Australia’s Joanna Wietrzyk, the Hyrox competitor who made news headlines last month for soiling herself during a Hyrox event, which she eventually won, has announced that she will be returning to the fitness competition circuit. The 24-year-old said in a social media post on Wednesday (Oct 28) that she had taken the last few weeks to reflect on what had happened.
Wietrzyk apologised to the participants and spectators, stating that it was a hard situation but she had refelcted on her behaviour and learned from it.
“Firstly, I just want to say that I’m truly, truly so sorry to everyone that I affected, whether they were spectators or participants out on that race floor for my decision to choose to continue to race,” she said.
“Having that time to reflect, I’ve really learned a lot from the situation,” she added. “It’s been a very hard situation to navigate for me and very confronting as well.”
The incident took place during a Hyrox event in Beijing on September 12. Despite soiling herself due to alleged food poisoning, she was allowed to compete, leading to intense backlash.
Wietrzyk said she was excited to return to racing in Hamburg, Germany on Friday (Oct 30). “I’m back out there on the race floor, and I’m super excited to go back doing what I love,” Wietrzyk said, adding: “Hopefully, see you all out there.”
What Happened?
Videos and images of Wietrzyk continuing to race with faeces visible on her legs were widely circulated on social media, triggering a fierce debate over why she was allowed to continue. The Australian went on to win the women’s pro race in a time of one hour, one minute and 23 seconds.
In the aftermath, Hyrox co-founder Moritz Furste apologised for the handling of the incident and said the organisation should have intervened during the race.
“Hyrox made a mistake by not reacting immediately during the race,” Furste said in a statement. “In the end it is my job to foresee these potential incidents and I did not.”
The former field hockey Olympic champion said the organisation was implementing rule changes immediately to ensure such a situation does not happen again.