© Esben Zøllner Olesen/Red Bull Content Pool
If you follow the sharp end of obstacle course racing, you’ll be familiar with the name Ida Mathilde Steensgaard. A formidable force in OCR for the last decade, Danish athlete Ida is the current OCR World Champion (3K) and holds the title of OCR European Champion for both the 15K and 3K events. World and European Championship titles aside, Ida has more than 100 OCR podiums to her name!
Specialising in short-course OCR, the 32-year-old Red Bull athlete is known for her technical skills and impressive grip strength, making light work of even the hardest rigs and obstacles. And in 2022, Ida used this covetable skill set to take on an immense rope climbing challenge with Red Bull. Climbing a 28m rope from being fully submerged in the water, she set two new world records: the longest rope climb by a female and the longest rope climb from water. She’s also dipped her toe in the world of hybrid sports, competing in two Hyrox events – more of which later!
In this Q&A, we cover Ida’s training, race day prep, 2023 goals and more. Thanks, Ida!