Joanna Wietrzyk of Australia in action during the Hyrox Beijing event at National Speed Skating Oval on September 12, 2026 in Beijing, China. Photo: VCG

Indoor fitness racing organizer Hyrox has offered full refunds to participants affected by an incident at its Beijing event after an Australian elite athlete soiled herself during a race on Saturday but was allowed to continue competing and ultimately win.

Hyrox China said in a notice sent on Tuesday to participants of the Beijing event that it had decided to refund the full entry fees of competitors affected by the incident at the event, while apologizing for failing to arrange for the athlete involved to leave the course in time.

The incident involved Australian athlete Joanna Wietrzyk, a Hyrox women's world record holder, during the women's pro race at Beijing's National Speed Skating Oval.

Wietrzyk soiled herself during the race. Images and videos circulated on social media showed visible fecal matter on her legs and shoes as she continued through the course, including using workout stations.

The incident quickly became controversial as Hyrox races are conducted indoors on a shared course, with athletes repeatedly moving between running sections and functional workout stations. Subsequent competitors used mats and equipment after Wietrzyk had passed through them, prompting questions over hygiene and the event's procedures for dealing with biological contamination.

Hyrox China initially said that affected areas had been isolated and disinfected after the incident, that relevant equipment had been removed, and that the venue's flooring would be replaced.

"In endurance sports, gastrointestinal distress is not unusual, but once bodily fluids contaminate shared equipment, it becomes an event-management issue rather than simply an athlete-management issue," Zhang Bin, a Beijing-based sports commentator, told the Global Times.

Multiple Chinese fitness enthusiasts who have applied to the next Hyrox events in Shanghai and Sanya, South China's Hainan Province, have decided to pull out from the races after the belated response.

In its latest notice, however, the Chinese organizer acknowledged a specific failure in its handling of the situation.

"Due to this operational oversight, you were unable to receive the good event experience you deserved," Hyrox China said in the notice to participants on Tuesday.

The organizer said its on-site team carried out disinfection immediately after the incident and replaced the race-course carpet the same day.

According to the refund decision, all athletes who were still racing between 2:40 pm and 8:40 pm will be eligible for full refunds.

The incident has also prompted Hyrox to change its global rules.

Hyrox co-founder Moritz Fürste apologized on Monday to people "directly or indirectly" affected and acknowledged that the organization "made a mistake by not reacting immediately during the race."

The updated rules now allow a race director to withdraw an athlete on medical grounds if the athlete's blood, vomit, urine or feces poses a welfare or contamination risk to the athlete or other competitors.