An Australian Hyrox champion has sparked a fierce debate about sporting endurance and hygiene after winning a Beijing race despite defecating during the event and continuing to compete.
The athlete was competing in the women’s pro event at the Hyrox Beijing competition on Saturday when she appeared to lose control of her bowels, according to Philstar. Videos and photographs on social show faecal matter on her legs as she continued through different stations in the race.
Hyrox is a gruelling indoor fitness racing series that combines running with functional exercises like sled pushes, rowing, burpee broad jumps, and wall balls. Unlike a traditional marathon or obstacle race, every Hyrox event uses the same format and distances, allowing competitors around the world to compare their times directly.
The sport, founded in Hamburg in 2017, has grown rapidly, with more than 100 events scheduled globally in 2026 and more than 500 affiliated gyms offering Hyrox-specific training in China.
The Beijing event was held at the National Speed Skating Oval from 10 to 13 September, and the Melbourne-based athlete finished in 1hr 1min 23sec and won the women’s pro race, reported News.com.
In a statement in Chinese posted to their Weibo account, Hyrox has said it “immediately closed and isolated the affected areas and race lanes after the incident, thoroughly disinfected them and removed affected equipment”.
It added that the venue’s carpets would be replaced and the entire site deep-cleaned after racing.
“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,” Hyrox said in another statement posted to their Instagram on Monday, adding that the frustration for the situation should “never be directed towards the athletes themselves”.
“There is no place in our community for threats of violence or encouragement to harm an athlete,” the statement read.
Hyrox has said anyone responsible for such language would be permanently banned from all of their events.
The athlete’s decision to carry on has divided the Hyrox community, with criticism focused on hygiene and shared equipment, as well as towards Hyrox and its handling of the incident.
Hyrox athlete Isaiah King argued on social media that Wietrzyk should have taken a break, writing: “Hyrox absolutely has bathrooms, and you can pick up where you left off, hence the ankle bracelets.”
The Hyrox rulebook states that athletes can be penalised for “spitting, nostril clearing, littering, and water abuse”, while its terms and conditions allow organisers to remove or disqualify competitors whose actions endanger other participants or breach event rules.
CrossFit coach and Hyrox athlete Cameron Gray wrote: “Allowing athletes to use equipment covered in human faeces should not be a blurred line. This is not a complex situation.”
Former Malaysian health minister Khairy Jamaluddin described Hyrox’s statement as “trash” and wrote: “You should apologise to all athletes who competed in Beijing and give a firm commitment that any athlete that does this again will be immediately removed from the field of play.”