Megan Jacoby Leads the Charge: Your HYROX Weekend Roundup

We hardly knew which way to turn, with Hyrox events in Izmir (Turkey), Maastricht (Netherlands), Salt Lake City (USA) and Mumbai (India).  

Here are some of the themes and results from a busy weekend. 

Big Winners  

Megan Jacoby won in Izmir, and jumped 16 places from 56^th to 40^th. Another win would catapult her back into the Elite15, while a 2^nd would put her in a cluster of six athletes from 13^th to 18^th with 520. But she’s not stressing about that, saying yesterday, “Of course I want to get back to the Elite 15, but I’m also genuinely happy and thriving in the process. I’ve learned that sometimes wanting something too badly can work against you. So I’m doing the work, trusting the timing, and embracing the journey. If I make it back, it will mean a lot—but I’m really loving the journey in the meantime!”

And she has dealt with the pressure being assumed or thrown at her, by saying, “Pressure is really about perception. When you free yourself from expectations—other people’s, but sometimes even your own—you create space to enjoy what you’re doing. I’ve found so much joy in training and racing again, and I think that freedom gives me a mental edge on race day. I race for no one but myself. I have nothing to prove and nothing to lose—only things to gain.” 

Linda Meier struggled greatly in the year after her 2025 World Championship victory, including the mental side of the sport, as shared recently on The Hyrox Coaching Podcast. Holding down a full-time job while being expected to dominate every race she entered, led to a season-long drop in performance by her own lofty standards.

So it was great to see her back on the podium at Maastricht with a second place finish. She moves from 24^th to 19^th in the standings but has another 105 points coming off in two weeks so may need to settle for the Challenger race at the first Elite event of the year in Hamburg. 

Graham Halliday won…again, which he said “puts me in a great spot for the remainder of the season. I honestly have felt fitter, so it’s a weird feeling I have. I seem to have just put the races together really well. I feel like I’m finding my feet again. It’s still early, and anything can happen over the next few months.” 

Sebastian Ifversen noted he was relieved to be on the top step of the podium again, in Izmir, after being beaten into second place by Richard Hynek in New Delhi last month.  

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by BOXROX (@boxrox)

Who’s Racing?  

It’s been a feature of the early season that while the racing has been extremely competitive, there are a lot of high-ranked athletes who have not yet stepped on the start line.

When you look at the top 100, it’s the men ranked about 15^th to 50^th, and the women ranked about 6^th to 25^th, who have been the most busy…and it’s not hard to see why. The top halves of the Elite15 fields are basically set, with points totals that are not just unassailable, but can’t be improved upon in a ‘normal’ race.

For example, Dylan Scott heads the men’s rankings with 542 points. His ‘worst’ race in the five that scored him points was winning New York, which gained him 105 points. In fact, you have to go down to Louis Osselaer, whose 100 points from Maastricht last year are about to roll off, before you get to an athlete for whom a win would move them up.  

So the frequent racers seem to be those at the bottom of the Elite15 trying to hold on or get in, and there’s a lot of activity among those trying to secure their Challenger15 places.  

New(ish) Faces Prove Their Mettle

Gabe Piepergerdes (USA) 

After this weekend he is provisionally ranked 95^th, up from 127^th. But that hides the reality of what this built, ex-college runner has been doing in the sport.

Hidden somewhat in the doubles up until recently, he has just finished 5^th in DC and 4^th in Salt Lake City, beating the likes of Rich Ryan, Jack Driscoll and Colin Stiefer in his two races. And when you factor in that his wall balls are 45-60 seconds off the pace, it’s clear that nothing more than time and specific training separates him from the top tier of the sport.  

Madelyn Eybergen (Can) 

Madelyn’s been hiding even better than Gabe – so much so that she isn’t even on the points list despite coming second in the World for the overall Age Group crown at this summer’s Worlds!

She had only raced one Pro singles before (Vancouver, Dec 2025) to qualify for Worlds and said to me that she “wasn’t planning on continuing Hyrox after” Stockholm. That performance changed things for her. She recently applied for her Pro licence and will be making her debut on the big board with the 100 points from Salt Lake City where she came second only to Lauren Weeks and beat 17^th-ranked Rachael Wade.  

Performances of the Week 

Danél Louw (SA) 

Danél was everywhere at the Mumbai event with a third in the Pro singles and then overall wins in THREE races: women’s doubles (her big priority with partner Juan-Marie-Herbst), AND mixed doubles, AND mixed relay. “Four for fun,” as she called it. 

I asked what she did to recover: “biogen cherry extract…I eat a lot of chicken and rice and drink electrolytes. I also use hyperice compression boots after each race…the mindset is that I can train hard for four days in a row. So the racing time is shorter than I usually train in a day. Obviously intensity is a bit harder, depending on the race category…” 

Julien Coquillaud-Salomon (Fr) 

I thought there was a systems error at first but no, Netherlands-based Julien really did the men’s Pro singles in Maastricht (Netherlands) and then Izmir (Turkey) on consecutive days. Not only that but he came second overall in both races to cement his Challenger15 status.  

He said, “Maastricht is known to always bring a big field of athletes due to its location and placement in the calendar. Perfect race to see where I was after a good off season. Amazing race against a stacked field, happy with the results and the execution of it all.”

Then followed 90 minutes in doping control, a couple of train rides and a flight to Turkey. “I went extra conservative on the first half of my runs not knowing how my body would react and doing what I could to stay within reaching distance to Seb after the farmer. I closed very well but Seb [Iversen] did what was needed pushing early on and controlling the distance from the front. Cool Mano a Mano with Oli [Fricker] for 2nd place and happy with the results again.” 

The Rise of Power-Couples and Power-Families 

If you’ve been around Hyrox you’ve probably heard of the Vandenlindenloof sisters and the Sutherland brothers. And it seems that as Hyrox continues to grow exponentially, more and more families and couples are racing together or at the same event. 

For example, ‘Eisenlausi’ (Fabian Eisenlauer & Jennifer Nikolaus) were on the podium again: with Fabian taking first and Jennifer second in the men’s and women’s singles at Mumbai. Fabian shoots from 56^th to 22^nd in the rankings and comfortably qualifies for Hamburg Challenger as things stand. Jennifer is in high-Challenger form with 302.5 points from her first three races and looks set for the top 30 when she completes her set of five.  

Husband-and-wife partnership Greyson Kilgore & Katie Duke won the mixed doubles in Salt Lake City for their first event win on their third race together, after Greyson took the solo win the day before. Couple Jack Driscoll and Dr Erika Tvedten have teamed up to great success, and at Salt Lake were both on the top step but in different, single-sex races. Jack & Rich Ryan marked their collab debut with a win, though neither have said whether this was a one-race deal or a potential ongoing pairing. And Erika paired with Rachael Wade to win the women’s Pro doubles. 

Hidde Weersma didn’t have the race he wanted in the men’s singles in Maastricht, but had no such difficulties when teaming up with his sister Maaike to win the mixed doubles.  

And the Hogan family keep on trucking. Couple Dena & Tom won mixed doubles Worlds in 2025, and son Jay has now teamed up with his Dad to make a push in the men’s doubles. Another third place in Mumbai keeps them on 302.83 points – on-target for Challenger15 in Hamburg…meanwhile Dena joins 60 other top coaches at the Red Bull Hyrox Coaches Camp in Brazil. 

And of course there are many, many more examples. It’s just interesting to see it happening more at the top of the sport, as well as among us ‘everyday athletes.’  

New World Order Emerges in Doubles 

You need overall event wins in all three of your qualifying races to get into the Elite15 at the moment. On the women’s side, Seka Arning & Stefanie Oswald stamped their tickets with an overall win in Maastricht (following Oswald’s win in the singles.) 

And two men’s pairs are as good as booked: new duo Jake Williamson & Luke Greer in Maastricht, and vets Tony Revell & Ciaran Parkinson in Mumbai. With so many old pairings being vacated, it’s still a Gold Rush out there for event wins to crack the Elite15 or Challenger. 

 This coming week and weekend the Hyrox tour buses roll into Rome and Oslo. The Rome event isn’t full, but they have just closed ticket sales as the event starts on Wednesday. But if you fancy a trip to Oslo, tickets are still available across EVERY category. 

To tide you over until then, the next episode of Hybrid Fitness Report podcast is due out on Wednesday. This week’s guest was, until very recently, a fireman. And if you haven’t already done so, catch up on our last two episodes where we interviewed Coach Chris Bayens, and Hyrox World Champion Dylan Scott.  

Results 

HYROX MAASTRICHT 

MENS SINGLES 

• Graham Halliday (55:33) 
• Julien Coquillaud-Salomon (56:05) 
• Ronan Lindsay (56:12) 

WOMENS SINGLES 

• Stefanie Oswald (59:04) 
• Linda Meier (1:00:37) 
• Lauren Armstrong (1:00:37) 

MENS DOUBLES 

• Jake Williamson & Luke Greer (49:24) 
• Louis Osselaer & Emile Mattheeuws (50:16) 
• Danny Rae & Jamie Hennessy (51:04) 

WOMENS DOUBLES 

• Seka Arning & Stefanie Oswald (55:28) 
• Iza Tulkens & Michaela Disseldorp (56:26) 
• Charlotte Vandenlindenloof & Margot Vandenlindenloof (58:36) 

MIXED DOUBLES 

• Maaike Weersma & Hidde Weersma (56:26) 

HYROX SALT LAKE CITY 

MENS SINGLES 

• Greyson Kilgore (56:28) 
• Stephen Pelkofer (56:58) 
• Jack Driscoll (57:14) 

WOMENS SINGLES 

• Lauren Weeks (57:18) 
• Madelyn Eybergen (57:56) 
• Rachael Wade (58:48) 

MENS DOUBLES 

• Rich Ryan & Jack Driscoll (51:52) 
• Colin Stiefer & Ryan Kent (52:31) 
• Chase Stevenson & Stirling Peters (52:47) 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by BOXROX (@boxrox)

WOMENS DOUBLES 

• Erika Tvedten & Rachael Wade (58:46) 
• Maria Fecik & Lianne Girard (59:38) 
• Marie Pier Cloutier & Alexa Marrazzo (1:00:47) 

MIXED DOUBLES 

• Greyson Kilgore & Katy Duke (56:10) 

HYROX IZMIR 

MENS SINGLES 

• Sebastian Ifversen (56:07) 
• Julien Coquillaud-Salomon (56:28) 
• Oli Fricker (57:46) 

WOMENS SINGLES 

• Megan Jacoby (58:24) 
• Tanja Stroschneider (1:01:01) 
• Elli Stenfors (1:03:26) 

MENS DOUBLES 

• Simen Røssland & Jørgen Dahl Olsen (51:41) 
• Connor Higgins & Ross Walker (52:09) 
• Florian Gast & Peter Schiller (52:16) 

WOMENS DOUBLES 

• Melanie Maurer & Céline Von Potobsky (57:22) 
• Tegan Frizelle & Suzi Royds (58:21) 
• Tascha Møller & Michelle Raupelyte Reiersen (58:35) 

MIXED DOUBLES 

• Natalie Crompton & Danny Coates (57:54) 

HYROX MUMBAI 

MENS SINGLES 

• Fabian Eisenlauer (59:28) 
• Damien Bourke (1:00:21) 
• Aidan Dwyer (1:01:00) 

WOMENS SINGLES 

• Gabriele Nikora-Baker (1:00:18) 
• Jennifer Nikolaus (1:01:19) 
• Danél Louw (1:02:24) 

MENS DOUBLES 

• Ciaran Parkinson & Tony Revell (51:59) 
• Ewan Applewhite & Mohamed Redaoui (52:53) 
• Jay Hogan & Tom Hogan (53:33) 

WOMENS DOUBLES 

• Juan-Marie Herbst & Danél Louw (57:45) 
• Susana Alonso-Dominguez & Manuela Garcia Caparros (58:09) 
• Sanjana George & Tishya Sagar (1:08:43) 

MIXED DOUBLES 

• Danél Louw & Jimmy Dhillon (55:56)