It was quite the weekend for HYROX! Everyone was talking about it. Unfortunately, for HYROX, it was because Joanna Wietrzyk pooped her pants on the course and was allowed to continue.
If you have been living under a rock and had not heard about this, you can catch up here.
As social media was blowing up, HYROX issued an official statement on Instagram.
“To our community,
As our sport continues to evolve we are encountering new and increasingly complex situations that challenge us and where additional clarity is needed.
This happened this weekend in China.
We ask our athletes to push themselves to the highest levels. At times, they will go beyond what even we thought was possible. That courage, resilience and refusal to give in are precisely what makes elite athletes so extraordinary. Our role is to give them the right framework and the right boundaries within which they can compete, perform and express themselves at their very best.
HYROX has clear biocontaminant and medical procedures in place. In this instance, an unforeseen situation arose in which protocols designed for elite competition and mass participation became blurred, creating ambiguity in how they were applied and understood.
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.
We are proud of what we have built together: a global movement driven by ambition, passion, grit and an extraordinary community of people who care deeply about this sport.
We will continue to listen. We will continue to learn. And, above all, we will continue to put the welfare and dignity of the athletes at the centre of what comes next.
We move forward together – with passion, with grit and with mutual respect. “
100% wordspeak.
Just look at this sentence…
“This happened this weekend in China.” What? The post doesn’t even clarify what they are talking about. I guess they know everyone already knows Joanna shit all over the place on her way to winning.
Then there is this…
Before we get into it…I 100% agree there shouldn’t be “threats of violence or encourage to harm an athlete.” After following this story all day yesterday I saw nothing of this sort. More people complained that I reported on it Saturday night.
Most people, at least in my post’s comment section, were calling for the athlete to take accountability and stop racing when something like this happens. And of course, HYROX should have done something.
As you might expect, most were unimpressed with HYROX’s official statement.
“This statement should be studied as a great example of what not to say in a PR message,” wrote @z_eff_g.
“What!?? 😂 It’s 100% the athlete’s fault for continuing. It was selfish. Comprised everyone else’s performance and health and cost hyrox money to sanitize. Viruses and parasites and bacteria from human feces can cause serious harm to others,” said @sarahschollathlete.
“I miss an apology to all athletes competing with her/after her that day, having to face critical hygienic circumstances..
I fully agree that bullying the athlete is not okay, but the situation in Beijing isn’t either. This situation was degrading for everyone involved – especially the staff who had to clean up after her and the athletes who were forced to compete surrounded by the smell and contamination. Very disappointing statement,” added @nathaliedu.
Apparently feeling the pressure, Moritz Furste, co-founder of HYROX, had to issue his own statement…because the official HYROX statement fell short.
It only took two official statements to actually apologize to the athletes who had to burpee broad jump in the wake of Joanna’s diarrhea.
Mo then said rulebook changes will be made immediately and that there are already new rules and procedures in place.
It does appear that the HYROX rulebook was updated this morning around 2 AM.
However, I am unable to find any section of the rulebook that applies to the situation that occurred this weekend. The list of penalties does not appear to have been updated…
I’m not sure how it would be worded. Maybe something like,
“24. Shit running down leg. DQ”
It’s just a first draft, but it’s a start.
