Hyrox winner apologizes after Beijing race incident

Australian Hyrox athlete Joanna Wietrzyk has apologized for continuing to compete after soiling herself during a race in Beijing, saying she will retroactively withdraw and forfeit the win she earned over the weekend.

Wietrzyk, a 24-year-old from Melbourne, competed Saturday in the women’s 16-to-24 Hyrox event and finished with a time of 1:01:23, which would have placed her first in her division, NBC News reported. Footage of her continuing after the incident drew criticism online and raised hygiene concerns, prompting an apology from Hyrox co-founder Moritz Fürste and questions about why officials did not stop the race.

“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 said in a statement shared Thursday.

She said she had not expected any illness when the event began.

“I felt completely fit and healthy at the start of the race, with no reason to expect any illness,” she said. “Looking back, I regret the decision to not have stepped off the track. I recognize 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 also said the decision affected others beyond the competition itself.

“I know my actions had an impact beyond myself, and I am genuinely sorry to everyone who was affected,” she said. “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.”

After the backlash, Wietrzyk said she would give up her result.

“On reflection, I have decided to retroactively withdraw from the race and forfeit the points I earned,” she said. “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.”

Fürste apologized Sunday for the handling of the incident and said organizers should have intervened immediately, according to NBC News. Hyrox said it has “clear biocontaminant and medical procedures in place,” but added that “an unforeseen situation arose” in Beijing during which protocols became blurred, “creating ambiguity in how they were applied and understood.”

In a statement posted on Instagram, Fürste said Hyrox would work on “improving event processes” to “prevent situations like this from happening again.”

Hyrox also said Monday that anyone sending abuse or threats to Wietrzyk would be banned from future events. “There is no place in our community for threats of violence or encouragement to harm an athlete,” the organization said.

Hyrox races require competitors to alternate between running one kilometer and completing fitness stations such as sled pushes, burpee jumps, indoor rowing and lunges while carrying a sandbag. The competition was founded in Hamburg, Germany, in 2017 and has expanded internationally. It debuted in mainland China in late 2024.

The incident prompted scrutiny of race officiating because Hyrox penalizes actions including “spitting, nostril clearing, littering, and water abuse,” the BBC reported.