Belgian Olympic triathlete Jorien Vermeilen looked terrified after being forced to compete in the dirty waters of the River Seine on Wednesday at the 2024 Olympics.
Despite $1.5 billion and months of efforts to clean up the Seine, Olympic officials were forced to postpone the triathlon until tests showed an acceptable level of pollution. On Wednesday, the water was deemed clean enough for competition. But one athlete said he “felt and saw things I don't want to think about” while swimming in the river. according to To the metro.
“I drank a lot of water so I'll see tomorrow if I feel sick,” Vermeilen told local news media. “It certainly doesn't taste like Coca-Cola or Sprite.”
The Olympic opening ceremony is a hot topic, and everyone is wondering, “What on earth is this?” https://t.co/NuwNyYy4ql
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“While swimming under the bridge I felt and saw things that shouldn't be given much thought,” she continued. “The Seine has been polluted for 100 years and yet they can't say the safety of the swimmers is the number one priority! It's ridiculous!” (Related article: 'Malicious acts' wreak havoc at Olympics)
Vermeilen says she took precautions to avoid getting sick from the water – and unfortunately, she drank quite a lot of it during the race. “It would have been embarrassing for the organisers, for Paris and for France if the race hadn't gone ahead,” she points out. “We were in a one-off situation and couldn't cancel the race completely. Now we can only hope that not too many athletes get sick.”
“I took probiotics and drank Yakult but nothing more. I also had the idea of not drinking water but that didn't work,” she said.
Athletes jump into the River Seine to start the swimming stage of the men's individual triathlon at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in central Paris on July 31, 2024. (Photo: David Goldman/Pool/AFP) (Photo: David Goldman/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
Athletes swim in the Seine during the triathlon at the Paris Olympic Games on July 31, 2024. Athletic event in the Seine for the prestigious masculine triathlon at Olympic Games Paris, 31 July 2024. JO. (Photo by Laure Boyer / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP) (Photo by LAURE BOYER/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images)
There are so many things going wrong in this situation that I don't know where to start.
It is somewhat shocking that Olympic officials forced the race to go ahead, knowing that the Seine has been in such poor condition for the past century, rather than finding a better alternative. How lazy and selfish do you have to be to do something like this? (Related: Video of Brazilian Olympic athletes expressing love for Jesus while winning medals)
I'm not an athlete, but I've heard they're very health and fitness conscious. If so, why did they agree to put their bodies in the water where it could be life-threatening? For a medal? Really? Has humanity become so stupid that we're forcing the world's top athletes to risk their physical health to win metal? To me, this raises the age-old question: if everyone else is jumping off a cliff, would you?
Folks, we have to ask ourselves where our priorities are, because I don't think this kind of nonsense is sustainable.
