Health expert warns incidents like Hyrox woman who pooped herself are more dangerous than people realize

This week's Hyrox incident was hopefully a one off, however, an expert has warned of the potential dangers should a similar incident occur.

The fitness event in Beijing on September 12 gained huge media attention - but not for good reasons. During the race, Australian Hyrox champion Joanna Wietrzyk had pooped herself - and could be seen with what appeared to be fecal matter down her legs as she completed the course.

As well as looking and smelling unpleasant to others, Professor Ramon Shaban, a communicable disease expert from the Sydney Infectious Disease Institute at the University of Sydney, told news.com.au that many nasty illnesses can spread this way, including gastrointestinal infections and the dreaded norovirus.

As per the Cleveland Clinic, norovirus 'is a common and very contagious virus. It causes nausea, vomiting and diarrhea'.

'The issue is contamination'

It can easily spread through close contact or on contaminated food or surfaces, which can include gym equipment.

"Whenever people come together at mass gathering events or events of this nature, it is always important to consider what both individuals themselves and organisers can do to lower the risk of transmission of infection from one person to another," he emphasized.

He then said that both the organizers, and individuals have the responsibility 'to ensure that they conduct themselves in a way that minimises the risk of the transmission of any kind of infectious agent'.

Faecal incontinence can occur during high-impact exercise, particularly running, with gastroenterologist Dr Magnus Halland telling Man of Many: "When you exercise hard, the body diverts blood away from the gut towards the muscles, heart and skin.

"At very high intensities, the reduction in gut blood flow can be substantial, and that can cause cramping, urgency and diarrhea."

While the expert said ‘the diarrhea caused by exercise itself is not infectious’, like Professor Shaban, Dr Halland noted: "The issue is contamination."

"There is no special risk just from standing near somebody who has had an episode," he added. "It is really about hygiene, contaminated surfaces and the obvious need to clean the area properly."

Hyrox co-owner says we 'did not handle the situation like we should have'

Following the incident, Hyrox confirmed that it had launched a 'major cleanup operation' after the event, in preparation for the next day. Alongside this, it also replaced particular sections of the carpet and sanitized equipment.

The German fitness company said it understood the incident could 'lead to frustration, questions and strong views within our community'.

"Those concerns are legitimate and, as organizers, we must be prepared to hear them, examine what happened and take responsibility for continuing to improve. And we will…" it added.

However, Hyrox then announced that 'there is no place in our community for threats of violence or encouragement to harm an athlete', as people began to send unkind messages to Wietrzyk online.

Elsewhere, the co-founder of Hyrox, Mo Fuerste, took to Instagram to 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'.

He then said that the company would be 'improving event processes, plus making rulebook changes immediately,' while confirming that there are now new rules and procedures in place to prevent these kinds of situations from happening again.

Fuerste also took full accountability in the statement, saying that the company 'did not handle the situation like we should have'.

Wietrzyk has not spoken out directly following the incident. However, shortly after the race, in a now deleted Instagram Story, the athlete posted a picture of herself hooked up to an IV, in which she penned: "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."