Hyrox changes rules after athlete soils herself mid-competition

Global indoor fitness race organization Hyrox has changed its rules after women's world record holder Joanna Wietrzyk soiled herself during an event in Beijing on Saturday but was allowed to continue and win the race.

Moritz Fuerste, the German co-founder of the popular fitness-racing hybrid, apologized to everyone "directly or indirectly" affected by last weekend's incident.

"Hyrox made a mistake by not reacting immediately during the race," the former field hockey Olympic champion said in a statement on social media.

"Of course, we started improving event processes, plus making rulebook changes immediately. As of this moment, there are new rules and procedures in place to prevent situations like this from happening again."

Hamburg-based Hyrox's standardized indoor fitness race, combining running and functional workouts, has grown rapidly from a niche fitness challenge into a global phenomenon since it was founded in 2017.

Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Purulia, India; Editing by Peter Rutherford/Reuters