Go hard or go home, they say… a win is a win.” That was the defiant message posted on Instagram by Hyrox record holder Joanna Wietrzyk after her latest victory at a competition in Beijing over the weekend. It sounds like a typical soundbite from an athlete emerging from a difficult race or match – one that might not have gone to plan, exactly, but ended happily all the same. But the story surrounding Wietrzyk’s performance is, well, a lot messier than that.
After becoming unwell during the fitness race, in which competitors alternate running with functional exercises such as rowing, sled pushes and burpees, 24-year-old Wietrzyk, who hails from Melbourne, Australia, ended up soiling herself – but pushed through regardless. Footage and pictures from the event appeared to show her using communal equipment and mats with faeces running down her legs.
