Australian HYROX athlete Joanna Wietrzyk has apologised after a highly publicised incident during a competition in Beijing, saying she regrets continuing the race after suffering sudden bowel incontinence.
Wietrzyk competed in the HYROX Beijing Pro Women’s race on Sept. 12, 2026, and continued through the event after soiling herself. She ultimately crossed the finish line first, but footage from the competition later spread widely across social media, triggering questions over athlete welfare, hygiene and HYROX’s response during the race.
In a statement posted on Instagram on Sept. 17, Wietrzyk apologised to people in China, fellow competitors, spectators and HYROX organisers.
She said she had felt completely fit and healthy before the race and had no reason to anticipate the medical episode.
Looking back, however, Wietrzyk said she regretted not stepping off the track and acknowledged that she should have made a different decision.
She also accepted responsibility for continuing to compete and said she was sorry for the discomfort and disruption caused to others.
Wietrzyk gives up her Beijing result
The Australian athlete went further than issuing an apology.
Wietrzyk announced that she had retroactively withdrawn from the Beijing race and would forfeit the points earned from her result.
That decision means the performance will no longer contribute points to her HYROX ranking.
“I know my actions had an impact beyond myself,” Wietrzyk said in her statement, adding that she had learned that “there is more to life than racing” and that athletes need to recognise when it is time to step away.
The move came several days after the incident became an international talking point.
What happened during the HYROX race?
HYROX is an indoor fitness competition that combines running with functional exercises. Competitors alternate between 1-kilometre runs and eight workout stations, including movements such as sled pushes, rowing, burpee broad jumps, sandbag lunges and wall balls.
The standardised format allows performances from different events to be compared internationally. HYROX was founded in Germany in 2017 and has since expanded into a global fitness competition.
During the Beijing Pro Women’s event, Wietrzyk experienced sudden bowel incontinence but continued competing and used shared areas and equipment.
The decision to allow the race to continue without immediate intervention subsequently became a major focus of the controversy.
HYROX admits it made a mistake
The controversy also prompted an apology from HYROX co-founder Moritz Fürste.
Fürste said the organisation made a mistake by failing to react immediately during the race and said HYROX had begun changing its event processes and rulebook.
HYROX subsequently introduced procedures allowing a race director to withdraw an athlete on medical grounds when blood, vomit, urine or faeces creates a welfare or contamination risk to the athlete or other competitors.
The rule change was announced after criticism of how the Beijing incident had been handled.
The controversy was not only about the athlete
The incident quickly developed into a broader discussion about responsibility at mass-participation sporting events.
The Guardian reported that HYROX isolated affected areas, carried out deep cleaning, removed contaminated equipment and replaced venue carpeting before competition resumed the following day.
Other competitors also questioned why the race was allowed to continue and raised concerns about exposure to contaminated shared equipment and surfaces.
HYROX has therefore faced scrutiny over both the athlete’s decision to continue and the organisers’ failure to intervene during the event.
Social media backlash intensified
The incident spread rapidly online after videos and photographs from the race circulated across social-media platforms.
Wietrzyk initially posted a message celebrating the result, including the phrase “a win is a win”, but subsequently deleted that post as the controversy intensified. Reports said she later restricted comments and direct messages amid the online backlash.
HYROX also warned against abuse and threats directed at the athlete, underscoring that criticism of the incident should not turn into harassment.
A difficult ending to a controversial race
Wietrzyk’s decision to withdraw her result changes the immediate sporting outcome of the Beijing event, but the wider questions raised by the incident remain.
Her apology places responsibility on her own decision to remain in the race, while HYROX’s separate apology and rule changes acknowledge shortcomings in the organisation’s response.
For Wietrzyk, the episode has now moved beyond the result itself.
She said she plans to take time to recover, reflect and spend time with her family away from the intense online attention.
The Beijing race may have lasted just over an hour.
The controversy surrounding it has lasted considerably longer — and it has already prompted HYROX to change how similar incidents are handled in future competitions.
