Belgium withdrew from the mixed relay that included swimming in the Seine. Belgium did not take part in the triathlon mixed relay in Paris on Monday, the Belgian Olympic Committee said after one of the country's athletes became sick and withdrew from the competition. The withdrawal of the athlete Claire Michel prompted renewed debate about the water quality of the Seine despite coming several days after she swam in the river.
Pierre Rabadan, deputy mayor of Paris in charge of sport, the Olympic and Paralympic Games and the Seine, told FranceInfo on Monday morning that other athletes were sick in the Olympic village who did not swim in the river. "Nothing allows us to say that there is a link with the quality of the water," Rabadan said of Michel's illness, adding that they did not know the cause. Organisers had said that water quality tests done the day of the individual triathlon races showed “very good” bacteria levels.
The water results on Sunday night indicated the quality at the triathlon site had improved over recent hours and would be within the limits mandated by World Triathlon. Daily water quality tests measure levels of faecal bacteria, including E. coli, in the Seine’s waters.
World Triathlon’s and a 2006 assign qualitative values to a range of E. coli levels. World Triathlon’s medical committee said it considers water quality analysis, sanitary inspection and the weather forecast when determining whether to go forward with a race.
The decisions have generally been made at early morning meetings on the day of the event. But in announcing Sunday night that the race would happen Monday, organisers said they were responding to requests from athletes to give them more time to prepare. Leading up to the individual triathlon events, water quality concerns prompted organisers to cancel the swimming portion of two test runs meant to allow athletes to familiarise themselves with the course and to delay the men's race by a day.
Test swims in the Seine scheduled for Saturday and Sunday before the triathlon mixed relay were also cancelled because of bacteria levels in the water. The Belgian Olympic committee and "Belgian Triathlon hope that lessons will be learned for the next triathlon competitions at the Olympic Games," the organisations said in a statement. This includes making sure "training days, competition days and the competition format, [are] clarified in advance [to] ensure that there is no uncertainty for the athletes, their entourage and the supporters".
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