'I made the wrong decision,' Hyrox athlete who soiled herself in race tells BBC

Australian Hyrox athlete Joanna Wietrzyk has said she made the wrong decision when she continued competing after soiling herself during a race in Beijing. Speaking exclusively to the BBC, Wietrzyk said her determination to win the September event had affected her judgement. Roughly halfway through the competition, she suffered a bout of diarrhoea, and images showing faecal matter on parts of her body were subsequently shared widely online. "I didn't really think about those around me... the decision that I made in hindsight was the wrong decision and I'm truly sorry for everyone that I did affect," the athlete told the BBC. Wietrzyk also spoke about the reaction to the incident on social media. She said she should not have received "such backlash", adding that she is "only human". The incident and the subsequent online response have drawn significant attention to the relatively new fitness competition, which combines running with functional workout stations. Wietrzyk's comments mark her first public explanation of her decision to carry on racing after the incident occurred last month.