Belgium’s mixed triathlon team withdrew from Monday’s mixed-relay triathlon race after one of its triathletes fell ill after swimming in last week’s race in the Seine River, the country’s Olympic committee said.
“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,” Belgium’s National Olympic Committee said in a statement Sunday.
The committee said triathlete, 35-year-old Claire Michel fell ill, but did not provide details on her sickness. It comes days after Michel finished 38th in last Wednesday’s women’s individual triathlon, though the Olympic Committee did not directly connect her illness with the race in the Seine.
The nation’s Olympic Committee said it and the Belgian triathlon program “hope that lessons will be learned for the next triathlon competitions at the Olympic Games.”
“We are thinking here of 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, their entourage and the supporters,” the statement said.
Switzerland, meanwhile, announced it was switching its mixed relay team for Monday after athlete Adrien Briffod came down with a gastrointestinal infection. The nation’s Olympic team said it was “impossible to say” if Briffod’s infection was linked to the water quality of the Seine.
The Swiss team’s doctor, Hanspeter Betschart, on Saturday said no other countries’ athletes who participated in last week’s individual races have experienced stomach problems.
Briffod was supposed to be replaced by Simon Westermann, but the Swiss team said Sunday he also came down with a gastrointestinal infection. He had not tested in the Seine, the team’s statement noted.
Sylvain Fridelance, 29, is slated to fill in instead, the team said.
Various concerns were raised about the pollution of the Seine ahead of the Paris Olympics, with tests just weeks before the event’s start showing dangerously high levels of bacteria.
Officials invested $1.5 billion into infrastructure improvements to clean up the long-polluted river and repeatedly insisted the swimming portion of the triathlon and marathon swimming events could be safely held in the river.
Concerns were brought up again last week after heavy rain hit Paris days ahead of last Wednesday’s races. Organizers on early Wednesday said the latest tests of water showed compliance with quality standards and the races continued as planned, The Associated Press reported.
