Belgium withdraws from triathlon event after Olympian who swam in Seine falls ill

Belgium's Olympic committee announced on Sunday that it would withdraw its team from the mixed relay triathlon at the Paris Olympics after one of its competitors who swam in the Seine fell ill.

Claire Michel, who competed in the women's triathlon on Wednesday, "is unfortunately ill and will have to withdraw from the competition," the Belgian Olympic and Interfederal Committee said in a statement.

Paris Olympic organizers had no immediate comment.

The mixed relay triathlon is scheduled to take place on Monday, with the swim portion of the competition slated for the Seine as well. The statement did not elaborate on Michel's illness, but it comes after concerns over the river's water quality.

Organizers had said that water quality tests done the day of the individual triathlon races showed "very good" bacteria levels.

Daily water quality tests measure levels of the fecal bacteria, including E. coli, in the Seine's waters. World Triathlon's water safety guidelines and a 2006 European Union directive assign qualitative values to a range of E. coli levels.

Under World Triathlon's guidelines, E. coli levels up to 1,000 colony-forming units per 100 millilitres can be considered "good" and can allow competitions to go forward.

World Triathlon's medical committee said it considers water quality analysis, sanitary inspection and the weather forecast when determining whether to go forward with a race. The decisions are made at early-morning meetings on the day of an event.

Leading up to the individual triathlon events in Paris, water quality concerns prompted organizers to cancel the swimming portion of two test runs meant to allow athletes to familiarize themselves with the course and also to delay the men's race by a day. Test