HYROX has actually just added new ‘faeces’ rule, so here’s what it means for athletes

HYROX has officially added a new rule for athletes, following on from the recent pooping scandal. Over the weekend, an Australian athlete won her category while competing at the event, despite having soiled herself on the course.

Joanna Wietrzyk took the victory, but images and videos of her covered in poo have been going viral ever since. Under the rules prior, athletes taking part in HYROX events are not allowed to spit, clear their nose, litter, or pour water over their heads. But, nobody stepped in after Joanna was seen with poo running down her legs. 

After the poop incident, HYROX apologised and said it would be looking into changing the rules. “HYROX made a mistake by not reacting immediately during the race. In the end it is my job to foresee these potential incidents – and I did not. Of course, we started improving event processes, plus making rule book changes immediately,” co-founder Moritz Fürste said.

Now, that rule change has officially come into place.

via Burak Basturk/MEI/SIPA/Shutterstock

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What are the new HYROX rules and how will this affect athletes taking part? 

Within days of the scandal, HYROX has rewritten its rule book. Section 12 of the rule book is all about penalties for single participants. Part 12.3 is about when racers are hit with a DNF – Did Not Finish.

It now states: “If a racer’s blood, vomit, urine, or faeces poses a welfare or contamination risk to the racer or to other racers, a Race Director may withdraw the racer from the race on medical grounds, in line with HYROX’s medical and hygiene SOPs [Standard Operating Procedures]. Any such withdrawal is recorded on the leaderboard as Did Not Finish [DNF].” 

So, that now means if the same thing happens to another athlete as what did to Joanna, they will most likely be withdrawn. But it does state this only “may” happen, so there could be some flexibility there. 

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