Who Is Megan Jacoby? Inside the HYROX World Champion's Comeback

A runner. A mother. A winner. The 2024 HYROX World Champion on back surgery, a torn meniscus, and finding her way back to the top of the sport.

2022 Started HYROX

1st Woman under 1 hour

2024 Elite 15 World Champion

2x Major injuries overcome

The Rise

Megan Jacoby found HYROX in the fall of 2022 through a friend in the OCR community, and the sport clicked almost immediately. As a runner who had always strength trained heavy several days a week, HYROX was the first race format that actually needed both skills.

She qualified for the Elite 15 in her very first race, then broke the women's pro world record in her second. Her debut season ended with a runner-up finish at the World Championship, and she became the first woman to ever break one hour in the Women's Elite category. Her second season, she went all the way: HYROX World Champion.

The Setback

After winning the Elite 15 World Championship in Nice in 2024, Megan was set up for another strong season. Then, one week after a tight, competitive Amsterdam race, everything changed:

"I suffered a back injury. A severe disc herniation would stop my season in my tracks. Therapy wasn't working and my daily function was immediately impacted, let alone any training, I could not run a single step without severe nerve pain. Could not sleep, could not lift, or do most of the movements required for my sport. I ended up having surgery two months later."

Megan expected a steady build back to full fitness in time to defend her title at the 2025 World Championship. Instead, a setback with an incompletely healed nerve root forced her to pause running again, and she was unable to line up.

She spent from June 2025 onward slowly building toward a comeback, and it worked, for a while. Two back-to-back HYROX lifetime PBs. A half marathon lifetime PB. A qualifying spot back in the Elite 15 with one of the top time averages in the field. Then a compensatory injury, tied to the original back issue, caught up with her: a third degree meniscus tear in her opposite knee.

That injury forced a different kind of problem-solving:

"I learned very quickly through the first few months of dealing with this knee injury, and how sensitive it was, battling inflammation constantly, not getting it to calm down for weeks and weeks on end, that this was going to take a different level of creativity to overcome. I knew that I needed more assistance than just rehab alone."

Finding LEVER

Megan first came across LEVER on Instagram, and heard about it directly from a fan who had used the system for years. Once she started paying attention, she noticed other pros carrying heavy training volumes were using it too.

"Anti-gravity treadmills are extremely hard to come by where I live in Europe. So this wasn't really an option, but I knew this was probably what I needed in order to slowly build back."

The Progression Back

After several walk/run protocols that didn't stick, Megan began using LEVER for every run, spacing sessions two days apart to give her knee time to respond and recover.

"I started with easy running a few minutes on, one minute off, then slowly increased my pace each set, until eventually I was able to start successfully running intervals. But again, only using lever at first. After some break throughs with this process I was able to start incorporating one 'free' run per week on the treadmill, and then eventually outside."

Where She Is Now

Fully healthy again, Megan's relationship with LEVER has shifted from rehab necessity to a deliberate part of her weekly training plan, alongside cycling, and skierg and rower work.

"Now that I'm really healthy, I'm using it for my higher volume longer runs once per week! My other interval runs are on the track or treadmill and one short easy run outside. I've adjusted my load management heavily. This is actually the least running volume I've ever done in my competitive sports history. But with the addition of LEVER into the routine, I've been able to build significant fitness even with less KM's."

"The big volume runs are still harder on the knee for me to handle. So this will be a safety net! Allows me to safely get the HR stimulus I need to keep building my aerobic fitness without so much stress on the knee joint."

Megan's story is a reminder that a comeback rarely goes in a straight line, and that the athletes who make it back to the top are usually the ones who get the most disciplined about the boring, unglamorous parts: load, recovery, and knowing when to pull back.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Megan Jacoby?

Megan Jacoby is a professional HYROX athlete and the 2024 HYROX Elite 15 World Champion. She started competing in HYROX in fall 2022, broke the women's pro world record in her second race, finished runner-up at the 2023 World Championship, and became the first woman to break one hour in the Women's Elite category before winning the world title outright.

What injury did Megan Jacoby recover from?

Megan suffered a severe disc herniation one week after the first Elite 15 race of the 2024/25 season, which required back surgery. During her comeback she also developed a third degree meniscus tear in her opposite knee, related to compensation patterns from the back injury.

How does Megan Jacoby use LEVER in her training?

Megan started using LEVER for every run during her return from a meniscus tear, following gradual walk/run and interval protocols before reintroducing free running. Now fully healthy, she uses LEVER once a week for her higher volume, longer runs, treating it as a safety net that lets her get the aerobic stimulus she needs without extra stress on her knee.