THE HYROX ATHLETICS franchise has changed its rules and apologised to an athlete after she was allowed to continue using shared equipment despite soiling herself.

The incident, which has caused an outcry on social media, took place at a Hyrox event in Beijing on Saturday.

Photos and videos posted online showed Australian athlete Joanna Wietzyk with soiled legs and shoes, continuing to use the mats and equipment at the competition. She subsequently went on to win the event.

Users on social media were outraged by the decision of the organising committee to not intervene, pointing out that other competitors had to touch the soiled mats, handles and running tracks after she had used them.

“Why didn’t they consider the health of the other competitors and the public?” said one user on Chinese social media network Weibo.

“A foreign athlete suffered from diarrhoea, soiled the course and won anyway,” said another angry user. “It’s pro-foreigner favouritism.”

On Instagram, another user said: “Hyrox should have immediately stopped her when it happened. There are no blurred lines here. There was feces visibly running down her legs. At that point, the competition should have been over for her.

They added that “she should have had the common courtesy to stop herself and get off the course.”

“This isn’t about embarrassing or shaming someone for having an accident. Accidents happen. It’s about basic hygiene, sanitation, and respect for every other competitor on that course.”

Moristz Fürst, co-founder of Hyrox, apologised on social media, saying that they had “made a mistake”.

“I apologise to all that were directly or indirectly affected, as well as those who felt that we did not handle the situation like we should have,” he said in a statement.

“Hyrox made a mistake by not reacting immediately during the race.”

He accepted responsibility for failing to foresee the incident and said there were “new rules and procedures in place” to “prevent situations like this from happening again”.

Hyrox said they have “clear biocontaminant and medical procedures in place”.

However, they said on social media that “an unforeseen situation arose in which protocols designed for elite competition and mass participation became blurred, creating ambiguity in how they were applied and understood.”

“There is no place in our community for threats of violence or encouragement to harm an athlete,” the statement added. 

Hyrox competitions have become a global phenomenon, which see athletes compete in a mix of endurance exercises, including running and strength training.

Each competition is standardised and involves exactly the same course and exercises. Launched in Germany in 2017, the competition has spread across the world, with millions partaking every year.

Its popularity has exploded in China in recent years.

Hyrox China did not apologise but admitted in an earlier statement to “shortcomings” in the regulations which had prevented judges from intervening immediately during the competition.

As the row boiled over, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV on Monday blamed “regulatory flaws that not only harm the participants’ health but also undermine the very foundation of fairness in any competition”.