Hyrox organisers have announced immediate rule changes after a female athlete was allowed to continue while covered in her own faeces before going on to win an event in Beijing. 

Australian fitness star Joanna Wietrzyk, 24, triumphed in China at the weekend despite suffering bowel incontinence during the event.

Images showed her running, doing burpees and carrying heavy bags with her own excrement dripping down her leg. 

Wietrzyk, from Melbourne, posted an image on Instagram from her hospital bed after the race, reading: ‘Go hard or go home they say… a win is a win. In all seriousness, thank you all for the support. I’ll be back soon.’

Race organisers were accused of causing a biohazard by letting the athlete continue competing.

Hyrox bosses today apologised for allowing Wietrzyk, from Melbourne, to finish the race and pledged to implement immediate rule changes.

Hyrox has apologised and announced immediate rule changes after an athlete soiled herself and was allowed to continue in Beijing 

Australian fitness star Joanna Wietrzyk won her event despite suffering bowel incontinence during the event 

Prior to the weekend’s incident, official event rules punished athletes for minor infringements such as littering on the course or clearing their nose on the floor. But there were no rules relating to faecal matter. 

In a statement posted to Instagram, Hyrox co-founder Moritz Furste apologised to those affected ‘directly or indirectly’ by Wietrzyk’s victory.

He said: ‘Hyrox made a mistake by not reacting immediately during the race. In the end it is my job to foresee these potential incidents – and I did not. 

Furste clarified that Hyrox has made ‘rulebook changes immediately’, adding: ‘As of this moment, there are new rules and procedures in place to prevent situations like this from happening again.’

The affected areas of the course were isolated for deep cleaning overnight, contaminated equipment was removed and the venue carpet was replaced before the resumption of the competition the following day, it was confirmed.

Hyrox is an increasingly popular fitness event in which participants alternate between running a kilometre and doing fitness exercises at high-intensity stations. These include burpees, medicine ball throws, sled pushes, lunges and the rowing machine. 

Wietrzyk posted an image to Instagram from her hospital bed after the race – but her victory has sparked backlash

The competition was launched in Germany in 2017 and events are held in locations across the world. 

Male competitor Joe Ho said: ‘For people who were exposed to that situation, there could be genuine physical and psychological consequences.

‘I paid Hyrox to provide a professionally organised and safe event. So while I understand the athlete perspective, ultimately my contract and expectation is with Hyrox.

‘If the organisation accepts that something went wrong, why not offer affected participants refunds, credits or some meaningful form of accreditation?’

A US-based nurse meanwhile argued that the competition’s winner should have been stopped ‘immediately’.

Erica Dodge said on Instagram: ‘From a basic health and sanitation standpoint, the athlete should have been stopped immediately, and any contaminated areas should have been closed off and properly cleaned before other athletes were allowed through.’

A podcast host questioned whether other athletes may have touched faeces left behind by Ms Wietrzyk on apparatus.

‘Because of the nature of this sport, you go to different stations,’ the host explained. ‘So you do running, you do burpees, you do row machine… you do stuff like this with the medicine ball,’ the host said.

‘If you are doing burpees and this person in front of you has stuff on their legs, you don’t know what you’re putting your hands on.

‘But at the same time, it’s like, you’re in the middle of a race, how thorough can they be if they want to keep the race going at the pace it’s supposed to be going?’

In a statement released on Monday, Hyrox admitted it will ‘examine what happened’ and ‘take responsibility for continuing to improve’.

The company added: ‘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.

‘We recognise that this can understandably lead to frustration, questions and strong views within our community.

‘Those concerns are legitimate and, as organisers, we must be prepared to hear them, examine what happened and take responsibility for continuing to improve. And we will.’

The Hyrox format sees competitors alternate between a 1km (one mile) run and a functional workout station, repeated eight times.

The eight workout stations are 1,000m SkiErg (simulating Nordic skiing), 50m Sled Push, 50m Sled Pull, 80m Burpee Broad Jumps, 1,000m row, 200m Farmer’s Carry (walking while holding heavy kettlebells or weights), 100m Sandbag Lunges, 100 Wall Balls (squatting and throwing a medicine ball to a target).

Hyrox has surged in popularity in recent years, especially among ageing millennials and office workers, and now stages events around the world.