Fitness Competition Brand HYROX Issues Apology After Allowing Woman To Complete The Beijing Race Despite Allegedly Having Explosive Diarrhea Midway Through

Fitness Competition Brand HYROX Issues Apology After Allowing Woman To Complete The Beijing Race Despite Allegedly Having Explosive Diarrhea Midway Through

Fitness brand Hyrox has apologized after facing backlash for letting a competitor finish a race in #Beijing after she soiled herself partway through.

Video of the incident spread online, prompting questions about hygiene and why officials didn’t stop the race. Co-founder Moritz Fürste acknowledged the company “did not handle the situation like we should have,” taking responsibility for not anticipating the incident and pledging to tighten event procedures going forward. In a separate statement, #Hyrox also warned that anyone sending threats or abu$e toward the athlete, who has since been identified as Australian fitness athlete Joanna Wietrzyk, would be permanently banned from future events.

The company said it does have biocontaminant and medical protocols in place, but that an unexpected situation caused confusion over how those rules should be applied. Some participants reportedly demanded refunds after being forced to use equipment they felt was contaminated, and one competitor publicly pushed Hyrox to offer compensation now that it has admitted fault.

Others defended Wietrzyk, noting that such incidents aren’t unheard of among endurance competitors — pointing to Paula Radcliffe’s famous roadside stop during the 2005 London Marathon, which she went on to win despite the mid-race incident. Following the event, Wietrzyk posted a photo of herself recovering but later deleted it amid the backlash, captioned “a win is a win.” Hyrox has grown rapidly worldwide since its launch in 2017, with thousands of affiliated gyms now offering training for the sport.