HYROX issues new statement after athlete refused to quit race despite soiling herself

There's been an update from HYROX after an incident in Beijing where an athlete soiled herself during a race and kept going.

Footage of the race which took place on Saturday (12 September) went viral as Joanna Wietrzyk suffered faecal incontinence and continued to compete, which has caused a lot of controversy.

Some of those who participated in the event in Beijing have complained and demanded an apology and a refund from HYROX, claiming they were forced to make contact with contaminated equipment.

HYROX afterwards said that they'd mounted a clean-up effort which involved sanitising the equipment used and replacing parts of the carpet.

Since then there's been a new announcement from the fitness company where they've promised not to let something like this happen again.

HYROX co-founder Moritz Fuerste has now released a statement saying: "I need to address all of you directly concerning the recent events in China.

"I apologise 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.

"HYROX made a mistake by not reacting immediately during the race. In the end it is my job to foresee the potential incidents - and I did not.

"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.

"We learn and try to get better everyday."

Posting after the race in a now-deleted Instagram story, the athlete had thanked everyone for her support and appeared to stand by her decision to continue.

She'd written: "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."

Strenuous physical exercise can overwhelm your pelvic floor muscles and result in something leaking out of a person's rear end, though it sounds like HYROX will now be looking at making this a cause for dropping out of events instead of being able to continue.

LADbible has reached out to Wietrzyk's representatives for comment.