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Hyrox admits a ‘mistake’ was made by allowing Joanna Wietrzyk to continue her race after soiling herself and has changed its rules for athletes who pose a contamination risk.

The 22-year-old, who is the women’s world record holder, won the Hyrox race for ages 16-24 in Beijing despite faeces visibly running down her legs during several exercises.

After winning the event in a time of one hour, one minute and 23 seconds, Wietrzyk posted an image on Instagram, which was subsequently deleted, from what appeared to be a hospital bed with the caption: ‘Go hard or go home … a win is a win. In all seriousness, thank you for all the support. I’ll be back soon x’

The incident has sparked concerns over the health and safety standards at Hyrox events, while Hyrox China has claimed that the track underwent ‘comprehensive disinfection’ after Wietrzyk’s race.

The co-founder of Hyrox, Moritz Fuerste, has issued an apology for allowing Wietrzyk to carry on while the organisation will now stop athletes if they soil themselves or vomit during a race.

‘Hyrox made a mistake by not reacting immediately during the race,’ Furste said.

‘In the end it is my job to foresee these potential incidents – and I did not.

‘Of course, we started improving event processes, plus making rulebook changes immediately. As of this moment, there are new rules and procedures in place to prevent situations like this from happening again.’

Joe Ho, who also competed at Hyrox in Beijing, criticised the response from the organisers.

‘For people who were exposed to that situation, there could be genuine physical and psychological consequences,’ Ho wrote on Instagram.

‘I paid HYROX to provide a professionally organized and safe event. So while I understand the athlete perspective, ultimately my contract and expectation is with HYROX.

‘If the organization accepts that something went wrong, why not offer affected participants refunds, credits, or some meaningful form of compensation?

‘Protecting athletes is important, but showing the wider community that HYROX takes responsibility when its own procedures fail is just as important. That would do far more to rebuild trust than simply asking everyone to move forward together.’

Meanwhile, Wietrzyk’s coach, Chris Bayens, hit out at the criticism the Australian athlete has received for deciding to continue with the race after soiling herself.

‘What happened was an extraordinary set of circumstances that were unforeseen, rapidly evolving and almost impossible to fully comprehend in real time,’ Bayens wrote in a post on Instagram.

New Hyrox rule for athletes who soil themselves

If a racer’s blood, vomit, urine, or faeces poses a welfare or contamination risk to the racer or to other racers, a Race Director may withdraw the racer from the race on medical grounds, in line with HYROX’s medical and hygeine SOPs. Any such withdrawal is recorded on the leaderboard as Did Not Finish [DNF].

‘Decisions were made under competition conditions by an athlete, judges and officials, all responding to a situation none of them could reasonably have prepared for.

‘It is very easy to construct the perfect response once the moment has passed. Hindsight gives people time, information and distance that simply did not exist for those actually living it.

‘Those decisions can be reviewed and lessons can be taken from them. But judging someone’s intent, character or morality through the clarity of hindsight is neither fair nor honest. Sport occasionally produces moments that are imperfect and deeply human.

‘Discussion is legitimate. The hatred and personal attacks that have followed are not.’

For more stories like this, check our sport page.

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