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Belgian Triathlete Claire Michel reportedly spent four days in a hospital with an E. Coli infection picked up from the Seine River while competing at the Olympics according to a new report.
Michel, 35, pulled out of the team triathlon on Monday alongside of the rest of her Belgian teammates due to the illness.
Officials delayed both the men’s and women’s triathlons after unsafe levels of E. Coli were found in the water during the testing.
Belgian Olympic Athletes Spoke Up About Unsafe Conditions Before Triathlon
“If the priority was the health of the athletes this event would have been moved to another location a long time ago,” Belgian men’s competitor Martin Van Riel said of the conditions. “We are just puppets in a puppetshow. Duathlon is no triathlon and changing the day like that in the middle of the night is disrespectful to the years of preparation of the athletes and to all (y)our fans that were going to watch live or on tv. What an appearance for triathlon on the biggest scene!”
France spent $1.5 billion prior to the games in order to clean up the Seine in Paris. But apparently that mission fell well short of the mark.
American triathlete Seth Rider even tried to build up a resistance to the bacteria in his day-to-day life.
“We know that there’s going to be some E. coli exposure, so I just try to increase my E. coli threshold by exposing myself to a bit of E. coli in your day-to-day life,” Rider said. “It’s actually backed by science. Proven methods. Just little things throughout your day, like, not washing your hands after you go to the bathroom and stuff like this.”
Apparently Michel didn’t get the memo.
Michel finished in 38th place in the individual event, while teammate Jolien Vermeylen finished 24th. Van Riel took 22nd in the men’s race alongside teammate Jelle Geens in 42nd.