PARIS (AP)— Belgium’s Olympic committee stated on Sunday that its team would withdraw from the mixed relay triathlon at the Paris Olympics after one of its participants who swam in the Seine River became ill.
Claire Michel, who competed in the women’s triathlon on Wednesday, “is unfortunately ill and will have to withdraw from the competition,” the Belgian Olympic and Interfederal Committee said in a statement.
The Paris 2024 organizers had no immediate comment on Michel’s sickness, but announced in a statement Sunday night that the mixed relay triathlon would take place Monday at 8 a.m. The swim portion of the competition is scheduled for the Seine.
The Belgian committee’s statement did not elaborate on Michel’s illness but it comes after concerns over the river’s water quality. Organizers had said that water quality tests done the day of the individual triathlon races showed “very good” bacteria levels.
On Sunday night, representatives from World Triathlon and the International Olympic Committee along with Paris Games organizers and regional and weather authorities reviewed water tests. The results indicated the water quality at the triathlon site had improved over recent hours and would be within the limits mandated by World Triathlon.
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