The Belgian Olympic Committee has announced that the country will not take part in the mixed relay triathlon at the Paris Olympics after one of its athletes fell ill after swimming in the Seine.
In a statement, the Olympic Committee and the International Federation of Athletics Federations said Claire Michel was “unfortunately unable to recover due to poor health and therefore having to withdraw from the competition.”
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Belgian athlete Claire Michel competes in the women’s individual triathlon at the Olympic Games to be held in Paris on July 31, 2024. (Jasper Jacobs/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images)
Michelle competed in the women’s triathlon on Wednesday after postponing training for a few days due to concerns about the quality of the Seine’s water. She finished 38th.
Paris 2024 organisers said the triathlon would go ahead as scheduled at 8am local time. Belgian authorities did not say what type of illness Michel suffered from, but concerns about the water quality had been growing in the days and weeks leading up to the triathlon’s start.
Water quality tests by World Triathlon, the International Olympic Committee, Olympic organizers, local and meteorological authorities have shown that it has improved in recent hours and is within standards set by World Triathlon.
Belgian athlete Claire Michel is assisted by Norway’s Lotte Miller after the women’s individual triathlon competition at the Tokyo Summer Olympics on July 27, 2021. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
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Under World Triathlon guidelines, E. coli levels of up to 1,000 colony-forming units per 100 millilitres are considered “good” and allow the race to go ahead. Water quality in the Seine is tested daily.
A Belgian Olympic official said: “We hope that lessons can be learned for the future of triathlon at the Olympic Games. What we are thinking here is guarantees of training days, competition days and competition format, which must be made clear in advance so that there is no uncertainty for athletes, their accompanying personnel and supporters.”
Natalie van Coevorden (15) of Australia, Claire Michel (5) of Belgium and Ekaterina Shabalina (32) of Kazakhstan will compete in the women’s individual triathlon swimming event at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris on July 31. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
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The swimming portions of two test runs were canceled due to concerns about water quality, and the mixed relay test swims were also canceled Saturday and Sunday because of high bacteria levels.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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