Joanna Wietrzyk is one of the best women in HYROX. She holds the current women’s world record with a time of 54:25. This past weekend at HYROX Beijing she won again. But that’s not why she is making headlines.
No, it’s because she involuntarily defecated during the race. Yes, she pooped her pants. The fecal material then ran down her legs as she completed the remainder of the race.
Images began to circulate online of her doing burpee broad jumps, lunges and wall balls with her legs soiled.
Naturally, I posted about it on Instagram.
The post exploded. Most were disgusted. Some found humor in it and others were mad that I made the post.
First, this is newsworthy. The top HYROX athlete just won a HYROX race with diarrhea. It wasn’t some random person in the community division. This is the current record holder.
Set aside whether she should have continued (or even been allowed to) for a minute, finishing the race is a feat itself. Beating other top athletes is even more impressive.
But the bigger reason for posting this is to begin the conversation on what should have happened in this situation. Should HYROX have stopped Wietrzyk from competing to avoid contamination on the course?
After the race HYROX ripped up the carpeting where lunges and burpees were performed. They also had disinfect the rest of the course before the rest of the participants began the following day.
Just earlier this week I posted a YouTube short of two guys receiving a 2-minute penalty for a snot rocket.
In isolation it doesn’t seem like a big deal, but when you consider that if this was allowed for the thousands of athletes filtering through the course on any given day, that’s a recipe for disaster.
HYROX explicitly bans spitting, snot rockets and littering (I’m sure there’s more) during the race.
So it begs the question, what should have happened in this situation? Wietrzyk was competing in the Elite 15, not a race for the general population. There were only 14 other women on the floor at the same time. Does that matter? I dunno.
But what if it was a random regular athlete when hundreds were on the course at the same time when the stakes were not as high? Would HYROX have pulled that athlete off the course? Most likely. Then again, most regular athletes would have just ended their race. It’s not that important.
For Wietrzyk it was more important. It was an Elite 15 race. It begs the question though, should HYROX have pulled her off the course?
My guess is that HYROX will address this issue moving forward with a modification or addition to the rulebook.
