Hyrox Winner With Diarrhea During Race Goes Viral, Social Media Left Disgusted & Divided

Hyrox is the relatively new fitness competition that has moved past CrossFit as the latest big deal in the world of health and wellness. Since its start in Germany in 2017, it’s drawn hundreds of thousands to competitions around the world.

It combines a 4.97-mile run with eight workout stations that include a push sled, a pull sled, wall ball squats, and a farmer’s carry, done in eight increments.

But the competition probably wasn’t expecting to go viral this way. At the 16-24 competition in Beijing, China, over the weekend, the eventual winner, 22-year-old Australian Joanna Wietrzyk, completed the course in 1 hour, 1 minute, and 23 seconds despite, uh, an incident of “bowel incontinence.”

“Go hard or go home … a win is a win,” Wietrzyk, a Hyrox world record holder, wrote with a pic that showed her receiving an IV in a since-deleted Instagram post. “In all seriousness, thank you for all the support. I’ll be back soon x.”

However, since she used shared stations for a portion of the competition, the global backlash began, criticizing Wietrzyk for continuing despite her obvious bowel distress. In photos and video from the competition, fecal matter can be seen running down her legs.

Authorities in Beijing said they disinfected the site, closed off the areas where she competed, and removed the affected carpeting after the event, but other competitors questioned why Wietrzyk was allowed to continue in the first place.

“Think about how disgusting it is, especially when we use the exact same track,” one of the competitors told The South China Morning Post. Fecal matter was visible on the track to the point where competitors were slipping in it, one of them said. And it was determined that the sled pads, rubber flooring and some stations were affected.

What is hard to understand is how Hyrox didn’t remove or even penalize Wietrzyk when there are rules in place for multiple bodily functions. Littering, spitting, and nose-blowing come with a two-minute penalty. Even splashing water on yourself to cool off is prohibited to “avoid slip hazards for others.”

After the worldwide outcry, Hyrox issued a statement on its social media accounts, saying that they are re-evaluating their competition protocols.

“As our sport continues to evolve, we are encountering new and increasingly complex situations that challenge us and where additional clarity is needed. This happened this weekend in China,” the company’s post said.

It continued, “We ask our athletes to push themselves to the highest levels. At times, they will go beyond what even we thought was possible. That courage, resilience and refusal to give in are precisely what makes elite athletes so extraordinary….Our role is to give them the right framework and the right boundaries within which they can compete, perform and express themselves at their very best.”

The statement clarified that “HYROX has clear biocontaminant and medical procedures in place. 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.”

The company also asked for fans and competitors not to harass Wietrzyk.

Hyrox co-founder Moritz Fürste chimed in as well.

“I apologise to all that were directly or indirectly affected, as well as to everyone who felt like we did not handle the situation like we should have,” he posted from his own account. “In the end it is my job to foresee these potential incidents – and I did not.”

Diarrhea can happen in athletic competition – Lamar Jackson was seen awkwardly running from the field during a game in 2020 but denied it was for a bathroom break, saying it was muscle cramps. In the 2008 NBA Finals, Paul Pierce was rushed off the court in a wheelchair, admitting later that he had to urgently go.

But competitors are not allowed to continue in team sports if they are exhibiting symptoms. Runners have had incidents as well; in fact, it’s so common it’s called “runner’s trots,” but as they are in a solo sport, it doesn’t interrupt the competition and there are no specific rules for it.

Going forward, expect the Hyrox competitions to be less than s—y.