Tejal Somvanshi
A new controversy has arisen over the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The Belgian Olympic Committee announced yesterday, Sunday, its decision to withdraw its mixed relay triathlon team. This decision came after one of its members, Claire Michel, who finished 38th in the women’s triathlon on July 31, fell ill after swimming in the Seine River. “Claire Michel, a member of the relay team, is unfortunately ill and must withdraw from the competition,” stated the announcement by the Belgian Olympic Committee(BOIC) and the country’s triathlon federation, which did not specify the type of illness or infection the athlete is suffering from. However, on social media, there has been much speculation that it may be the Escherichia coli bacteria.
The Belgian Olympic Committee (BOIC) and Belgian Triathlon expressed hope that lessons will be learned for future triathlon competitions in the Olympic Games, according to a statement from the organizations. Among their requests, both organizations called for “training days that can be guaranteed, match days and formats that are clear in advance and circumstances that do not cause uncertainty for athletes, entourage and fans.”
The mixed triathlon will take place on Monday with the swimming segment in the Seine River, despite rumors about the water quality. The water quality of the Seine has been a concern for the Paris-2024 organizers for months. On Sunday evening, it was announced that the mixed relay event would proceed as scheduled on Monday because the latest water quality tests showed that conditions in the Seine had improved in the last few hours. Prospective tests indicated that the water quality would be within the acceptable limits set by World Triathlon.
The sanitation of the Seine River was a project initiated by France in 2016. Authorities invested more than €1.4 billion ($1.52 billion at the current exchange rate) in creating a series of infrastructures to reduce pollution in the Seine and its tributary, the Marne, thus enabling swimming. The sanitation efforts included constructing new water treatment plants, installing waste collection systems, and connecting all the boats on the Seine to the city’s sewage network. Despite the Seine hosting the Olympic competition, swimming in it had been prohibited since 1923.
The Organizing Committee and World Triathlon explained that the men’s triathlon, originally scheduled for July 30, was delayed because bacteria levels in certain areas of the course were still above acceptable limits. However, the men’s triathlon took place the following day, after the women’s event, with tests showing particularly low levels of E. coli, the most problematic of the two fecal bacteria measured to determine whether open water competitions could proceed, as explained by the Organizing Committee the next day.
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In August 2023, the triathlon test events were canceled in part due to insufficient water quality for European standards concerning two fecal bacteria: Escherichia coli and enterococci. On Saturday, halfway through the Paris-2024 Games, the President of the Organizing Committee, Tony Estanguet, expressed his optimism regarding the upcoming events in the Seine.
Days before the opening of the Games, Paris’s Socialist Mayor, Anne Hidalgo, and the President of the Organizing Committee, Tony Estanguet, swam in the waters of the Seine to demonstrate that it was safe. On July 31, French President Emmanuel Macron celebrated the holding of the events with a message on the social network X, illustrated with images of triathletes diving into the river, and the text: “Through massive investment from the State, with Paris and Val-de-Marne, we have achieved in 4 years the impossible for 100 years: the Seine is swimmable,” a “fabulous heritage ” for the residents “and biodiversity.”
The mixed triathlon will proceed as planned, with open water swimming events scheduled for August 8 and 9. The efforts to clean and monitor the Seine are part of an ongoing initiative to ensure the safety and legacy of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
