An Aussie athlete who defecated and continued to complete an elite HYROX competition has had the last laugh after taking home at least $15,000 US (about $21,000 AU) for winning the Beijing event.
Joanna Wietrzyk, 22, went viral after gruesome footage showed her competing in and winning the elite fitness event as faecal matter covered her legs and arms.
The athlete, who hails from Melbourne, was pictured using shared equipment despite having soiled herself.
Ms Wietrzyk has come under fire for continuing to compete despite posing a significant health risk to other athletes.
“Defecating on yourself & leaving a trail of feces on the competition floor should be an immediate disqualification. Every athlete following her was put at a health risk & a disadvantage,” one person said.
“If someone was spitting on everyone else around them, they would be disqualified, this is much worse!,” another said.
HYROX organisers have also issued an apology after they were heavily criticised for not barring Ms Wietrzyk from competing after she had defecated.
However, despite the backlash, it appears Ms Wietrzyk has come out on top after recording an impressive 1.01.23 time: it is believed winners of each World event take home $15,000 US ($21,033 AU) in both gender categories.
Second place took home $13,461 AU and third place was allocated $8413 AU.
The lucrative winnings pale in comparison to the HYROX World Championships, held in Sweden in June — the winner scooped an impressive $56,000 AU.
HYROX co-founder Mo Fürste issued a public apology to his personal Instagram account in the wake of the incident, after criticism over the fact Ms Wietrzyk was not disqualified or had her title stripped from her.
“I apologise to all that were directly or indirectly affected, as well as to everyone who felt like we did not handle the situation like we should have.
“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. As of this moment, there are new rules and procedures in place to prevent situations like this from happening again.”
