Paris 2024 Olympics: Belgian triathlete forced to withdraw after swimming in the Seine and being hospitalized

La Belge Claire Michel contaminée par la bactérie e.coli. MAXPPP – JASPER JACOBS

Claire Michel, triathlète belge, est hospitalisée depuis quatre jours après avoir été contaminée par la bactérie e.coli, présente dans la Seine. Son absence entraîne le forfait de la Belgique au relais mixte, disputé ce lundi 5 août.

Belgium had to withdraw from the mixed triathlon relay this Monday. The reason: Claire Michel's hospitalization. The 35-year-old triathlete has been sick since the end of the race, on Wednesday, July 31. She was contaminated by the e.coli bacteria, present in the Seine. So, it was perhaps in the Parisian river that she caught it.

Swimming in the Seine was inevitably the talk of the town before the start of the triathlon and open water events. But tests were carried out before the races, validating the “swimmability” at the time of the event.

“I felt and saw things…”

“I drank a lot of water, so we'll know tomorrow if I'm sick or not. It doesn't taste like Coca-Cola or Sprite, obviously. While swimming under the bridge, I felt and saw things that we shouldn't think about too much,” triathlete Jolien Vermeylen told Belgian media outlet VTM.

Read also: Triathlon postponed at the 2024 Paris Olympics: fecal contamination, wastewater… what is this tenacious bacteria that is polluting the Seine ?

The training planned in the Seine this Sunday was cancelled due to the poor quality of the water. But the event was not threatened according to the organization. The mixed relay will therefore take place this Monday, August 5, at 8 a.m.

The e.coli bacteria can contain micro-organisms that cause enteric diseases (gastroenteritis, cholera, typhoid, etc.), which can be transmitted by indigestion of water polluted by fecal matter from contaminated people.