Claire Michel, Belgian athlete who fell ill after swimming in Seine, says she contracted a virus

Belgian triathlete Claire Michel was forced to withdraw from competition after falling ill at the Paris Olympic Games, which caused her country’s mixed relay team to withdraw from Monday’s event.

But after reports swirled about the nature of her illness — some Belgian press outlets reported it as E.coli — Michel herself dispelled some of the inaccuracies.

Claire Michel said, in an Instagram post, that blood tests showed she had contracted a virus.

“Blood tests showed that I contracted a virus (not E. Coli),” Michel wrote. “After three days of vomiting and diarrhea, which left me quite empty, I ended up needing more significant medical attention and spent the Sunday at the clinic.”

Michel said she made the Instagram post to clear up “a lot of conflicting information in the media.” She said she is now “gradually doing better” and indicated that she returned home to Belgium.

It remains unclear whether the water in the Seine River was to blame.

Claire Michel had previously competed in the women’s triathlon on July 31, finishing in 38th. Following that swim she fell ill, setting off a firestorm of concerns about the cleanliness and safety for athletes swimming in the famed river.

The illness, along with that of Swiss triathlete Adrien Briffod, overshadowed events scheduled to take place in the Seine River.

The men’s triathlon at the Olympics was delayed due to poor conditions, while various other training sessions were scrapped after tests of the water quality.

Still, organizers were able to get most of the major events off without a hitch and defended the quality of the water despite some challenges.

“Paris 2024 wishes to remind everyone that the health and wellbeing of athletes is our top priority,” a statement from organizers read, via a Reuters report. “Water samples… on the morning of the individual triathlon events showed the quality to be at a level considered ‘very good’ by World Triathlon’s criteria, according to results analysed and released the following day.”

Exacerbating the issues to get the Seine River up to snuff was the weather. Days of heavy rain made it more difficult to lower the bacteria levels from the Seine River.

In any case, Claire Michel is back home now and recovering and she wished her team well.

“While the whole team fully understood and supported our decision not to start the relay, my heart goes out first and foremost to my fellow @belgianhammers @martenvanriel @jellegeens and @jolien_vermeylen who also lost out on another chance to race 😔,” Michel wrote.

“Belgium is a relatively small country, but with a strong relay tradition across many sports. The #belgianhammers was a project we started in Tokyo with the first ever Triathlon Mixed Team Relay, where we rallied to 5th place finish (also after difficult circumstances). We wanted nothing more than to improve on that performance to inspire the next generation.

“So if I have one wish for the future generation of Belgian Hammers it’s that not only will you always fight until the end, but you will also support each other to the end. This is something I can certainly take away from both my relay experiences with the athletes here in Paris and in Tokyo.”