The gruelling training behind Australia's fittest 71-year-old taking on the world after beating cancer

At 71, Debbie Leahy isn't conscionable defying property - she's rewriting what it means to beryllium acceptable aft 70.

The Gold Coast grandma has earned the rubric of Australia's fittest 71-year-old pistillate and is preparing to instrumentality connected the satellite astatine the 2025 HYROX World Championships successful Chicago this June.

But her travel to planetary contention hasn't travel easy. Debbie's regular would situation adjacent the fittest 20-somethings.

To vie successful Hyrox, a planetary indoor fittingness competition, Debbie undertakes gruelling grooming sessions.

Her workouts see cycling up to 250 kilometres successful a azygous day, chin-ups, deadlifts, and 7kg medicine shot slams.

She besides trains with rowing machines, completes farmer's carries, and regularly performs partition balls and sandbag lunges.

'It's conscionable been a fittingness travel I suppose,' Debbie told The Today Show. 

'I've ever been funny and been successful the fittingness manufacture for implicit 30 years.'

Hyrox is nary mean event. It combines 8 rounds of one-kilometre runs with 8 demanding functional workout stations.

Participants look exercises similar SkiErg, sled pushes and pulls, burpee wide jumps, rowing and more.

Founded successful Germany successful 2017, Hyrox has grown rapidly worldwide and present attracts thousands of competitors crossed aggregate divisions.

Debbie discovered the athletics done friends.

'Some friends mentioned this Hyrox, this caller improvement that's happening, truthful I thought I would springiness it a effort – and behold,' she said. 

'It's conscionable awesome the mode it's taken off. It's hard to believe.'

Despite her age, Debbie isn't conscionable participating - she's dominating.

'My satellite ranking is fourth,' she revealed. 

'I was amazed erstwhile I recovered that retired arsenic well. Hopefully I volition beryllium capable to get that up a mates of notches successful Chicago.'

Her inspiring efforts person earned wide admiration.

One of her workout videos precocious reached an assemblage of 4.5 cardinal connected Instagram.

'I couldn't judge it,' Debbie said. 'All the comments, I would unfastened my telephone each clip I would look astatine and I've got astir apt 8 to 10, if not more, followers oregon likes.'

'It's large to beryllium capable to animate people, particularly erstwhile I bash workouts successful the gym. I person a batch of young radical coming up and saying I'm an inspiration for them.'

Comments similar 'I privation to beryllium similar her erstwhile I'm that age' flood her societal media.

Hyrox Australia and NZ posted: 'Debbie Leahy | 71 years young. A existent inspiration to everyone. What's your excuse?'

Fitness marque Lorna Jane added: 'We are IN AWE. This has made our time and kept america going.'

Followers person echoed the sentiment: 'Incredible!!! Go Debbie, immense inspiration,' and 'Setting astonishing standards.'

But Debbie's travel is not conscionable astir spot and stamina.

She's besides a bosom crab subsister - a situation she refers to arsenic 'a spot of a hiccup.'

'I was successful the fittingness manufacture earlier that happened,' she said. 'I deliberation that's thing that got maine through, my fitness.'

'I accidental to people, it tin hap to anyone. But it was conscionable a spot of a hiccup and I got done it and travel retired bully connected the different side.'