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Opinionbiohazard blues
Hyrox diarrhoea drama When nature calls, you really need to listen
The Hyrox ‘poop incident’ in Beijing highlights why sporting rules must protect competitors and spectators when an athlete suffers an acute gastrointestinal episode.
A MEDIA STORM has blown up after organisers of a global indoor fitness competition, Hyrox allowed an Australian athlete to finish and win an event in Beijing despite soiling herself mid-race.
The world record holder, Joanna Wietrzyk was filmed progressing through punishing exercises while using communal equipment in an indoor arena, with faecal matter running down her legs.
Predictably, the incident has gone viral on social media and caused a furious debate about Hyrox’s health and safety standards, specifically whether the athlete should have been allowed to continue to compete and what risks she posed to herself, fellow athletes, organisers and spectators.
The ‘win is a win’ results-driven culture of international athletics brand Hyrox has raised questions about the commercialisation of a sport where winning at any cost is what counts.
Hyrox has issued an apology for allowing the athlete to continue to compete. After a wave of criticism, Hyrox co-founder, Moritz Fϋrste apologised to all those affected directly or indirectly by the incident and said the brand is working to make immediate rule changes
Winning at any cost is not okay. Health and safety has to be paramount – allowing any athlete to continue to compete while losing control over their bowel, disregards the health and safety of fellow competitors, as well as organisers and spectators that places them at high risk of debilitating illness.
Whatever about public decorum, this would seem obvious – it seems the rules must be explicit to ensure it does not happen again.
What is Hyrox?
Hyrox is a fitness competition launched in Germany in 2017 that has exploded in popularity across the globe. It is an indoor fitness race with a mixture of treadmill running and strength exercises such as lunges, burpees and rowing using communal equipment. Its popularity in China has exploded in the last two years.
Runner’s diarrhoea is a well-recognised phenomenon. Former British long-distance runner, Paula Radcliffe, famously stopped by the side of the road due to runner’s diarrhoea during the 2005 London Marathon.
Around the 22-mile mark, while leading the race, she pulled to the side of the course and squatted behind barriers to relieve herself in view of live television cameras and the crowd, before resuming running and winning the race, setting a new world record for a women-only marathon.
Radcliffe later blamed the incident on her pre-race meal – pasta and grilled salmon or potentially dodgy food the previous evening.
Runner’s diarrhoea
Runner’s diarrhoea, also called “runner’s colitis” and “runner’s trots” most commonly affects long-distance runners, causing frequent bowel movements during and right after a run. While experts aren’t completely clear on what causes it, it is thought to be related to changes in the permeability of the intestine that occur during running or other challenging endurance exercise that includes multisport training.
Research published in Nutrients 2023 suggests that endurance exercise may decrease gastric motility or the rate at which nutrients travel through the intestines; increasing the rate of passage of bacteria through the intestinal wall to other parts of the body; as well as changing the permeability of the intestine, affecting the amount of substances that pass from it into the bloodstream.
Together, this can result in severe gastrointestinal symptoms including gas, nausea, cramps and diarrhoea.
Symptoms typically begin during the workout and may continue for up to 24 hours afterwards. However, runner’s diarrhoea is not the only cause. It may be present or may be aggravated by other conditions including infection, food intolerance, or other health conditions.
Runner’s diarrhoea can be prevented or at least managed. Symptoms can be minimised by over-the-counter treatments such as loperamide (Imodium) to stall the diarrhoea until after the run. Many endurance runners avoid certain foods including meat, dairy products, fish or seafood, poultry and high fibre foods in the hours or days before a run.
Energy gel packs and supplements that are supposed to provide “portable fuel” often contain artificial sweeteners and preservatives that can trigger diarrhoea. Adequate hydration before and during the run as well as immediately afterwards is key.
Norovirus
Other factors can contribute to gastrointestinal upset during endurance events – the symptoms are often indistinguishable. The biggest infectious risk is norovirus that has repeatedly reared its head at international sporting events, including the recent 2026 Winter Olympics.
When thousands of athletes from around the world gather in one place, the size and intensity of these events can provide fertile ground for nasty viral infections.
The 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Games displayed the real-world impact of such infections. Highly contagious and capable of surviving for days, norovirus moves with lightning speed and efficiency through these environments.
Meals served in centralised facilities, shared training and recreational facilities, norovirus can spread rapidly through tight spaces and close contact.
Highly contagious, norovirus is the leading cause of foodborne illness worldwide, causing hundreds of millions of cases a year. Although infection is usually short-lived – typically 24 to 72 hours, symptoms can be intense. Vomiting, watery diarrhoea, stomach cramps and low-grade fever are common.
One reason that norovirus is so infectious is its extremely low infectious dose – fewer than 20 viral particles may be enough to cause illness. Most other viruses require much higher doses to trigger infection. Microscopic contamination on food or surfaces can be enough to make someone sick.
The virus spreads by direct person-to-person contact or touching contaminated surfaces before touching the mouth. If the cause of diarrhoea at the recent Hyrox event was norovirus, the chances of anyone who came in contact with contaminated surfaces becoming infected would be very high.
Added to the tiny dose needed for infection, norovirus is remarkably resilient, able to survive on surfaces for days, withstand freezing temperatures and resistant to many common disinfectants. Alcohol based sanitisers are not sufficient to kill the virus – soap and water are much more effective. Finally, the virus can continue to be shed for days after recovery.
All of these factors make the virus enormously difficult to control, leading it to be the bane of many a wedding, restaurant outing of large parties as well as major sporting events – where large numbers of people live, eat, train and interact in close proximity.
‘Win is a win’
Before the recent Hyrox event, the rules were that athletes were penalised for littering, spitting, or clearing their nose on the floor.
Unattended diarrhoea had not been itemised as an infraction. Hyrox co-founder, Moritz Fϋrste apologised for the incident in a statement on Instagram and said that Hyrox has made “rule changes immediately”.
“As of this moment, there are new rules and procedures in place to prevent situations like this from happening again.”
It beggars belief that protocols and rules have to be put in place for defecating in a public place. Apart from public health concerns, from an early age humans have learned “when you gotta’ go,” to find a public convenience with urgency and deal with your ablutions.
The same rules apply whether it’s a walk in the park or in an international sporting arena. For those who prize competition at any cost, respect for fellow competitors matters too.
The rules are now clear. If nature calls, get off the field.
Dr Catherine Conlon is a public health doctor in Cork.
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