Paris Olympics triathlete slams officials after swimming in ‘dirty’ Seine River, ‘I felt…’

“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**t!” Vermeylen said

Belgium's Jolien Vermeylen called out Paris Olympics 2024 officials after swimming in the “dirty” Seine River. The 30-year-old triathlete shared her disgusting experience during Wednesday's women's race, where she finished 24th.

Athletes compete in the swimming race in the Seine during the women's individual triathlon at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in central Paris on July 31, 2024. (Photo by Jeff PACHOUD / AFP)(AFP)

Olympics triathlete blasts officials after swimming in polluted Seine River

Recalling her experience during the 1500-meter swim, Vermeylen revealed that she could feel the debris in the water. “While swimming under the bridge, I felt and saw things that we shouldn’t think about too much,” she told Belgian TV channel VTM.

The Olympian expressed concerns about her safety as she ingested a significant amount of the polluted water while swimming. “We’ll know tomorrow if I’m sick or not,” she said, adding, “It doesn’t taste like Coca-Cola or Sprite, of course.”

Despite recent reports of the Seine River being contaminated with high levels of dangerous bacteria, the officials greenlit the event, claiming that the water was safe enough for athletes to compete.

“Despite the improvement on the water quality levels in the last hours, the readings at some points of the swim course are still above the acceptable limits,” the officials said.

However, tests conducted in June revealed that the level of E. coli bacteria, which is linked to faecal matter and can cause diarrhoea, urinary tract infections, pneumonia and sepsis, was 10 times above the acceptable levels, per CBS News.

“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**t!” Vermeylen continued, adding that although she took precautions before competing, they may not have been enough.

“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.” “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,” she added.