HYROX athlete who refused to quit race after soiling herself shares defiant statement in now-deleted post
35 years after Gary Lineker made faecal history on the football pitch in a World Cup match between England and Ireland, a HYROX champion from Australia has taken on the mantle.
Over the weekend, world record holder Joanna Wietrzyk was doing her thing at an indoor endurance event in Beijing when a runny dark liquid began staining her leg.
Per news.com.au, video footage and photos captured at the HYROX show reveals how Wietrzyk simply ploughed through the various stages of the course despite clearly pooing herself.
Incredibly, she won the women's solo event with a time of 61 minutes and 23 minutes while competing in the 16-24 age category.
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This unpleasant (for literally everyone involved in the arena) incident is now understandably raising questions about the organisation, given that HYROX previously banned spitting, littering and snotting across the tracks.
In the aftermath, Wietrzyk herself seemed totally unbothered by what occurred.
Via a now-deleted Instagram Story, the competitor uploaded a selfie whilst attached to an IV drip behind the scenes, casually captioning it: "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."
A subsequent statement from the organisers confirmed that any contaminated equipment had been removed from the course on the day, as well as the closure of race lanes that needed sanitising.
Deep-cleaning was booked in overnight before the remaining HYROX athletes began their race the next day, but this didn't cut it for many complainants, because in their minds, the guilty party should've faced punishment.
"Rules need to be changed expeditiously!" wrote one person on social media. "And kid, you know this lady is so fast she literally could take a restroom break, come back and still win, and I'm not even exaggerating."
Meanwhile, a Reddit user echoed: "Should be an immediate DQ and removal from the event. I've the same opinion of that during marathons/triathlons."
Another added: "This is a biohazard. Full stop. Sometimes we're betrayed by our body, and it's out of our personal control, but I think perhaps HYROX should have instantly DQ'ed her and offered her another chance at a different time/place so that the spread [of] bodily fluids won't put other athlete's health at risk."
LADbible has reached out to Wietrzyk's representatives for comment.
In light of the division created within the HYROX community, here's what the German organisers had to say on the controversy: "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. But there is an important line.
"Frustration should never be directed towards the athletes themselves. 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.
"We are currently reviewing and identifying those responsible, and action will be taken."
Topics: Health, Social Media, Weird
Dan Seddon