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Stephy Zhang

An elite competitor who soiled herself during Hyrox Beijing and then went on to win has defended her actions saying “go hard or go home...a win is a win”.
In a now-deleted Instagram story, Joanna Wietrzyk thanked everyone for their support and said she would be back soon.
Wietrzyk’s actions this past weekend have sparked furious debate among the Hyrox community, with others asking how she had been allowed to continue, and organisers facing criticism for their response to the incident.
A spectator, identified only as Ms Zhai, told local media that Wietrzyk started her race at 2.40pm on Saturday and that faecal matter was visible on the track 30 minutes later, causing several runners to slip.
“Think about how disgusting it is, especially when we use the exact same track,” another participant racing the following day said.
Competitors also raised questions over perceived double standards. Under Hyrox rules, littering, spitting, or blowing one’s nose on the floor incurs a two-minute penalty. Splashing water on one’s body to cool down is also banned “to avoid slip hazards for others”.
The incident resulted in foreign matter contaminating the track, sledge pads, rubber flooring, and station areas. Spectators reported that event officials alerted competitors to bypass affected spots but failed to stop Wietrzyk or halt the event, leaving more than 1,000 subsequent participants to compete on the contaminated surface.
Zhai said a domestic competitor had been penalised simply for splashing water on her face, while Wietrzyk continued unpunished, ultimately winning the women’s solo event.
On Monday, Hyrox World released a statement acknowledging the organisational lapses while defending the athlete.
“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 governing body wrote.
While acknowledging that community concerns were “legitimate,” the organisation praised athlete resilience, stating: “That courage, resilience and refusal to give in are precisely what makes elite athletes so extraordinary.”
Addressing the growing online backlash, Hyrox said it drew “an important line” against harassment, and said anyone doing so would be “permanently banned from all Hyrox events”.
Officials in China previously said staff had immediately isolated affected areas, performed comprehensive disinfection through the end of the day, removed impacted equipment, and scheduled a carpet replacement after the event wrapped up.
That did not stop the backlash on Chinese social media, with users condemning local organisers as “arrogant”.
“Athlete incontinence is an accident, nothing to mock,” one commenter wrote. “But continuing to run after doing so, contaminating the track and making subsequent athletes step on it and staff clean up after, I really cannot understand what kind of ‘sportsmanship’ this is.”
Another asked: “Does this mean more people will now have an excuse to relieve themselves in the venue under the guise of perseverance?”
Later on Monday, Hyrox China admitted the global rulebook lacked provisions to penalise an athlete in these circumstances and said referees had relied solely on Elite 15 experience and failed to intervene, revealing “deficiencies in the establishment of competition rules”.
“Safeguarding the experience of every participant and maintaining venue public hygiene and safety is Hyrox China’s primary baseline,” organizers said, while adding they had submitted a proposal to introduce rules governing track management, race intervention, and result determination under scenarios of “extreme physical distress and venue public health risks”.
Organisers also pledged that future events would include third-party sanitation testing alongside dedicated teams sanitizing equipment “during intervals between different athletes’ use”.


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Hyrox officials are facing an increasing backlash over their response to the incident in Beijing. Photo: Jocelyn Tam

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Sport

China

Joanna Wietrzyk continued despite unfortunate accident, and officials have done little to dampen resulting furore or defuse growing backlash


Joanna Wietrzyk continued despite unfortunate accident, and officials have done little to dampen resulting furore or defuse growing backlash.


Hyrox Beijing athlete who soiled herself says ‘win is a win’ as faecal row rages

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Joanna Wietrzyk continued despite unfortunate accident, and officials have done little to dampen resulting furore or defuse growing backlash

Joanna Wietrzyk continued despite unfortunate accident, and officials have done little to dampen resulting furore or defuse growing backlash