Australian athlete Joanna Wietrzyk has apologised for continuing to compete after soiling herself in the Hyrox indoor fitness race in Beijing, and has forfeited her points from the win.
Videos of the world record holder using communal equipment, including sandbags and kettlebells, while excrement was visible on her legs and arms, went viral after the event on September 12 and lead to Hyrox updating its rules to “prevent situations like this from happening again”.
Wietrzyk, in a now-deleted Instagram post, had initially written “a win is a win”. However, on Thursday night, she issued a lengthy apology to her fellow competitors, spectators and organisers “for what happened during the race”.
“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 recognise 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 said.
“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.”
Wietrzyk said she would be taking some time to “recover, reflect and look after myself and my family” and thanked those who had stood by her.
The apology follows one from Hyrox co-founder Moritz Fürste, who admitted the company had made a mistake by allowing Wietrzyk to continue competing in the race.
“In the end, it is my job to foresee these potential incidents – and I did not,” he said.
Hyrox said it had “clear biocontaminant and medical procedures in place”.
“In this instance, an unforeseen situation arose in which protocols designed for elite competition and mass participation became blurred, creating ambiguity in how they were applied and understood,” it said in a statement.
The rules have been updated to state: “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”.
Hyrox is the world’s fastest growing sport. Competitors run eight laps of a one-kilometre indoor course, with each lap broken up by different functional activities including burpees, rowing, sled pushing and wall balls.
with Shona Hendley
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Sarah McPhee is the Overnight Homepage Editor for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email.
