A female athlete who won a Hyrox event while covered in her own faeces has sparked a debate after fellow competitors hit out at organisers for failing to stop her.
Australian fitness star Joanna Wietrzyk, 22, powered to victory in Beijing on the weekend despite suffering a bowel incontinence during the event.
Images showed the athlete running, performing burpees and carrying heavy bags with her own excrement dripping down her leg.
Ms Wietrzyk, from Melbourne, posted an image to Instagram from her hospital bed after the race, reading: ‘Go hard or go home they say… a win is a win. In all seriousness, thank you all for the support. I’ll be back soon.’
But the athlete’s gruelling triumph has sparked backlash with organisers accused of causing a biohazard by allowing Ms Wietrzyk to continue after her accident.
Hyrox said it launched a ‘major clean-up operation’ following the event in China by sanitising equipment and replacing sections of the carpet.
Yet other athletes have demanded an apology and a refund, with some accusing managers of failing to organise a ‘professionally organised and safe event’.
Hyrox is a fast-growing extreme fitness competition which sees athletes alternate between running and fitness exercises such as burpees, lunges and sled pushing.
Australian fitness star Joanna Wietrzyk, 22, powered to a Hyrox victory in Beijing on the weekend despite suffering a shocking bowl incontinence during the event
Male competitor Joe Ho said: ‘For people who were exposed to that situation, there could be genuine physical and psychological consequences.
‘I paid Hyrox to provide a professionally organised and safe event. So while I understand the athlete perspective, ultimately my contract and expectation is with Hyrox.
‘If the organisation accepts that something went wrong, why not offer affected participants refunds, credits or some meaningful form of accreditation?’
A US-based nurse meanwhile argued that the competition’s winner should have been stopped ‘immediately’.
Erica Dodge said on Instagram: ‘From a basic health and sanitation standpoint, the athlete should have been stopped immediately, and any contaminated areas should have been closed off and properly cleaned before other athletes were allowed through.’
A podcast host questioned whether other athletes may have touched faeces left behind by Ms Wietrzyk on apparatus.
‘Because of the nature of this sport, you go to different stations,’ the host explained. ‘So you do running, you do burpees, you do row machine… you do stuff like this with the medicine ball,’ the host said.
‘If you are doing burpees and this person in front of you has stuff on their legs, you don’t know what you’re putting your hands on.
‘But at the same time, it’s like, you’re in the middle of a race, how thorough can they be if they want to keep the race going at the pace it’s supposed to be going?’
In a statement released on Monday, Hyrox admitted it will ‘examine what happened’ and ‘take responsibility for continuing to improve’.
Ms Wietrzyk, from Melbourne , posted an image to Instagram from her hospital bed after the race
The company added: ‘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.’
The Hyrox format sees competitors alternate between a 1km run and a functional workout station, repeated eight times.
The eight workout stations are 1,000m SkiErg (simulating Nordic skiing), 50m Sled Push, 50m Sled Pull, 80m Burpee Broad Jumps, 1,000m row, 200m Farmer’s Carry (walking while holding heavy kettlebells or weights), 100m Sandbag Lunges, 100 Wall Balls (squatting and throwing a medicine ball to a target).
Hyrox has surged in popularity in recent years, especially among ageing millennials and office workers, and now stages events around the world.
