Hyrox champion Joanna Wietrzyk to compete again after Beijing incident

Australian Hyrox competitor Joanna Wietrzyk, 24, said she will race again on Friday at the Elite 15 event in Hamburg, Germany, after taking two months to reflect on a September race in Beijing where she experienced severe gastrointestinal distress and chose to finish the competition. > "I’m back out there on the race floor, and I’m super excited to go back doing what I love," Wietrzyk posted on Instagram. > "Firstly, I just want to say that I’m truly, truly sorry to everyone that I affected, whether they were spectators or participants out on that race floor for my decision to choose to continue to race," she added. The Beijing race on Sept. 12 was halted after Wietrzyk suffered explosive diarrhea at the fourth exercise station, leaving fecal matter on the course and equipment. Event staff cordoned off the area, disinfected the venue, and later replaced the carpet, according to local reports. Hyrox officials acknowledged that standard biocontamination protocols were unclear in the situation and said they have revised the rulebook and introduced new procedures to prevent similar incidents. Co-founder Moritz Fuerste admitted that organizers did not react quickly enough during the race and confirmed that rule changes were implemented immediately after the incident.