Hyrox organisers have refused to apologise for the controversy that erupted after an Australian athlete was allowed to finish an event in China despite defecating mid-race. Australian athlete Joanna Wietrzyk was competing at a Hyrox event in Beijing when she appeared to have suffered fecal incontinence.
Visuals shared online on September 12 show her continuing with the event despite fecal matter being visible on her legs. Wietrzyk, 22, was participating in the Women’s Pro division and went on to win in the category, according to a Perth Now report.
Hyrox is a global fitness race that combines running with functional workout stations, such as sled pushes, rowing, burpee broad jumps and sandbag lunges. Organisers of the global fitness event came under backlash for allowing Wietrzyk to complete the race, raising concerns about hygiene in the indoor race circuit.
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Hyrox threatens ban
The organisers of Hyrox have responded to the incident by saying they will issue a lifetime ban to anyone who threatens Joanna Wietrzyk.
{{/usCountry}}The organisers of Hyrox have responded to the incident by saying they will issue a lifetime ban to anyone who threatens Joanna Wietrzyk.
{{/usCountry}}While admitting that an "unforeseen situation” led to confusion in how Hyrox’s biocontaminant rules should be applied, the organisers stressed that Wietrzyk should not become the subject of people’s ire.
“There is no place in our community for threats of violence or encouragement to harm an athlete. As this has happened this weekend, we want to be very clear and direct: Any person identified as engaging in this behaviour - whether through comments, direct messages or social media - will be permanently banned from all HYROX events.
"We are currently reviewing and identifying those responsible, and action will be taken,” the organisers said in a statement posted on the official Hyrox Instagram page.
Full statement from Hyrox
You can read the full statement from Hyrox below:
To our community,
As our sport continues to evolve we are encountering new and increasingly complex situations that challenge us and where additional clarity is needed.
This happened this weekend in China.
We ask our athletes to push themselves to the highest levels. At times, they will go beyond what even we thought was possible. That courage, resilience and refusal to give in are precisely what makes elite athletes so extraordinary. Our role is to give them the right framework and the right boundaries within which they can compete, perform and express themselves at their very best.
HYROX has 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.
We recognise that this can understandably lead to frustration, questions and strong views within our community. Those concerns are legitimate and, as organisers, we must be prepared to hear them, examine what happened and take responsibility for continuing to improve. And we will.
But there is an important line.
Frustration should never be directed towards the athletes themselves. They are the people who put themselves on the line, compete at the highest level and make competition what it is.
There is no place in our community for threats of violence or encouragement to harm an athlete. As this has happened this weekend, we want to be very clear and direct:
Any person identified as engaging in this behaviour - whether through comments, direct messages or social media - will be permanently banned from all HYROX events. We are currently reviewing and identifying those responsible, and action will be taken.