Joanna Wietrzyk, an elite athlete perhaps best known for soiling herself during a HYROX championship last month, has announced her return to the sport.
Videos by Wide Open Country
Indeed, the 22-year-old found herself making headlines after she was photographed repeatedly with liquid feces covering her sculpted legs at the global endurance race in Beijing on Sept. 12. Despite earning first place at the HYROX championship, the Australian athlete found herself apologizing for continuing to compete without bothering to clean herself up after she soiled herself.
"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," she wrote on Instagram on Sept. 27. "Looking back, I regret the decision not to step off the track. I recognize that I should have made a different choice," she added in part.
Despite the infamous moment, Wietrzyk has chosen to return to competition.
HYROX Athlete Calls Support After Soiling Herself During Competition "So Incredible"
A video posted to her Instagram on Oct. 28 shows the athlete walking in the streets of Hamburg, Germany, wearing decidedly black pants. She shared that she'll be taking part in the HYROX Elite 15 division on Oct. 30.
"I've had some time to reflect over the past six to eight weeks on everything that happened in Beijing, and firstly, I just want to say that I'm truly, truly so sorry to everyone that I affected, whether they were spectators or participants out on that race floor, for my decision to choose to continue to race," she said in the video.
"Having that time to reflect, I've really learned a lot from the situation, and I am very, very sorry for it all," Wietrzyk added. "But I also want to say thank you to each and every person that has reached out to support and given me this overwhelming amount of support over the past couple of weeks."
"It's been a very hard situation to navigate for me and very confronting as well, so, all the support, whether it was personally or through my team, has been honestly so incredible and it goes a lot longer and in a far longer way than I can truly express right now."
Joanna Wietrzyk Ends Post About Returning to Competition on a Hopeful Note
The determined athlete concluded on a hopeful note.
"I'm super excited to go back to doing what I love and hopefully see you all out there."
Of course, before the controversy spread, the athlete attempted to embrace soiling herself as a sign of her dedication to the fast-growing endurance sport.
"Go hard or go home ... a win is a win. In all seriousness, thank you for all the support. I'll be back soon x," she wrote alongside a selfie showing her in a hospital bed, per news.com.au.
She later reportedly deleted the video after onlookers found her actions, which may have forced other competitors to use equipment possibly coming into contact with her feces, shortsighted and selfish.
Here's hoping tomorrow's competition goes more smoothly for Wietrzyk.
