Paris : Seine river’s conditions sparked health concerns and contamination criticisms after 2 athletes fell ill swimming in it thereby withdrawing from respective events.
The 2 athletes – Belgium’s Clarie Michael & Swiss athlete Adrien Briffod fell ill reportedly owing to contaminated and bacteria present in Seine River of France where swimming events are taking place.
The pollution previously forced organizers to cancel training sessions and postpone the men’s swim by one day. The concern is about E. coli and enterococci, germs that indicate fecal contamination, or the presence of raw sewage in the river. When the levels reach a certain threshold, people swimming in the water can be at risk for gastrointestinal illness, eye infection, and infected cuts or wounds on their bodies, doctors warned.
In a joint statement Paris 2024 organizing committee and World Triathlon, the governing body for the sport, said they met late Sunday, Aug. 4, and decided the Seine water quality would be within “acceptable” levels for the mixed relay.
But that same day, Belgium withdrew from the mixed relay triathlon after announcing one of its athletes, Claire Michel, “is unfortunately ill,” the Belgian Olympic and Interfederal Committee said in a statement.
Officials didn’t elaborate and didn’t say whether her illness was connected to bacteria in the Seine. She participated in Women’s Triathlon, swam in the river on July 30 previously.
BELGIUM ATHLETE WITHDRAWS
Belgian officials pointedly expressed “hope that lessons will be learned for the next triathlon competitions at the Olympic Games,” the statement read.
“We are thinking here of the guarantee of training days, competition days and the competition format which must be clarified in advance and ensure that there is no uncertainty for the athletes, the entourage and the supporters.”
SWISS ATHLETE WITHDRAWS
In another incident, Switzerland’s Men’s Triathlon Swimmer Adrian Briffod also pulled out of the event after facing gastrointestinal infection, as Swiss officials informed on August 3. He also swam in the Seine river on July 30.
“It is not possible to say whether Briffod’s infection is related to the water quality of the Seine,” the organization said in a statement.
His replacement also fell ill with a gastrointestinal infection, but that athlete didn’t previously swim in the river, Swiss officials said in a follow-up statement.
Although other athletes swimming in it didn’t fall ill, the concern of the water quality remains. Seine, a river which has a history of remaining contaminated has yet again sparked doubts of athletes’ health.
