International athletics brand Hyrox has apologised and introduced new rules after an athlete soiled herself during a race in Beijing but continued competing.
The increasingly popular indoor fitness competition combines eight one-kilometer runs with eight workout stations on the same course, with athletes using shared equipment.
Footage and images of women's world-record holder Joanna Wietrzyk continuing to race with faeces visible on her legs circulated widely on social media over the weekend, prompting criticism over why officials had allowed her to continue.
The Australian went on to win the women's pro race on Saturday in a time of 1 hour, 1 minute and 23 seconds.
Hyrox co-founder Moritz Fürste has now apologised for the handling of the incident and said the organization should have intervened during the race.
"Hyrox made a mistake by not reacting immediately during the race," Fürste said in a statement.
"In the end it is my job to foresee these potential incidents -- and I did not.
"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."
Hyrox's rulebook has subsequently been updated to give race directors the power to withdraw an athlete if blood, vomit, urine or faeces creates a welfare or contamination risk to them or other competitors. Any athlete removed in those circumstances will be recorded as not finishing the race.
Unlike obstacle races or CrossFit competitions, Hyrox -- which had its first event in Hamburg in 2017 and has enjoyed rapid growth since -- uses the same basic format at events around the world, allowing amateur and elite competitors to compare their times.
Hyrox China said areas affected during Saturday's competition were isolated and disinfected, while contaminated equipment was removed and sections of carpet were replaced before racing resumed the following day.
Hyrox World said medical and biological contamination procedures had already existed but acknowledged there had been confusion over their application in Beijing.
"Protocols designed for elite competition and mass participation became blurred, creating ambiguity in how they were applied and understood," it said.
Wietrzyk later posted an image on Instagram from what appeared to be a hospital bed, writing: "Go hard or go home ... a win is a win."
The post was subsequently deleted.
Hyrox has also condemned abuse directed at Wietrzyk since the incident and said anyone identified as making threats of violence toward the athlete would be permanently banned from its events.