'No proven link' between sick athlete and Seine water quality, says French sports minister
There is "no proven link" between the illness of a Belgian triathlete and the water quality of the Seine, French Sports minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra told BFM TV on Monday.
On Monday, the Olympic mixed triathlon relay started without Belgium. The team was forced to withdraw after Claire Michel fell ill after competing in the women's individual event on Wednesday.
Michel was taken to the Olympic Village clinic for treatment on Sunday morning and has since returned to her room. Belgian media reported that she may have fallen ill from swimming in the Seine.
"Michel is ill, but it is not necessarily related to her swimming test," Oudéa-Castéra told French broadcaster BFM TV. No other cases of ill athletes are known and the water's quality was "particularly good" on the race day, she said.
Earlier, De Standaard reported that Michel was suffering from an E.coli infection, but her fellow triathlete Marten Van Riel has since announced that she was infected with another, as yet unidentified virus.
The Seine's water quality has long been an issue in the run-up to the Olympics. Several training sessions were cancelled, and the men's individual race was postponed by a day because of the poor water quality. On Monday, the water was deemed clean enough for the mixed relay to take place.
© BELGA PHOTO JASPER JACOBS
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