Would you swim through possiblydisease-infested watersin exchange for a shot at winning a medal? That is what triathlon starTyler Mislawchukwas forced to do on July 31, 2024, when, in order to reach his goal, he had toswim a mile through the River Seinefor his performance at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The Canadian star finished in ninth place and, upon crossing the finish line, started throwing his guts up due to a combination of hot temperatures and the quality of the water.
HighlightsCanadian triathlon star Tyler Mislawchuk was seen throwing up violently after arriving at ninth place in the competition.The Seine River has been closed off for more than a century due to health concern related to its polluted waters.Paris has invested $1.5 billon dollars as part of a project to make the river “swimmable” for both athletes and citizens.
“We were asking ourselves. Why not do a triathlon in the Seine? Will athletes be able to swim in the Seine?” said Anne Hidalgo, Paris’ mayor, referring to the government’s decision to host the event. “Today we can say they can.”
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Image credits:BBC
The gold medal went to Great Britain’s Alex Yee, who overtook New Zealand’s Hayden Wilde during the final segment of the race. He won with a record of 1 hour, 43 minutes, and 33 seconds, securing his team’s fifth gold award.
The competition consisted of a course involving a 1.5-kilometer swim, a 40-kilometer bike ride, and a final stretch of 10 kilometers of running.
“I didn’t come here to come top 10 but I gave it everything I had,” said the Canadianathleteafter the race. “I went for it, I have no regrets — vomited 10 times.”
The River Seine presented unacceptable levels of pollution in the months leading to the Olympics, with the triathlon ultimately having to be rescheduled due to the weekend’s rainfall
Analysts were quick to point out theworrying pollution levelsof theriverprior to the competition. Heavy rainfall inParisover the weekend worsened the quality of the water, which forced the organizers of the event to reschedule the race, originally set to take place on Tuesday 30, 2024, to the next day.
Swimmingin the River Seine has been prohibited for more than a century due to the presence of diseases such as E. coli and other pollutants in the waters, leading to health concerns from possible ingestion of the water.
What makes this occasion different from previous temporary openings of the river is that Paris authorities intended to make the Seine swimmable permanently
Image credits:Shaw/Getty
The current version of the ambitious projectdates back to 2015and involves the construction of a giant basin to capture excess rainwater, with additional measures put in place to keep wastewater from flowing into the river. To achieve this, sewer infrastructure and wastewater treatment plants were also rebuilt.
In April 2024,Surfrider Europe, a non-profit foundation dedicated to the protection of different bodies of water,warnedabout the status of the waters ahead of theOlympics.
“The consequences of this pollution on health are serious, especially when you are an athlete trying to become anOlympicchampion,” the statement continues while explaining that users are at risk of contracting a variety of diseases, like otitis, conjunctivitis, dermatitis, and gastroenteritis.
Viewers reacted with concern at the shocking images of the Canadian star, with many wishing the event would’ve been canceled altogether
Image credits:Ezra Shaw/Getty
“This should have been canceled. No care whatsoever,” argued one reader.
“Imagine spending a lifetime training for an event like this and then having to put your health at risk to compete,” lamented one fan.
“I would urgently take antibiotics right after this competition,” said one commenter concerned for the health of the competitors. “I hope they get dewormed and checked for hepatitis,” another replied.
“It’s disgusting that Paris even made the attempt to force that on the world’s athletes, regardless of the money spent cleaning it,” stated one user. “For over 100 years there have been signs all around the Seine of actual human sewage – that could be smelled.”
Others remarked that the fact that only one of the many competitors in the event threw up meant that it was an exception more than an indication of the overall status of the river.
“To be fair he just swam, cycled and then ran. I would have thrown up and that’s without the polluted water scenario,” argued a viewer.
“If they end up sick, it won’t be a surprise,” predicted one viewer while others expressed concern for the athlete’s health
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