An athlete who competed in the Paris Olympics triathlon says she ‘felt and saw things I don’t want to think about’ while swimming in the River Seine.
The postponed triathlon took place on Wednesday after early morning tests showed the water quality in the Seine was finally at an acceptable level for the swim leg to go ahead.
But several competitors were still less than impressed by the pollution in the Seine, which Paris organisers said had worsened after heavy rainfall over the weekend.
Belgium’s Jolien Vermeylen, who finished 24th in the women’s event, said the water ‘didn’t taste like Coke or Sprite’ and admitted she was aware of the risk of getting sick.
‘I drank a lot of water, so we’ll know tomorrow if I’m sick or not,’ she told TV channel VTM. ‘It doesn’t taste like Coca-Cola or Sprite, of course.
‘While swimming under the bridge, I felt and saw things that we shouldn’t think about too much.
‘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***!’
Vermeylen took precautions to avoid getting sick but admits she took on quite a bit of water during the swim leg.
The 30-year-old added: ‘If the race hadn’t taken place, it would have been a disgrace for the organisation, for Paris, for France.
‘It was now or never, and they couldn’t cancel the race completely either. Now they just have to hope that there won’t be too many sick athletes.
‘I took pro-biotics, I drank my Yakult, I couldn’t do more. I had the idea of not drinking water, but yes, it failed.’
Following days of concerns over the River Seine and the triathlon events, two Team GB stars produced impressive performances to bag medals.
Tokyo 2020 silver medallist Alex Yee claimed gold in the men’s event while Beth Potter battled to bronze in the women’s race.
‘I’m so grateful to everyone who’s been in my corner for the past three years. That was for them,’ Yee told BBC Sport after passing New Zealand’s Hayden Wilde late on.
‘At 5km [on the run leg] I was going through a really bad patch and with 2.5km to go I thought “I’m going to give myself one last chance at this and not give up”, and here we are.’
Potter, meanwhile, said: ‘I’m so happy. I was going for the gold but Cassandre and Julie were just too good for me today and I’m super happy to come away with the bronze.
‘I’ve come a long way in eight years. I did it for me but I also did it for everyone who has helped me in eight years and believed in me from day one. It is for them back home as well.’
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