Hyrox athlete who pooped herself and won race breaks silence on controversy
Joanna Wietrzyk has spoken out after pooping herself during a Hyrox competition in China.
Wietrzyk actions last weekend sparked a lot of controversy. Many questioned why she decided to continue with the competition despite soiling herself, while others hit out at Hyrox judges for failing to remove her from the course.
In a now-deleted post online, Wietrzyk shared a snap of herself on an IV drip stating 'a win is a win'. Now she's addressed the matter in more depth and apologized for the messy debacle.
Wietrzyk said in a statement shared to Instagram, where she boasts over 100,000 followers: "I want to offer my sincere apology to the people of China, my fellow competitors, the spectators and the HYROX organizers for what happened during the race in Beijing.
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"I felt completely fit and healthy at the start of the race, with no reason to expect any illness. Looking back, I regret the decision to not have stepped off the track."
'I am genuinely sorry to everyone'
Her message went on: "I recognize that I should have made a different choice. I take responsibility for my decision to continue and am deeply sorry for the discomfort and disruption it caused.
"I know my actions had an impact beyond myself, and I am genuinely sorry to everyone who was affected. I am learning from this experience and will carry those lessons with me, including remembering that there is more to life than racing and knowing when it is right to step away. On reflection, I have decided to retroactively withdraw from the race and forfeit the points I earned.
"Thank you to those standing by me, both as an athlete and as a person, during this time, and to everyone who has reached out with kindness and support.
"It means more to me than I can properly express right now. I will be taking some time to recover, reflect and look after myself and my family away from the noise."
It appears as if the Aussie athlete has turned off the comments on her post.
Wietrzyk's decision to break her silence comes after her coach came to her defense amid all the backlash she was receiving online.
Chris Bayens described the incident as an 'extraordinary set of circumstances' that were 'almost impossible to fully comprehend in real time'.
"Decisions were made under competition conditions by an athlete, judges and officials, all responding to a situation none of them could reasonably have prepared for," he continued.
"It is very easy to construct the perfect response once the moment has passed. "Hindsight gives people time, information and distance that simply did not exist for those actually living it."
Bayens added: "No one is perfect, not in sport, not on social media, not in real life."
Niamh Shackleton