Posted on 08/04/2024 6:26:51 PM PDT by hardspunned
Belgium's Olympic team forfeited from Monday's mixed competition triathlon after one of its triathletes, Claire Michel, became sick after swimming in the Seine last Wednesday — a river that's faced frequent water quality and safety concerns.
"The Belgian Hammers will not start in the Mixed Relay competition at the Paris Games," the Belgian team said in a release. "Michel, one of the athletes in the mixed relay team, unfortunately has to withdraw from the competition due to illness."
While the Olympic team did not describe Michel's illness nor blame the Seine, Belgium newspaper De Standaard reported that the triathlete was hospitalized and treated for an E. coli infection Sunday. The bacteria can cause serious intestinal and medical issues.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.wgcu.org ...
A city full of invaders to whom the Seine is the cleanest body of water they'd ever seen.
It's all about perspective. /sarc
You would think that every olympic team would advise their athletes NOT to do weird or unusual things that could potentially cause problems for them. Swimming in a river you don’t know much about and don’t normally swim in, would be something on such a list of things.
I think the IOC should award a special medal to all triathletes who bravely swam in the fetid Seine.
Long ago, my parents visited Paris with some friends. My mom said the city was filthy then. The driver almost went ran off the road when they saw a woman using the bathroom out in the open. This was in 1959.
We all liked nice, clean Germany when we were stationed there a few years later.
I’m pretty sure the actual competition is held in that sewer.
Yes…there was an intentional call to sabotage the olympics by crapping in the river.
Merde!
You had to know, after heavy rains on opening day, the street runoff and storm sewers would foul the river. Totally ridiculous plan to begin with, the stunt is a display of typical french narcissism.
If water sports are being conducted in a river, wouldn’t there be concerns about how the current would affect the outcome? Better to use a lake or a canal.
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