchang Olympics in 2018.
The US rookie Cedar Wright is another athlete with an impressive resume – a professional climber for 20 years, he’s made first ascents on every continent and established multiple big wall climbs in Yosemite before discovering paragliding seven years ago.
The diverse line-up ensures Red Bull X-Alps 2023 will be a thrilling race to follow. To see all athletes and bios, go to redbullxalps.com
The full line-up of Red Bull X-Alps competitors for next year is as follows:
Richard Binstead (AUS) – Rookie
Simon Oberrauner (AUT1) – Veteran
Paul Guschlbauer (AUT2) – Veteran
Thomas Friedrich (AUT3) – Veteran
Elisabeth Egger (AUT4) – Rookie
Tom de Dorlodot (BEL) – Veteran
James Elliott (CAN) – Rookie
Junming Song (CHN) – Rookie
Ondrej Prochazka (CZE) – Rookie
Jordi Vilalta (ESP) – Rookie
Maxime Pinot (FRA1) – Veteran
Damien Lacaze (FRA2) – Veteran
Laurie Genovese (FRA3) – Veteran
Tim Alongi (FRA4) – Rookie
Tanguy Renaud-Goud (FRA5) - Rookie
Markus Anders (GER1) – Veteran
Maximilian Loidl (GER2) – Rookie
Celine Lorenz (GER3) – Rookie
Pal Takats (HUN) – Veteran
Tobias Grossrubatscher (ITA1) – Veteran
Aaron Durogati (ITA2) – Veteran
Nicola Donini (ITA3) – Veteran
Lukas Hofer (ITA4) – Rookie
Emoto Yuji (JPN) – Rookie
Kinga Masztalerz (NZL) – Veteran
Michal Gierlach (POL) – Veteran
Toma Coconea (ROU) – Veteran
Lenart Oblak (SLO) – Rookie
Christian Maurer (SUI1) – Champion
Patrick von Känel (SUI2) – Veteran
Yael Margelisch (SUI3) – Veteran
Sepp Inniger (SUI4) – Rookie
Reto Reiser (SUI5) – Rookie
Logan Walters (USA1) – Rookie
Cedar Wright (USA2) – Rookie
See All Event Posts
