Australian fitness athlete Joanna Wietrzyk made quite the mess during the Hyrox competition that took place last Saturday in China.
While Wietrzyk won the Hyrox event, which pits athletes in a race against the clock to complete fitness obstacles in the quickest time, she did so while covered in her own poop.
Wietrzyk chose to continue the Hyrox course after suffering from diarrhea mid-race, creating a biohazard for other competitors that had to use the same race track and shared equipment.
Despite the obvious safety hazard, Hyrox officials allowed Wietrzyk to keep competing and leaders initially praised her perseverance to continue through the fecal incontinence after her victory.
However, other competitors — 1,000 people competed in the event after Wietrzyk’s incident according to the South China Morning Post — and many others online excoriated Hyrox and the winner for letting it happen.
“She is not sorry. She is nasty,” Instagram user @_tvmmxv_ wrote about Wietrzyk in a comment. “Next subject. I am tired of seeing her defecate on herself all over my timeline.”
“This isn’t just a social issue it’s a medical one,” Instagram user @imthedarrian added. “Also sports is the only place yall would excuse this.”
“No one is sh-tting through a Lego building comp, live poetry, or any other activity. Signed someone who is still signed up for Hyrox Tampa!”
Wietrzyk initially was not remorseful for completing the race covered in her own feces, saying in a later-deleted Instagram story, “Go hard or go home they say … a win is a win.”
Five days after the competition ended, on Thursday, the Australia native had changed her tune.
“I want to offer my sincere apology to the people of China, my fellow competitors, the spectators and the HYROX organizers for what happened during the race in Beijing,” Wietrzyk said in a statement released on her Instagram account.
“I felt completely fit and healthy at the start of the race, with no reason to expect any illness. Looking back, I regret the decision to not have stepped off the track. I recognize that I should have made a different choice. I take responsibility for my decision to continue and am deeply sorry for the discomfort and disruption it caused.
“I know my actions had an impact beyond myself, and I am genuinely sorry to everyone who was affected. I am learning from this experience and will carry those lessons with me, including remembering that there is more to life than racing and knowing when it is right to step away. On reflection, I have decided to retroactively withdraw from the race and forfeit the points I earned.
“Thank you to those standing by me, both as an athlete and as a person, during this time, and to everyone who has reached out with kindness and support. It means more to me than I can properly express right now. I will be taking some time to recover, reflect and look after myself and my family away from the noise.”
In the aftermath of the backlash to the incident, Hyrox co-founder Moritz Fürste also released a statement via Instagram on Monday.
“I need to address all of you directly concerning the recent events in China. I apologise to all that were directly or indirectly affected, as well as to everyone who felt like we did not handle the situation like we should have,” Fürste said.
“HYROX made a mistake by not reacting immediately during the race. 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.
“We learn and try to get better everyday.”
In addition to the immediate rulebook changes, Hyrox also offered athletes that were on the course at the same time or after Wietrzyk a refund of their entry fee, CNN reported.
Hyrox began in Germany in 2017, and has previously hosted events in 11 different countries and 30 different cities.
