Olympic athlete has disturbing revelation after controversial decision to swim in river Seine
An Olympic athlete has claimed she 'saw and felt things' in the River Seine that she doesn't want to recall, after competing in the women's triathlon event.
Both the men's and women's triathlon competitions were postponed on Tuesday [July 30], after officials deemed the water in the River Seine too unsafe to swim in.
As a result, the Olympics triathlon events took place on Wednesday, when tests showed that the water was finally at an acceptable level for the swim to go ahead.
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But a lot of the competitors were still not impressed with the standards of the water, which organisers said had gotten worse due to heavy rainfall over the weekend.
Belgium’s Jolien Vermeylen, who finished 24th in the women’s event, admitted that she was aware of the health risks that came with competing.
Upon finishing the race, she told VTM: "I drank a lot of water, so we’ll know tomorrow if I’m sick or not.
"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***!"
Despite this, she told the TV channel that she did take precautions in an attempt to avoid getting ill as a result of the water conditions.
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 concern about whether the event would go ahead, 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 scored a bronze in the women’s race.
Talking to BBC Sport following his victory, Yee said: "I’m so grateful to everyone who’s been in my corner for the past three years. That was for them."
Whilst Potter 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."
Team GB's current medal count - 20
Gold medallists
- Rosalind Canter, Laura Collett, Tom McEwen: Equestrian - Eventing team
- Tom Pidcock: Mountain Bike - Men's cross country
- Nathan Hales: Shooting - Men's trap
- Tom Dean, Kieran Bird, James Guy, Jack McMillan, Matthew Richards, Duncan Scott: Swimming - Men's 4x200m freestyle
- Alex Yee: Men's triathlon
- Lauren Henry, Lola Anderson, Hannah Scott and Georgina Brayshaw: Rowing - Women's quadruple sculls
Silver medallists
- Anna Henderson: Cycling - Women's individual time trial
- Adam Peaty: Swimming - Men's 100m breaststroke
- Tom Daley and Noah Williams: Diving - Men's synchronised 10m platform
- Adam Burgess: Canoe Slalom - Men's canoe single
- Matthew Richards: Swimming - Men's 200m freestyle
- Kieran Reilly: Cycling - Men's BMX Freestyle
- Helen Glover, Esme Booth, Sam Redgrave and Rebecca Shorten: Rowing - Women's coxless four
Bronze medallists
- Yasmin Harper and Scarlett Mew Jensen: Diving - Women's synchronised 3m springboard
- Kimberley Woods: Canoe - Women's slalom
- Laura Collett: Equestrian - Eventing individual
- Beth Potter: Women's triathlon
- Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix and Lois Toulson: Diving - Women's synchronised 10m platform
- Oliver Wilkes, David Ambler, Matt Aldridge and Freddie Davidson: Rowing - Men's coxless four
- Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne and Becky Wilde: Rowing - Women's double sculls
Mia Williams