Hyrox athlete Joanna Wietrzyk admits she put others at risk by racing on after falling ill

An Australian athlete has admitted she put other competitors at risk by continuing to race after soiling herself during a Hyrox endurance event in Beijing, saying her determination to win had clouded her judgement. Speaking in her first interview since the September incident, Joanna Wietrzyk, 24, told the BBC: "It was my decision to continue racing so I take full responsibility for that." Asked why she carried on, she said she had not thought about those around her and described the choice as, in hindsight, the wrong one. "I'm truly sorry for everyone that I did affect," she said. Wietrzyk said she had been suffering a bacterial infection from food poisoning but had entered the race "feeling fresh, feeling really, really good". Roughly halfway through the event she suffered a sudden bout of diarrhoea, and images of faecal matter on parts of her body were later shared widely online. She said no one, including officials, had encouraged her to stop at the time. Hyrox co-founder Moritz Fürste has since apologised, saying it had been a mistake not to react immediately during the race. The organisation has introduced new rules allowing race directors to remove athletes whose vomit, urine or faeces pose a risk of contamination or threaten the welfare of competitors, in a format held primarily indoors with shared equipment. Hyrox China has reportedly refunded some competitors their entry fees. Hyrox, founded in Hamburg in 2017, requires participants to alternate running one kilometre with exercises including sled pushes, burpee jumps, indoor rowing and lunges while carrying a sandbag. It has expanded rapidly since its launch and is now staged around the world. Wietrzyk was initially defiant, publishing a since-deleted Instagram post that included the words "Go hard or go home" and "a win is a win". She apologised the following week, forfeited the win and retroactively withdrew from the race. She told the BBC she had been in "flight or fight mode" while seeking hospital treatment and had not accounted for how the public would view the post. The aftermath, she said, was a "mentally and emotionally taxing period" that she had not anticipated. After her identity was shared online, Hyrox said anyone sending abuse or threats to the athlete would be banned from future events. Wietrzyk said her family had also received threats, and that while some messages offered support, the episode showed social media could be a "toxic place". She said she had considered walking away from the sport, in which she holds a world record. She returns to competition in Hamburg on Friday and said she was nervous about her comeback. "I don't want it to become my identity," she said of the incident. Reflecting on elite sport, Wietrzyk said athletes are hyper-vigilant about winning and showcasing their fitness, but weeks of reflection had changed her outlook. "There is more to life… than just racing and just winning," she said. She added that she still had much to achieve in the sport and hoped her mental resilience could inspire others through what she had been through.