Hospitalized Olympic Athlete Breaks Silence After Team Forfeits Event

The 2024 Paris Olympics have taken years to prepare for. One of the biggest storylines during the event is the conditions of the Seine River.

Before the Olympics began, Paris spent $1.5 billion to renovate the sewer systems, including a massive storage tank underneath the city that can hold 13 million gallons of liquid.

But it doesn't seem to have made a big difference. It was reported that the Belgian triathlon team, the Belgian Hammers, had to forfeit the mixed triathlon event due to one of the team members becoming sick from the river, per a report from De Standaard.

"The Belgian relay team in the triathlon, the Belgian Hammers, has forfeited the mixed triathlon that will take place on Monday morning," the report stated. "One of the four pawns, Claire Michel, has been ill for four days and had to go to the hospital for treatment today. She was infected with the E.coli bacteria, it turned out after examination."

Shortly after, Michel took to Instagram and shared a touching photo with her teammates.

"Thank you for all the kind messages checking in on me," Michel wrote. "I've had good care here and I will recover. I'm mostly devastated for the team and sad to finish the Games like this. 10/10 for team support though."

Team Belgium released a statement after they were forced to forfeit the event:

"The BOIC and Belgian Triathlon hope that lessons will be learned for future triathlon competitions. We are thinking of training days that can be guaranteed, competition days and formats that are clear in advance and circumstances that do not cause uncertainty among athletes, entourage and fans."

Claire Michel finished 38th in the women's triathlon on Wednesday. An athlete from Switzerland also was sick and caused the Swiss team to replace him due to a gastrointestinal infection.

It was reported that the water conditions were "very good" on the morning of the race, so there are a lot of questions regarding the Seine River.

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