As feared

Triathlete ill after swimming in “Dreck-Seine”!

Claire Michel

(Bild: GEPA)

Due to the illness of an athlete, the Belgian mixed team will not be competing in the triathlon at the Olympic Games in Paris on Monday! Claire Michel finished 38th in the women's single on Wednesday, whose swimming competition had taken place in the Seine, which was deemed to be "dirty". The 35-year-old is said to have been infected with a bacterium and had to be treated in hospital...

The decision was taken in consultation with the athletes, according to the Belgian Olympic and Interfederal Committee (COIB) and the Belgian Triathlon Federation.

"... hope that the lessons will be learned!"
"The COIB and Belgian Triathlon hope that lessons will be learned for the next triathlon competitions at the Olympic Games," the statement said. "We are thinking of the guarantee of training days, competition days and the competition format, which must be clarified in advance." It must be ensured that there are no uncertainties for the athletes, the environment and the fans.

For a long time, there had been discussions in Paris about whether the quality of the water in the Seine was really good enough for competitions to be held there. In recent years, 1.4 billion euros have been invested in wastewater treatment plants and the sewage system in the greater Paris area in order to improve the water quality. Among other things, this now prevents toilet wastewater from entering the river during heavy rainfall.

Because the water quality had not improved to the required extent, swimming training sessions for the mixed team were also canceled at the weekend. The reason for this was the heavy rainfall in the French capital over the past few days. This had led to a drop in water quality.