# Joanna Wietrzyk admits Beijing race put competitors at risk after illness

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/hyrox-athlete-who-soiled-herself-in-race-tells-bbc-she-put-others-at-risk-but-says-backlash-was-traumatic/
- Published: 2026-10-29T23:03:39+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-30T05:47:29+00:00
- Original publisher: BBC World (publisher lean: Centre)
- Original article: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c6gr8l15k744o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss
- Topics: World

## Key points

- Wietrzyk says continuing to race put others at risk.
- She forfeited her Beijing win and apologised.
- Hyrox has given race directors removal powers.

## Summary

Australian Hyrox athlete Joanna Wietrzyk has acknowledged that she put other competitors at risk by continuing to race after becoming ill during an event in Beijing. She said her focus on winning clouded her judgement, accepted responsibility and apologised, while describing the online backlash as traumatic.

The 24-year-old said a bacterial infection caused by food poisoning brought on diarrhoea about halfway through the race. She later forfeited her win and withdrew from the event; Hyrox’s co-founder apologised for officials not intervening, and new rules let race directors remove athletes when bodily fluids pose a contamination or welfare risk. Wietrzyk is due to return to competition in Hamburg and hopes the incident will not define her.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.