Mia Williams
Athletes who were required to swim in the River Seine to compete at the Olympics nearly didn't, after officials made an alarming discovery.
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 of Monday, organisers were confident that the triathlon events were going to go ahead, but it didn't go exactly according to plan.
On Wednesday, tests were carried out by organisers showed that the water was finally at an acceptable level for the swim to go ahead.
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And Team GB ending up bagging two medals - Alex Yee claimed gold in the men’s event, while Beth Potter scored a bronze in the women’s race.
Officials were alarmed on Tuesday morning, to discover that water tests had showed persistent levels of E. coli - breaking the limits imposed of sports federations.
And one athlete claimed that she 'saw and felt things' in the River Seine that she didn't care to expand on.
E. coli is a bacteria that can cause illnesses including vomiting and diarrhoea - which is far from ideal for athletes competing in the Olympics to contract.
Despite this, athletes competing admitted that unfortunately, they couldn't help but swallow the water during the race.
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 broadcasting channel VTM: "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."
Another athlete went to the extreme lengths of trying to infect himself before swimming in the river, in preparation.
Seth Rider, a Team USA athlete, attempted to increase his E. coli threshold, letting his body get used the bacteria.
Speaking to the BBC, Rider explained: "We know that there's going to be some E. coli exposure, so I just try to increase my E. coli threshold by exposing myself to a bit of E. coli in your day-to-day life.
"Just little things throughout your day, like, not washing your hands after you go to the bathroom and stuff like this."
Since the event, athletes have now called out Paris organisers, suggesting that the health of athletes was never a high priority.
Vermeylen added: "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***!"