Hyrox officials have offered refunds to athletes who were impacted at its Beijing event over the weekend after it admitted that it did not act to remove Joanna Wietrzyk from the track even as it was apparent that she was dealing with a bowel issue during competition on Saturday in Beijing.
In an email sent on Wednesday, Hyrox China apologized for its “operational oversight” and said it will give full refunds. The official rulebook has also been updated with clear protocols on “biological-contamination incidents.”
“Following the incident, our on-site team completed the sanitization procedures and full turf replacement,” the email read. “We understand our sport cannot thrive without the support of all athletes. We deeply cherish this support and will take concrete steps to reciprocate your trust.”
In a now-viral incident on Saturday, Wietrzyk was competing in the elite women’s field and was permitted to remain part of the women’s field even though her bowel issue was visible and her legs, shoes and socks were stained as she moved along through each station.
Photos and video from the event quickly circulated on social media and members of the Hyrox community were understandably vocal about the matter since other athletes after Wietrzyk had to use the same equipment and mats after she advanced in the competition.
Wietrzyk would later win the women’s elite division and after growing complaints, Hyrox released a statement on Sunday denouncing criticism of the handling of the incident and warned that it would not tolerate frustrations directed toward any athlete.
After her win, video of event staff removing the carpet in the competition space was shared on social media in what appeared to be an attempt to sanitize arena the for other athletes.
“Frustration should never be directed towards the athletes themselves,” the organization said in its statement. “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.”
That statement did little to ease the complaints within the community and some questioned why Wietrzyk was not removed from the competition if she posed a potential health risk to others at the event. Meanwhile, others criticized Hyrox for not addressing why the incident was not in violation of its own rules when athletes at other events have been disqualified for smaller infractions.
By Tuesday, the statement had been removed from all Hyrox social media channels and a seemingly conflicting message from co-founder Moritz Fürste addressed the incident directly as the outcry from Beijing escalated.
“I apologize 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,” Fürste said. “Hyrox made a mistake by not reacting immediately during the race. In the end it is my job to foresee these 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.”
Hyrox said in its email on Wednesday that it has updated its rule book to include emergency protocols for future similar incidents and that the change is effective immediately at all of its events.
Athletes who competed the same day and within the time slot of Wietrzyk will receive refunds within ten days.
