‘I Regret the Decision’: Hyrox Athlete Apologizes After Bowel Incontinence Race Controversy

Days after a since-deleted Instagram post declaring “a win is a win,” Joanna Wietrzyk has issued a much different response to what happened at Hyrox Beijing.The Australian pro apologized Thursday, September 17, days after the competition, for continuing to race after experiencing bowel incontinence during the September 12 event, saying she regrets not removing herself from the course. She also announced that she’s retroactively withdrawing from the race and forfeiting the points she earned.“I want to offer my sincere apology to the people of China, my fellow competitors, the spectators and the Hyrox organizers for what happened during the race in Beijing,” Wietrzyk wrote in a post on Instagram.Wietrzyk said she felt “completely fit and healthy” when the race started with zero reason to expect what was coming, and she’s now taking responsibility for how she handled it once the incident occurred.“Looking back, I regret the decision to not have stepped off the track,” she wrote. “I recognize that I should have made a different choice.”Wietrzyk had finished first in the women’s Pro race in 1:01:23, but visible fecal contamination spread across her legs, clothing, socks, and shoes as she continued through the course with pit stops at every station. The situation drew immediate criticism because Hyrox athletes repeatedly move through the same workout areas and equipment, leaving both the competitors and volunteers behind her to deal with the contamination.After the event, Wietrzyk wrote on social media, “Go hard or go home … a win is a win,” before quickly taking it down. Her tone in the new statement this time around was considerably more reflective, with Wietrzyk acknowledging that the fallout went well beyond her own result.“I am learning from this experience and will carry those lessons with me, including remembering that there is more to life than racing and knowing when it is right to step away,” she wrote.Hyrox had already admitted that race officials should have intervened. Co-founder Moritz Fürste previously said the organization “made a mistake by not reacting immediately during the race,” while Hyrox announced that it was revisiting its procedures.Runner’s World reached out to Hyrox about how it handles sanitation when an athlete gets sick mid-race, as well as its broader equipment cleaning procedures, but did not receive a response.And at least one concrete change is now already in place: Hyrox recently updated its online rulebook to state that a race director may remove an athlete from the competition if their “blood, vomit, urine, or feces pose a welfare or contamination risk to the racer or to other racers.”Reaction to Wietrzyk’s apology was understandably mixed, as some commenters argued it took too long or pointed back to her original “a win is a win” response, while others were a bit more sympathetic, writing that an apology “was better than none” and encouraging her to take time away from the backlash.Wietrzyk says she plans to step back for now, thanking those who have supported her and saying she’ll spend some time with herself and her family “away from the noise.”Find Your Next Running PlaylistSean Abrams was the Senior Editor, Growth and Engagement at Men’s Health. He’s a former hip hop dancer who likes long walks on the beach and large glasses of tequila. You can find his previous work at Maxim, Elite Daily, and AskMen.