Joanna Wietrzyk apologises after soiling incident at Beijing Hyrox event

Joanna Wietrzyk, an Australian Hyrox athlete and world record-holder, has apologised after winning a Hyrox race in Beijing on Saturday despite soiling herself during the event; footage of the incident went viral and she posted an apology on Instagram on Thursday night. In her statement she offered a "sincere apology" to the "people of China, my fellow competitors, the spectators and the Hyrox organizers for what happened during the race in Beijing."

Hyrox, founded in Germany in 2017, stages events worldwide and made its mainland China debut in late 2024. Races require athletes to alternate between running a kilometre and completing exercises at shared, high-intensity stations; examples cited include a rowing machine, sled pushes, burpee jumps, medicine ball throws and lunges while carrying a sandbag. Event rules previously penalised minor infractions such as littering, spitting or clearing the nose on the floor but did not contain a protocol for faecal matter.

Posting on Instagram, Wietrzyk said: "I felt completely fit and healthy at the start of the race, with no reason to expect any illness." She added: "Looking back, I regret the decision to not have stepped off the track. I recognise that I should have made a different choice. I take responsibility for my decision to continue and am deeply sorry for the discomfort and disruption it caused."

Wietrzyk announced she would forfeit the points from winning the Beijing event and used further words to describe her decision: "I know my actions had an impact beyond myself, and I am genuinely sorry to everyone who was affected. 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. On reflection, I have decided to retroactively withdraw from the race and forfeit the points I earned."

Footage of the race showed Wietrzyk completing demanding exercises at communal stations while faecal matter ran down her legs, yet she was allowed to finish and was declared the event winner. The visual evidence of her continuing through the shared-equipment phases of the competition prompted widespread attention and the subsequent public statements.

Hyrox issued an apology and said it had implemented immediate rule changes after the Beijing outcome. Co-founder Moritz Fürste apologised on Instagram, writing: "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." He added: "As of this moment, there are new rules and procedures in place to prevent situations like this from happening again."

Ending her statement, Wietrzyk thanked those who had supported her and said she would step back from public life: "Thank you to those standing by me, both as an athlete and as a person, during this time, and to everyone who has reached out with kindness and support. It means more to me than I can properly express right now. I will be taking some time to recover, reflect and look after myself and my family away from the noise."