Belgium withdraws from mixed relay triathlon after athlete who swam in Seine River falls ill

Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — Belgium’s Olympic committee announced Sunday that it would withdraw its team from the mixed relay triathlon at the Paris Olympics after one of its competitors who swam in the Seine River fell ill.

Claire Michel, who competed in the women’s triathlon Wednesday, “is unfortunately ill and will have to withdraw from the competition,” the Belgian Olympic and Interfederal Committee said in a statement.

Paris 2024 organizers had no immediate statement on Michel’s illness, but said in a statement Sunday night that the mixed relay triathlon would proceed Monday at 8 a.m. The swim portion of the competition is slated for the Seine.

The Belgian committee’s statement did not elaborate on Michel’s illness but it comes after concerns over the river’s water quality. Organizers had said that water quality tests done the day of the individual triathlon races showed “very good” bacteria levels.

On Sunday night, representatives from World Triathlon and the International Olympic Committee along with Paris Games organizers and regional and weather authorities reviewed water tests. The results indicated the water quality at the triathlon site had improved over recent hours and would be within the limits mandated by World Triathlon.

Daily water quality tests measure levels of the fecal bacteria, including E. coli, in the Seine’s waters. World Triathlon’s water safety guidelines and a 2006 European Union directive assign qualitative values to a range of E. coli levels.

Under World Triathlon’s guidelines, E. coli levels up to 1,000 colony-forming units per 100 milliliters can be considered “good” and can allow competitions to go forward.

World Triathlon’s medical committee said it considers water quality analysis, sanitary inspection and the weather forecast when determining whether to go forward with a race. The decisions have generally been made at early morning meetings on the day of the event. But in announcing Sunday night that the race would happen Monday, organizers said they were responding to requests from athletes to give them more time to prepare.

Leading up to the individual triathlon events, water quality concerns prompted organizers to cancel the swimming portion of two test runs meant to allow athletes to familiarize themselves with the course and also to delay the men’s race by a day. Test swims in the Seine scheduled for Saturday and Sunday before the triathlon mixed relay were also canceled because of bacteria levels in the water.

The Belgian committee said it “hopes that lessons will be learned for future triathlon competitions at the Olympic Games. 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, entourage and supporters.”

Swiss officials said Saturday that triathlete Adrien Briffod, who also competed in the Seine on Wednesday, fell ill with a stomach infection. But they said it was “impossible to say” whether it was linked to the swim and that the other delegations told them none of their triathletes had reported stomach problems.

Swiss officials said in an update Sunday that Simon Westermann, who had been tapped to replace Briffod, also had to withdraw because of a gastrointestinal infection. Westermann had not participated in any swims in the Seine, the statement said. The Swiss team still planned to compete in the mixed relay Monday.

Norwegian triathlete Vetle Bergsvik Thorn got sick a day after competing in the men’s triathlon. Thorn told Norwegian broadcaster NRK that he woke up the next day with an upset stomach and was vomiting but thought that the likely cause was food poisoning. He said he felt better later that day and was planning on competing again in the mixed relay scheduled for Monday.

Arild Tveiten, the sports director of the Norwegian Triathlon Federation, said the cause of Thorn’s illness was unclear.

“We’re thinking what everyone is thinking: that it’s probably the river. But we don’t know. It could be the river, it could be the chicken,” Tveiten told NRK. “The doctor is leaning toward the possibility of food poisoning. That’s what the symptoms suggest.”

Marathon swimming events are set to be held in the Seine on Thursday and Friday.

Five of the eight swimmers in the men’s 1,500-meter freestyle Sunday night were listed to be entered in the 10-kilometer marathon swim.

Bronze medalist Daniel Wiffen of Ireland, who won an earlier gold in the 800 free, said he wouldn’t train ahead of time in the Seine: “I don’t want to try to deal with any illness.”

He said he would instead train in pools around Paris, even if it means “going in blind.”

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Associated Press journalists Karl Ritter and Janie McCauley contributed reporting.

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