Olympic Swimmers Sick With Suspected E. Coli After Swimming In Seine: Report
Two Olympic athletes have fallen seriously ill after swimming in Paris' Seine River, as one athlete even had to pull out of the following event due to sickness.
Triathletes swam in the waters — which officials declared "safe" after last-minute testing, following speculations as to whether the river would be clean and appropriate for Olympians to compete in.
The Belgian and Interfederal committee released a statement Sunday announcing that the Belgian team will not be taking part in the mixed relay in Paris after news surfaced of Claire Michel's suspected river-related illness.
"The BOIC and Belgian Triathlon must unfortunately announce that the "Belgian Hammers" will not be starting the mixed relay at the Paris Olympic Games tomorrow. The decision, like this communication, was taken in consultation with the athletes and their entourage," the announcement detailed, per Team Belgium.
"Claire Michel, a member of the relay, is unfortunately ill and must withdraw from the competition. Member of the COIB and World Triathlon Athletes Commission, she is committed to continually evaluating and improving the conditions of athletes."
The committee also suggested that the next Triathlon for the Olympic Games should consider "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."
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In February, French President Emmanuel Macron promised to swim in the Seine ahead of the Olympics in order to prove that it's clean enough for athletes.
The 25th president of France half-heartedly walked back that comment when he claimed shortly after that he wouldn't set a date. "I'm not going to give you the date — there's a risk you'll be there," he joked to a reporter, per 'PEOPLE.'
Per 'Pedestrian TV,' 35-year-old Michel wasn't the only one to coincidentally fall ill after contact with the waters. Swiss athlete Adrien Brifford fell ill with a reported E.Coli-related stomach infection before he pulled out of the mixed relay.
'ESPN' maintained that it was "impossible to say" whether the illness was related to swimming in the Seine.
Thanks to heavy rains over the years, the Seine has been plagued by overflowing sewage pipes, making the river off-limits to swimming for over a century.
'Forbes' Judy Stone, an Infectious Disease specialist, wrote that the swimmers could be exposed to even more infections during an extended incubation period. Athletes can contract Leptospirosis, a "bacterial infection transmitted primarily through rat (or other mammal) urine" and Hepatitis A and E.
