A Canadian triathlete vomited live on television moments after completing the Olympic Games triathlon amid concerns over pollution levels in the River Seine.
Tyler Mislawchuk could be seen retching while several other athletes reported concerns about being taken ill following the race, which had been postponed by one day but went ahead on Wednesday after organizers tested the water levels in the Parisian river and confirmed the results were in line with health and quality standards.
The quality of the water in the Seine has raised considerable doubts about the organization of triathlons and open-water swimming events for more than a year leading up to the Games.
Despite the French spending more than €1 billion to make the water cleaner, several people fell ill after last year’s test event. At the Olympics, only the training sessions and then the men’s race on Tuesday had to be postponed because of the level of contamination, but by Wednesday morning the quality levels had suddenly changed for the better, so that the women’s and men’s triathlon races could start on Wednesday, avoiding a world scandal.
There is no reason to doubt the results of the tests, but there are already signs that all is not yet well with the Seine.
“I didn’t come here to finish in the top 10, but I gave it my all. I tried, I have no regrets. I threw up 10 times at the end of the race, but it was worth it for the result,” said Mislawchuk, who has been ailing ever since.
According to Belgian Marten Van Riel, the organizers were only interested in getting the race organized, and no one was interested in the health of the triathletes.
“They treated us like puppets in a puppet theater. If they really cared about our health, they would have moved this event to another venue long ago because of the pollution of the Seine,” he wrote on his social media page.
Several other participants commented on the situation, including U.S. triathlete Seth Rider, who joked, “Hopefully, I can handle some E. coli because I think I swallowed so much water out there. Probably everyone did.”
“I’m not [dead]!” China’s Xinyu Lin told her country’s media after the event, while others expressed concern about the possible symptoms to come over the next few days.
“Let’s see tonight,” said Italy’s Verena Steinhauser. “I hope I will be OK, but I am a little bit nervous.”