Paris Olympics on channels 26.7.–11.8. Go to the competition website here. You can find the entire program of the games here.
PARIS.
The laundry from competing in the Seine River is hot at the Paris Olympics. About 1.5 billion euros were spent to improve the water quality of the river, but problems were encountered when organizing triathlon competitions in the river.
The Olympic Games started with trouble when the first two training days in the Seine were canceled and the men’s competition had to be postponed by one day due to the water quality, which was considered too dangerous. After that, the water quality was at the level allowed by the rules of the International Triathlon Federation.
So how did swimming in the Seine ultimately affect the health of the athletes? reviews what is known so far after the last Olympic triathlon that took place on Monday.
According to the Belgian newspaper De Standaard, a triathlete Claire Michel was hospitalized last week due to an E.coli infection. It is public knowledge that E.coli bacteria has been specifically detected in the Seine. It causes a diarrhea-like disease.
Belgium had to withdraw from the medley relay due to absence. In its press release, Belgium said that Michelin had fallen ill, but did not reveal the reason for it. However, the bulletin pointed out triathlon events in recent weeks.
The Belgian Olympic Committee and the Triathlon Federation hoped that lessons would be learned from the events in Paris. They pointed to canceled practices and unclear competition dates and competition formats, as well as conditions that caused uncertainty.
The Swiss federation, on the other hand, stated to the news agency AP that Adrian Briffod got some kind of stomach bug after competing in the Seine. However, according to the representatives of the union, it is impossible to say whether the illness is related to the Seine or if the cause is elsewhere.
About Norwegian athletes Vetle Bergsvik Thorn on the other hand, told the Norwegian broadcasting company NRK that he had fallen ill after competing in the Seine. He had had stomach problems and had vomited, but thought it was probably food poisoning.
Norway’s sports boss Arild Tveiten according to the national team’s doctor, based on the symptoms, he leans more towards food poisoning than the problems caused by Seinen. Thorn finally competed on Monday in the medley relay for the Norwegian team.
All in all, three illnesses have become public, possibly related to competing in the Seine. In total, there were 110 participants in last Wednesday’s individual triathlon competitions.
Strong criticism from athletes
Norway managed only 11th place on Monday in the competition in the final Olympic triathlon event in the medley relay.
– Why are competitions held, but no exercises? Because you shouldn’t swim in this water. I am happy that we were able to compete in the triathlon, but this much uncertainty, especially in the already stressful Olympics, is sad. You can say that this is part of the sport, but at least try to reduce Herranen’s time, Lotte Miller sent his greetings to the race organizers in the Norwegian VG magazine.
From the USA team that ended up with bronze after finish camera pictures Morgan Pearson took a strong stand on the uproar about water quality.
– The race organizers could have invested more to have clean water. They just hoped for the best. They knew the athletes were competing because it was the Olympics. It sounds like they put a lot of money into cleaning, but maybe in a different way. Maybe they had the wrong idea, Pearson described at the press conference.
Pearson suggested a kind of safety net for a swimming competition like in Tokyo. He considered racing in Paris to be a really uncertain thing with a lot of risks.
– I was surprised that we competed today. When it rained, the water quality deteriorated. It rained a lot the previous two nights. I went to bed and I was sure that there would be no competition today. It will be interesting to see how many people get sick in the coming days, Pearson said.
According to Pearson, no dirt was detected in the water itself. The same observation was already made by Urheilu earlier in the week.
– The water looked rougher in Tokyo, but the water was quite brown, Pearson said about his visual observations.
The other medal teams, the gold team Germany and the bronze team Great Britain, did not take such a strong stance on the matter. Both teams were told that they trusted the race organizers’ assessment of the safety of swimming. The German team was reminded that most of the athletes have remained healthy.
– We had no problems after the individual competition. We don’t expect anything after this race either. I hope we stay healthy, Lasse Lürhs lined up for his team.
However, like the Norwegians, Lührs criticized the stress caused by the race organizers to the athletes when the competition became uncertain. A teammate reminded me of the same thing Tim Hellwig.
– This was a wonderful place to compete. This was an experience that only happens once in a lifetime. I still think it was difficult to deal with. It was difficult to get information about the cancellation. I woke up in the middle of the night on Wednesday. I tried not to look at the phone. I tried to prepare normally, Hellwig said.
– Then I woke up properly. Adrenaline started flowing. I tried to focus on the race and make breakfast. 45 minutes later I heard that the race has been postponed. It affects your performance when you lose sleep at night.
The same type of story was also told by the members of the Great Britain team.
– We would have liked an alternative competition venue like there is in open water swimming. It would be nice to have such a backup option in mind. We kept looking out the windows to make sure it wasn’t raining there. However, I believe that the organizers put health first, Georgia Taylor-Brown described.