Belgium out of triathlon relay as athlete falls ill

Claire Michel competed in triathlon for Belgium in Rio 2016 and Paris 2020

Belgium have pulled out of the Olympic mixed relay triathlon at Paris 2024 after one of their athletes fell ill.

Claire Michel competed in the women's triathlon on Wednesday, finishing 38th.

A source from the Belgian team told BBC Sport that, contrary to reports in Belgian media, the 35-year-old has not contracted E. coli.

They added that they could not be certain of a link between Michel's illness and the River Seine, where the swimming leg is held.

The poor water quality of the Seine had been a major talking point before and during Paris 2024.

It caused the men's triathlon to be delayed by a day, while the practice swim for the mixed relay was postponed on Sunday for the second day in a row. The mixed relay race got under way on Monday morning as planned, despite a request from teams to delay the competition to allow for more athlete preparation time.

A joint statement from World Triathlon and Paris 2024 said: "The latest test results confirm that Seine water-quality levels at the triathlon venue have improved in recent hours, with forward-looking analysis indicating that water quality will be within the levels acceptable by World Triathlon."

On Saturday, the Swiss team said that their athlete Adrien Briffod - who took part in the men's race - had a stomach infection and would not compete in the mixed relay.

The Belgian Olympic Committee (COIB) said that while Michel did visit the polyclinic at the Olympic village, she was not taken to hospital.

It did not state what illness she was suffering from and announced that the decision not to participate was taken "in consultation with the athletes and the entourage".

COIB added that it hopes "that lessons will be learned for future triathlon competitions".

Prior to the start of the Olympic triathlon event, daily tests were being carried out on the water quality in the Seine, which is also due to host the Olympic marathon swimming on 8 and 9 August, and the Para-triathlon event at the Paralympics, which start on 28 August.

Swimming in the river had been banned for over 100 years because of high levels of pollution and the risk of disease, but French authorities have invested heavily to make the Seine swimmable as part of the Games' legacy.

Organisers said about 1.4bn euros (£1.2bn) had been spent on a regeneration project to make the Seine safe.

Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo recently swam in the river to highlight the clean-up efforts which have been undertaken and, earlier this month, tests showed the river was clean enough for swimming.

Heavy rain in Paris on the first Friday and Saturday of the Olympics caused the water quality to decline - although both the men's and women's individual races were able to take place on Wednesday.

Team GB selected Alex Yee - the men's gold medal winner - along with Georgia Taylor-Brown, Sam Dickinson and women's bronze medallist Beth Potter for Monday's event.