Australian athlete apologizes after winning race despite involuntary bowel movement

An Australian athlete apologized Thursday for continuing — and winning — her race in China over the weekend after experiencing an involuntary bowel movement during competition. Joanna Wietrzyk, a 24-year-old from Melbourne, said she should have pulled off the track during the women’s 16-to-24 Hyrox event in Beijing on Saturday. The athlete said she hadn’t felt any symptoms before the race that might have warned her about what was to come. “I want to offer my sincere apology to the people of China, my fellow competitors, the spectators and the HYROX organizers for what happened during the race in Beijing,” Wietrzyk said in a statement. “I felt completely fit and healthy at the start of the race, with no reason to expect any illness. Looking back, I regret the decision to not have stepped off the track. I recognize that I should have made a different choice.