Criticism over the decision to allow Olympians to swim in the Seine at Paris 2024 intensified after a German athlete claimed she suffered diarrhoea and vomiting.
Leonie Beck has hit out at the decision to allow athletes to swim in the Paris river after revealing she was sick nine times and had severe bowel issues having finished ninth in the marathon swimming event, in which athletes swim for 10 kilometres for roughly two hours.
Paris authorities spent over £1.2 billion to attempt to clean the river but it still had 10 times the permitted E. coli bacteria levels in June, a month before the Games started.
The triathlon was then delayed after several outbreaks of rain, including a thunderstorm, prompted concerns over the Seine but the race eventually went ahead after it passed water-quality tests.
Beck, 27, however, shared her health issues on social media. “Vommitted [sic] nine times yesterday plus diarrhea. Water quality in the Seine approved,” she wrote in an Instagram story alongside a green tick emoji.
Athletes furious with E. coli outbreak
Belgian triathlete Claire Michel was in hospital with E. coli after her swim, forcing her nation to withdraw from the mixed relay because they did not have a replacement. Michel’s team-mate Jolien Vermeylen went on to call the decision to permit swimming in the river “bull—-”. “The Seine has been dirty for a hundred years, so they can’t say that the safety of the athletes is a priority. That’s bulls—-,” the triathlete told VTM.
Swiss athlete Adrien Briffod also suffered a gastrointestinal infection, although his national body maintains it is “impossible to say” if it is linked to water quality in the Seine.
Swimming in the river has been banned since 1923 but Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo said the water was “delicious” after taking a plunge ahead of the Olympics to prove it was safe enough.
