Hyrox apologises for allowing race to continue after athlete soils herself – BBC News
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Hyrox apologises for allowing race to continue after athlete soils herself
Image source: Getty Images
By Kelly Ng, Henry Moore and Joyce Lee, BBC Chinese
Published 14 September 2026, 06:18 BST | Updated 15 minutes ago
International athletics brand Hyrox has issued an apology after it came under fire for allowing an athlete to complete a race in Beijing despite soiling herself midway through the event.
Footage of the woman competing in the indoor fitness competition raised concerns around hygiene and questions over why race organisers allowed her to continue.
After a wave of criticism, Hyrox Co-founder Moritz Fürste apologised to all those affected "directly or indirectly" by the incident and said the brand is working to make immediate rule changes.
However, one expert told the BBC that allowing the athlete to continue could represent an attitude within the company that places sporting results over important factors.
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In a statement posted to Instagram, Fürste acknowledged that Hyrox "did not handle the situation like we should have". He accepted responsibility for failing to foresee the incident and committed to "improving event processes" to prevent such occurrences in the future.
Earlier, Hyrox stated that anyone sending abuse or threats of violence towards the athlete would be banned from any future events after her identity was shared online.
"There is no place in our community for threats of violence or encouragement to harm an athlete," Hyrox said in a statement on Monday.
"Any person identified as engaging in this behaviour – whether through comments, direct messages or social media – will be permanently banned from all Hyrox events."
Delving into the incident, the German sports brand explained that "an unforeseen situation arose" during which protocols became unclear, leading to ambiguity in their application.
Following Saturday’s event, some participants demanded an apology and a refund, arguing that they were forced to come into contact with contaminated equipment, Chinese media reported.
Joe Ho, who took part in the Hyrox Beijing competition over the weekend, criticised the brand’s response and called on them to "take responsibility when its own procedures fail".
"If the organisation accepts that something went wrong, why not offer affected participants refunds, credits, or some meaningful form of compensation?" he wrote.
Anthony Huang, associate professor in the Department of Sport Information and Communication at the National Taiwan University of Sport, told BBC Chinese that such incidents could reflect a "results-driven attitude" within the rapidly growing sports brand.
"The idea that ‘a win is a win’ represents a results-driven view of competition, but a mature sporting culture can’t just ask whether you won – it also has to ask how you won."
He added that the incident raises questions over Hyrox’s business model and whether commercialisation may be outpacing its ability to manage the sport.
In each Hyrox race, participants alternate between running a kilometre and doing fitness exercises, including a sled push, burpee jumps, indoor rowing, and lunges while carrying a sandbag.
