Western females have just reached a new high (or low, depending on how you look at it). The proverbial glass ceiling just keeps getting broken. They now finally have the important freedom to sh8t themselves live on camera, without experiencing any shame or being kept down by the patriarchal norms. Seriously:
Footage of world record holder Joanna Wietrzyk competing on Saturday
showed her continuing through demanding exercises and using communal
equipment, with faecal matter visibly running down her legs. The
incident went viral on social media and triggered debate about Hyrox’s
health and safety standards, and athlete responsibility.
I hope you'll all excuse me not posting pictures, but you can easily find them in the article quoted (this is actually a WARNING:)
The Guardian goes on to say:
It is not uncommon for athletes to soil themselves while competing in high endurance sports, particularly marathons. British athlete Paula Radcliffe won the 2005 London marathon after suffering from “runner’s diarrhoea” and having to stop at the 22-mile mark to relieve herself, in full view of cameras.
(Emphasis mine).
Now is it "not uncommon" for all athletes or only for a "certain type" of athlete, I wonder???
So that's what I found. It happens with men, too, but according to this study, uri88ry incontinence in female athletes happens more than 5 times more often:
Prevalences were 45.1% in female compared to 14.7% male athletes (p < 0.001) such that females were 5.45 times more likely to suffer this condition.
What about f8cal incontinence?
So this article (which appeared in the New York Times, too) does state that it affects the females more than males:
Why does it disproportionately affect female athletes? This year, Dutch researchers published a widespread qualitative study on
recreational runners who suffered from faecal incontinence.
They reported that women faced an increased risk of the issue as a
result of “pelvic floor dysfunction” — the pelvic floor referring to the
‘hammock’ of muscles running from the pubic bone to the tailbone that
supports the pelvic organs.
Why would it be? The article actually does give an answer. It's because women biologically are different from men (who could have thunk it???)
In general, women face a far higher risk of pelvic floor issues due to
structural anatomical differences, childbirth, and hormonal changes
associated with menstruation and the menopause.
“Increased intra-abdominal pressure due to reactive forces on the pelvic
floor during activities like jumping and running is believed to deform
pelvic floor structures, potentially impacting continence mechanisms,”
they wrote.
During the menstrual cycle, the luteal phase (the period between
ovulation and the beginning of the next period) has been identified by
several studies over the past 30 years as provoking more
gastrointestinal problems in some women — further raising the risk of
faecal incontinence during extreme exercise.
Of course, we all know that men played sports and did all this physical activity which could lead to these kind of issues also for them, as the preparation for war, and later, when the sports became professional and commercialised, to provide for their families. And then Western women decided to do it because...because it's progress or something I guess.Welcome to the Western world, ladies and gentlemen. (I never ever want to hear another "joke" about streetsh88ters after this).
