Hyrox adds rule allowing officials to pull racers over bodily fluid contamination

Hyrox has updated its global rulebook to allow race officials to withdraw competitors whose blood, vomit, urine, or faeces poses a contamination risk, following backlash over an incident at the Beijing event. The change addresses a previously identified loophole in the rules. The controversy stems from Australian athlete Joanna Wietrzyk, who won the Pro Women's race in Beijing on September 12 despite suffering severe bowel incontinence, with faecal matter visible as she continued using shared equipment. Critics called it a biohazard, and Hyrox co-founder Moritz Fürste apologised on Monday, admitting officials "made a mistake by not reacting immediately." The new rule, added to Section 10.3 under "Did Not Finish," gives race directors discretion to withdraw racers on medical grounds, recorded as a DNF. Previously, rules only specified penalties for minor offences like spitting or clearing nostrils, leaving no explicit authority to remove athletes in severe contamination cases.