Another triathlete hospitalized after swimming at Seine Olympics

The Belgian team lost the triathlon final because Claire Michel is still sidelined after an infection with the E. coli bacteria.

The Belgian triathlon team has cancelled the mixed triathlon final, scheduled for Monday, after one athlete, Claire Michel, was hospitalised after swimming in the River Seine, the country’s Olympic Committee announced.

The sports organization strongly criticized the organizers of the Olympic Games in Paris and expressed the hope “that lessons will be learned for future triathlon competitions,” and that there will be no more “insecurity” for athletes and support staff.

“The BOIC and the Belgian Triathlon unfortunately have to announce that the ‘Belgian Hammers’ will not appear at the start of the mixed relay at the Olympic Games in Paris tomorrow. The decision, as well as this announcement, was taken in consultation with the athletes and their entourage,” the commission said in a statement.

“Claire Michel, a member of the relay, is unfortunately ill and has to withdraw from the competition,” added it.

Although the committee did not elaborate, local media reports have suggested that Michel, who has been in hospital for four days, has been diagnosed with an E. coli bacterial infection. While the athlete apparently fell ill shortly after finishing 38th in the women’s triathlon race on Wednesday, it has not been determined with certainty that she contracted the bacteria in the murky waters of the Seine.

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The development comes after the Swiss triathlon team said it had to replace triathlete Adrien Briffod with Simon Westermann after the former suffered a gastrointestinal infection. The team noted that it was still unclear whether Briffod’s illness was related to the Seine.

The Belgian team is very critical of the state of the Seine and several athletes have spoken openly about their experiences. “While swimming under the bridge I felt and saw things that we shouldn’t think too much about,” Jolien Vermeylen, who finished 24th in the event on Wednesday, said the water was not exactly “Coca Cola or Sprite.”

“The Seine has been dirty for a hundred years, so they can’t say that the safety of the athletes is a priority,” she claimed.

The water condition of the heavily polluted river had been a source of widespread concern long before the Games. A $1.5 billion project aimed at cleaning up the Seine had had mixed results at best and was marred by several accidents, including the discharge of a large amount of sewage into the river shortly before the Olympics.

However, French authorities pushed to hold open-water competitions on the Seine, with several senior officials, including French Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, taking a dip in the river to show it was safe. President Emmanuel Macron, who had also made a half-hearted promise to take the plunge, eventually backed out.

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