An Australian Hyrox athlete, Joanna Wietrzyk, has told the BBC that she made the wrong decision by continuing to race after soiling herself during an event in Beijing last month.
"It was my decision to continue racing so I take full responsibility for that," she said. She added: "I didn't really think about those around me… the decision that I made in hindsight was the wrong decision and I'm truly sorry for everyone that I did affect."
Wietrzyk, 24, said she suffered a bacterial infection from food poisoning. She said she went into the race feeling fresh. Roughly halfway through, she suffered diarrhoea. She said no one encouraged her to stop at the time.
She described the backlash as "traumatic" and said she had considered leaving the sport. She said she regretted a social media post made after the race that included the words "Go hard or go home" and "a win is a win." She also said her family had received threats.
Hyrox co-founder Moritz Fürste has apologised, saying it was a mistake not to react immediately during the race. New rules now let race directors remove athletes whose vomit, urine or faeces pose a contamination risk. Wietrzyk said she would forfeit the Beijing win and withdraw from that race. She is due to compete in Hamburg on Friday.