An Australian athlete who faced criticism for continuing to compete in a Hyrox event after soiling herself has apologised and said she will retroactively withdraw from the race.
Joanna Wietrzyk offered her “sincere apology” for the incident during the indoor fitness competition in Beijing on Saturday, saying she should have “made a different choice” and exited the event.
Footage of Wietrzyk competing after soiling herself raised concerns about hygiene, leading Hyrox co-founder Moritz Fürste to apologise for the handling of the situation.
In a statement shared on Thursday, Wietrzyk said: “I know my actions had an impact beyond myself, and I am genuinely sorry to everyone who was affected.”
After the backlash, Wietrzyk, who won the race in Beijing, said she would forfeit her win.
Wietrzyk said in a social media post: “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.”
She wrote in a social media post that she was “completely fit and healthy” at the start of the race, and had “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,” Wietrzyk continued.
Hyrox insisted it had “clear biocontaminant and medical procedures in place”. It said “an unforeseen situation arose” during which protocols became blurred, “creating ambiguity in how they were applied and understood”.
In a statement posted on Instagram, Fürste committed to “improving event processes” to “prevent situations like this from happening again”.
After Wietrzyk’s identity was shared online, Hyrox said anyone sending abuse or threats to the athlete would be banned from any future events. It said on Monday: “There is no place in our community for threats of violence or encouragement to harm an athlete.”
Hyrox is an indoor fitness race that combines running with functional workout stations. Participants alternate between running one kilometre and completing a series of exercises at each station.
A standard Hyrox race involves eight rounds of one-kilometre runs, with a different functional workout after each run. The stations typically include a ski erg, sled push, sled pull, burpee broad jumps, rowing, farmers carry, sandbag lunges, and wall balls.
The competition is open to athletes of varying fitness levels, with categories for individuals, pairs, and relay teams. It was founded in 2017 in Hamburg, Germany, and has since exploded in popularity across the world. The sport debuted in mainland China in late 2024.
Some have questioned why those officiating the competition in Beijing last weekend did not intervene when the athlete soiled herself, given that Hyrox penalises acts including “spitting, nostril clearing, littering, and water abuse”.
