Triathlete confesses:

No hand washing at the toilet as preparation for Paris

For the triathletes, it was into the Seine.

(Bild: AFP/APA/POOL/David Goldman)

The Olympic athletes had to swim 1.5 kilometers through the Seine at the Paris triathlon on Wednesday - and for a long time it was uncertain whether the competition could even take place as planned due to poor water conditions. In preparation for the "dirty river", Seth Rider confessed that he had taken special measures.

"I wanted to raise my E.coli threshold, so I exposed myself to a little E.coli in my everyday life. It was little everyday things like not washing your hands when you go to the bathroom," the 27-year-old told USA Today. 

Seth Rider after the Olympic tritathlon:

In recent weeks, excessive levels of Escherichia coli (E. coli) and intestinal enterococci (intestinal bacteria that enter the water with feces) had been measured in the Seine; the triathlon was originally scheduled for Tuesday, but was postponed by one day due to poor results. Rider finished the competition in 29th place, six places behind the Austrian Alois Knabl. 

"This is bullshit"
The American was probably not alone in his unusual preparation, as the athletes were already aware before the Games that the Seine is not exactly the cleanest river. A statement by Jolien Vermeylen suggests just how dirty the river actually was. "When I was under the bridge, I felt and saw things that we shouldn't think too much about. The Seine has been dirty for a hundred years, so you can't claim that the safety of the athletes is the top priority. That's bullshit," the Belgian triathlete grumbled after her race.