HYROX Shocks Fans with Controversial New Rule After Athlete’s Mid-Race Incident—What It Means for Future Competitors
So, picture this: a world record-holding athlete turning heads for all the wrong reasons during a high-stakes race—not by tripping or dropping the baton, but well… by quite literally losing control. Yep, Joanna Wietrzyk’s unexpected mishap at a HYROX event in Beijing has sent shockwaves through the fitness community, snagged viral fame, and prompted some serious rulebook rewriting. Now, who would’ve thought that competitive racing would lead to questions about hygiene on shared carpets and equipment? It’s a messy situation—both literally and figuratively—and it’s forcing the German fitness giant to lay down fresh ground rules about when an athlete should step off the course for everyone’s safety. But here’s the million-dollar question: In a world that celebrates pushing limits, how do you draw the line between grit and gross? Buckle up, because this story goes way beyond the finish line. LEARN MORE
As backlash continues and those pictures go viral, HYROX has made an official change to its rules.
Yep, I’m obviously talking about the world record-holding athlete who unfortunately went viral for soiling herself during a race on Saturday (12 September).
Joanna Wietrzyk suffered faecal incontinence while competing in Beijing, China, but continued with the event, causing great controversy.
Many people have shared concerns over the hygiene and safety of other participants at the indoor event, using the shared equipment and carpet.
And it’s led to questioning over why HYROX allowed her to continue competing after soiling herself, with the German fitness company saying it would ‘prevent situations like this from happening again’.
Co-founder Moritz Fuerste said rulebook changes would be made ‘immediately’ as a major clean-up had been completed at the venue.
She went on to win her event, despite the unfortunate mishap (VCG/VCG via Getty Images)
“As of this moment, there are new rules and procedures in place to prevent situations like this from happening again,” he added.
HYROX’s new rules explained
And section 12.3 of the official HYROX Rulebook for Singles this 26/27 season has been updated compared to the 25/26 Rulebook.
Now included in 12.3 Did Not Finish is the rule: “If a racer’s blood, vomit, urine, or faeces poses a welfare or contamination risk to the racer or to other racers, a Race Director may withdraw the racer from the race on medical grounds, in line with HYROX’s medical and hygiene SOPs.
“Any such withdrawal is recorded on the leaderboard as Did Not Finish [DNF].”
HYROX says it completed a major clean up after the event. (Fred Lee/Getty Images)
It’s worth noting, though, that this new rule still includes ‘may withdraw’, so it doesn’t read as though it’s a hard, definite rule that races will be withdrawn.
Plus, it doesn’t directly address what would happen to shared race areas that are impacted by any of this ‘blood, vomit, urine or faeces’.
LADbible has contacted HYROX for comment.
‘Go hard or go home’
In a since-removed Instagram story, the athlete had thanked everyone for their support as she wrote: “Go hard or go home … a win is a win. In all seriousness, thank you for all the support. I’ll be back soon x.”
Wietrzyk appeared super casual on Instagram after the incident (Instagram/@joannawietrzyk)
And Wietrzyk actually came in at the top of the HYROX ranking for her event on Saturday – Pro Women – with a time of 1:01:23 despite her unfortunate incident.
LADbible has contacted the athlete for comment.
The fitness company has asked people not to direct their frustrations at athletes themselves. Writing in a statement: “ They are the people who put themselves on the line, compete at the highest level and make competition what it is.
“There is no place in our community for threats of violence or encouragement to harm an athlete. As this has happened this weekend, we want to be very clear and direct: Any person identified as engaging in this behaviour – whether through comments, direct messages or social media – will be permanently banned from all HYROX events.”
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