Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
The coach of Australian HYROX athlete Joanna Wietrzyk has leapt to her defence after she defecated while competing in a race in China.
Ms Wietrzyk, 22, came under fire after she was pictured at the Beijing HYROX event with what appeared to be faecal matter covering her legs and arms.
The Melbourne athlete, who is ranked No.1 in the world for the women’s singles event and is an ‘Elite’ HYROX competitor, was photographed at several stations of the event after defecating, including the sled push and rowing machine.
She went on to win the women’s solo event with a time of 1.01.23.
Ms Wietrzyk took to social media after the race with a photograph of herself hooked up to an IV drip, saying: “Go hard or go home … a win is a win. In all seriousness, thank you for all the support. I’ll be back soon x.”
Backlash to the images was swift — Ms Wietrzyk was labelled “selfish” for continuing the race, and for putting other competitors and the volunteers who had to clean up the incident at risk.
“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.
Ms Wietrzyk’s HYROX coach Chris Bayens issued a statement on Monday on his Instagram, slamming “ugly” backlash against the athlete as “neither fair nor honest”.
“Sport occasionally produces moments that are imperfect and deeply human,” Mr Bayens said.
“Discussion is legitimate. . .The hatred and personal attacks that have followed are not.”
Mr Bayens described the incident as “extraordinary” and “rapidly evolving”, which he says made any decisions about Ms Wietrzyk’s participation difficult once she had defecated.
“Decisions were made under competition conditions by an athlete, judges and officials, all responding to a situation none of them could reasonably have prepared for,” he said.
“It is very easy to construct the perfect response once the moment has passed.”
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.”
