Hyrox athlete who soiled herself during competition prompts major rule change

A HYROX athlete has sparked a major rule change after appearing to suffer bowel incontinence during a race in China, then carrying on to win her event.

For anyone not in the know, HYROX is a gruelling fitness competition combining running with functional workout stations, with competitors running 1km before completing a different workout, repeated eight times. Stations include sledge pushes and pulls, rowing and wall balls.

Australian world record holder Joanna Wietrzyk was competing in the HYROX Pro event in Beijing over the weekend when she appeared to defecate mid-race.

Wietrzyk, who hails from Melbourne, continued competing despite the incident, taking on stations including the rowing machine, sledge push and medicine ball throw.

She went on to win the women's HYROX Pro event in the 16-24 age category with a time of 1:01:23.

Following the race, Wietrzyk shared a selfie of herself attached to an IV drip in an Instagram Story, writing: "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."

Images and footage from the sports event have since circulated online, prompting questions around HYROX's rules and how organisers should deal with incidents involving bodily fluids during competition.

HYROX organisers responded, explaining that it has ‘clear biocontaminant and medical procedures in place’ but ‘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’.

HYROX co-founder Moritz Fürste issued a statement to social media earlier today (14 September) 'addressing the China incident directly'.

In the post, he apologised on behalf of HYROX and confirmed that its rules and procedures will be changed following the incident.

He continued: "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.

"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."

Fürste rounded off the announcement: "We learn and try to get better everyday."

Tyla has reached out to HYROX for further comment.