An Australian athlete who suffered a number two in her quest to be number one has spoken out about the incident ahead of her return to Hyrox.
Joanna Wietrzyk went viral for all the wrong reasons back in September when she suffered a bout of diarrhoea midway through a competition race in Beijing, but that didn’t stop her from going on to win the event.
She’s faced some pretty intense backlash in the wake of the incident and even lost some of her brand deals as a result, and she admitted in a recent interview that the experience was so ‘traumatic’ that she considered walking away from the sport entirely.
But now ahead of her planned event in Hamburg today (30 October), where she’s hopefully not eaten too many hamburgers in preparation, the world-record holder has issued a fresh apology.
Speaking exclusively to the BBC, the 24-year-old said: “It was my decision to continue racing so I take full responsibility for that.
“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.”
She continued to compete despite the incontinence (Fred Lee/Getty Images)
Naturally, if you were feeling a bit off before an event, you would maybe prepare differently but in Wietrzyk’s case, she was feeling ‘fit and fresh’ before things began and it was only halfway through that the bacterial infection from food poisoning really made itself known.
She added: “It was a very sudden experience. It wasn’t until about halfway through the race where everything did transpire… In that moment, right then and there, as a very competitive person… and an elite athlete that I am, my only focus is on racing.
“Obviously I did put other people at risk.”
Hopefully it will be a less eventful race for the athlete in Hamburg on Friday (Fred Lee/Getty Images)
Although she did admit it was a mistake to continue racing in that scenario, Wietrzyk also opened up about the abuse that she faced on social media, which led her to delete the Instagram apology she made in the immediate aftermath.
She said: “[It] was very eye-opening for me to see the effect of social media nowadays, especially from someone who’s 24, just out there racing.
“Yes, I did make the wrong decision but I don’t believe I should have received such backlash and such scrutiny online… At the end of the day I’m only human.”
If for any reason she fancies taking a break from the brutal international events, which usually involves eight workouts and an eight kilometre run, she could instead head on a Hyrox cruise instead where she gets to do all that, but at sea.
Perhaps not the best idea given people’s tendencies to get sea sick.
Leave a Reply