Seine River appears to claim another Olympian as Swiss triathlete has stomach infection
Another day, another sick Olympian who spent time in the Seine River.
Triathlete Adrien Briffod of Switzerland suffered a stomach infection following the men’s event that took place on Wednesday.
According to 7 News, Swiss officials confirmed the sickness but said that it was “impossible to say” if the Seine River was to blame.
The Seine River was in the spotlight before the Olympics — and the issues have been as bad as feared.
There were postponements for the triathlon races held last week and practice sessions have been delayed for the marathon swimming event this week with officials constantly testing the amount of bacteria in the water.
The bigger issue, though, is those who do compete in the river getting sick.
Claire Michel, a Belgian competitor in the women’s individual triathlon, has been battling E. Coli, according to De Standaard, a newspaper in her home country.
The team has yet to confirm the specifics of the illness that has hospitalized her and forced the Belgians to withdraw from the team triathlon competition.
The Belgian Olympic Committee added that they hoped “to learn lessons for future triathlon competitions. These include training days that can be guaranteed, race days and formats that are clear in advance, and conditions that do not create uncertainty for athletes, entourage, and fans.”
The men’s event was originally postponed after heavy rain and flooding increased the E. coli levels in the river.
The event eventually took place on Wednesday, with Great Britain’s Alex Yee claiming a gold medal, although Canada’s Tyler Mislawchuk was seen vomiting afterward.
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Mislawchuk blamed the temperatures in France.
“I have no ‘what ifs’ on the day, I went for it, it was absolutely everything. I vomited 10 times after the race … it got hot in the last laps,” Mislawchuk later said.
“I’m just a kid from Winnipeg, well, specifically Oak Bluff, where it’s –50 (Celcius) in the winter, and I’m here at the Summer Olympics.”
A teammate of Michel, Belgian Triathlete Jolien Vermeylen said she drank a lot of the water during the women’s race.
“I drank a lot of water, so we’ll know tomorrow if I’m sick or not,” Vermeylen said, according to News.com. “It doesn’t taste like Coca-Cola or Sprite, of course.”
