Hyrox updates rulebook after champion's mid-race mishap in Beijing
Hyrox has added a new entry to its rulebook following the public uproar caused by an athlete being allowed to complete a race event in Beijing on Sept. 12 despite her visibly soiling herself midway.
The new rule falls under "Penalties" in the rulebook for the Singles competition.
"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," read the rulebook under "Did Not Finish."
Per Hyrox, withdrawals under such conditions will be recorded on the leaderboard as Did Not Finish.
According to a paper published in the National Library of Medicine, viruses found in human feces can survive "for more than days."
During the Beijing race, Hyrox female world record holder Joanna Wietrzyk experienced incontinence and was seen with feces running down her legs and even getting on her arms. Despite the mishap, Wietrzyk kept going, leaving bits of fecal matter on the equipment she handled. No race official stepped in, however, and Wietrzyk went on to win the race with a time of 1:01:23, per ESPN.
"Go hard or go home...A win's a win," the Australian athlete later posted on social media, since deleted, with a photo of her hooked up to an IV drip.
Social media followers of the race raised concerns about hygiene, pointing out that other participants had to use the mats, equipment handles, and running tracks contaminated by the waste.
Soon after the incident, Hyrox co-founder Moritz Fürste issued an apology, saying 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," he said, apologizing "to all that were directly or indirectly affected, as well as to everyone who felt like we did not handle the situation like we should have."
"Of course, we started improving event processes, plus making rulebook changes immediately. As of this moment, there are new rules and procedures in place to prevent situations like this from happening again," Fürste added.
Australian media reported on Thursday, Sept. 17, that Puma has removed Wietrzyk's clothing range "Joanna Wietrzyk x PUMA" from its global online shop.
