Australian athlete Joanna Wietrzyk admitted she made a mistake by continuing to compete in an endurance event after defecating on herself and acknowledged that she put others at risk.
Speaking exclusively to the BBC ahead of her return to racing, Joanna Wietrzyk suggested that her determination to win the Hyrox race in Beijing in September had clouded her judgement: "It was my decision to continue racing, so I take full responsibility."
When asked why she continued doing it, she said: "I didn't really think about the people around me... the decision I made in hindsight was the wrong decision and I am truly sorry to everyone it affected."
"Traumatic" retaliation
The 24-year-old said the experience and subsequent retaliation were "traumatic." He also said he had considered quitting the sport, in which he holds a world record.
In Hyrox competitions, participants alternate one-kilometer runs with physical exercises such as sled pushing, burpee jumps, machine rowing, and sandbag lunges.
The discipline has gained enormous popularity since its founding in 2017 in Hamburg, northern Germany, and is now practiced all over the world.
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About halfway through the event in Beijing last month, Wietrzyk suffered an attack of diarrhea. Later, images of her smearing her own fecal matter on different parts of her body were widely shared online.
When asked if the authorities should have detained her, she responded that at the time no one encouraged her to do so.
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Hyrox co-founder Moritz Fürste apologized, acknowledging that it was a mistake not to react immediately during the race.
Since then, new rules have been introduced giving race directors the power to expel athletes if their vomit, urine or feces pose a risk of contamination or threaten their well-being or that of others in a race that is held primarily indoors and uses shared equipment.
Although initially defiant in a since-deleted Instagram post, Wietrzyk apologized the week after the Beijing event and said he would give up the win and retroactively withdraw from the race.
Before returning to compete in Hamburg this Friday, she said she was "nervous" about her return and hopes that the incident, with great media coverage, does not define her.
"I don't want that to become my identity," he said.
A "sudden" experience
In her first interview since Beijing, Wietrzyk said she had suffered a bacterial infection from food poisoning but had started the race "feeling fresh, feeling really, really good."
"It was a very sudden experience," he told the BBC.
"It wasn't until almost halfway through the race that it all happened... At that moment, right there, as a very competitive person... and as an elite athlete that I am, my only goal was to compete."
"I obviously put other people at risk," he admitted.
Hyrox China later refunded entry fees to some competitors.
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Wietrzyk also lamented an initial post on social media after the race that included the phrases "Give it your all or go home" and "A win is a win."
He added that he was on high alert while seeking medical attention at the hospital.
"I didn't really take into account how the public was going to perceive the situation."
When asked whether her apology could be interpreted as an attempt to minimize damage or whether it came too late, she said she did not expect so much media coverage for the incident.
"I needed those days to reflect on what happened and take it in."
Speaking about the mindset of elite athletes, he said: "They are obsessed with winning and doing their best, getting the most out of their training and proving their fitness to the world."
After reflecting over the past few weeks, he said, "There's more to life... than just competing and just winning."
When Wietrzyk's identity became known online, Hyrox said that anyone who sent insults or threats to the athlete would be excluded from future events.
Commenting on the comments and photos shared online, Joanna Wietrzyk said she had received the support she needed to stay well, but had also found that social media can be a very toxic place.
Wietrzyk told the BBC it had been a "mentally and emotionally exhausting period" and that he did not expect the global scrutiny, adding that his family had also received threats.
"[It was] very eye-opening for me to see the effect of social media today, especially as someone who is 24 years old and just out there competing."
"Yes, I made the wrong decision, but I don't think I deserved to receive so much criticism or be subjected to such intense scrutiny on the internet... At the end of the day, I'm just a human being."
Wietrzyk said she had been trying to stay offline and had sought to "isolate herself from the world" for a while: "I can't do that forever."
"I still have a lot more to achieve in this sport, so I think, for me, my mental strength is the key to inspiring others through my own experience."
This article was originally written in English and we used an artificial intelligence tool to translate it. A BBC journalist reviewed the text before publication. Learn more about how we use AI.
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